Argentine Type A Knife Bayonet for the FN FAL with Leather Frog, Falklands War
Spear-pointed knife blade with partial false edge. Blade length 7¾ inches, the bayonet 12¼ inches overall. Steel hilt with muzzle ring and integral flash-hider prongs, black plastic grip scales held by two screws, exposed tang, steel pommel. Steel scabbard with throat piece and oval frog stud, leather frog with retaining strap.
The bayonet is stamped on the pommel with the serial number ’38335’. The scabbard body is stamped with the serial number ‘10791’.
The FN FAL infantry rifle and its bayonet were adopted by Argentina in the late 1950s, initially purchased from FN in Belgium but later made domestically by Argentine manufacturers. Several types of bayonet and webbing attachments were used by the Argentinean Army and Marines during the Falklands conflict: the knife model with distinctive flash-hider ‘prongs’ on its muzzle ring was the ‘Type A’ bayonet, which fitted to the early FALs. Its blade was based upon the US M4. This was used side by side with the tubular ‘Type C’ model, which was introduced when a 22mm muzzle device was added to the FAL in 1962. The scabbards are not interchangeable between Types, the blades being of different shapes.
Belt frogs for these bayonets are made of either leather or nylon fabric: the ‘Correaje Argentino de Cuero’ (Argentine Leather Belting) load-bearing system made of green-dyed leather was introduced around 1970, but incorporated some preexisting elements including leather frogs and pistol holsters, which were then painted green to match. The nylon ‘Correaje Tempex’ (Tempex Belting) was introduced in the early 1980s to replace it which included a new frog. Both load-bearing systems were still in use by 1982 so both were carried in the Falklands. Either frog fits either Type of bayonet.
The leather frogs follow a Mauser design, but as you can see on this example the seam on the left side is tucked under before being stitched, giving it an asymmetrical shape. This creates room for the ‘prongs’ of the bayonet’s flash hider to slide over the leather without catching on it, a modification made on later examples specifically for the FAL bayonet.
After Argentine forces surrendered to the British on June 14 1982 their small arms were piled up by the thousand in the Islands’ capital Port Stanley, where most Argentine forces had been deployed or driven back to. A large quantity of arms had also been captured earlier at Goose Green, which was a key ammunition dump for the Argentine forces, and still more were gathered later from unengaged Argentine garrisons on the island of West Falkland. The FAL rifles became British government property and were either brought to the UK or dumped at sea, while bayonets and the short machete-like officer’s sidearms frequently became personal trophies or souvenirs for British soldiers as they would not be illegal to own in civilian life. This example is most likely one such ‘bring-back’.
The blade is sharp, with visible sharpening marks, a few small nicks to its edge. The tip has a little wear and resharpening. Some very light speckled pitting in places, mainly towards the tip. The hilt and pommel have a quite even grey patina. The plastic grips have a couple of dents and some light abrasion. The scabbard has mostly lost its black paint except where it is covered by the frog – the exposed steel section has spotted heavy patination and a few scratches.
The frog retains its green colour and its stitching is intact except for one frayed stitch at the top of the scabbard loop on one side (the untucked seam). The frog has been informally modified with a slot cut from the top edge down to the hole for the frog stud – this allows the scabbard to slide upwards for easy removal. So long as the retaining strap was secured the bayonet would not have fallen out of the frog despite the modification, although it would have made it trickier to draw the bayonet without pulling the scabbard with it. Holes have been punched on either side of the notch suggesting that stitching may have been intended there, but no thread is present. Some rubbing and dents to the frog’s leather on the front side.
