page_title: Pattern 1907 bayonet
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Pattern 1907 bayonet / History
caption_attribution_description: Accession: 77-127-B Bayonet, Japanese, Type 30 19.25"L 1897-1945 Bayonet has a hooked quillion but no serial number or discernible arsenal marks. Bayonet was attached to a Japanese Type 38 6.55mm "Ariska" Rifle which is alo part of the collection. Collection of Curator Branch, Naval History and Heritage Command.
context_page_description: The Pattern 1907 bayonet, officially called the Sword bayonet, pattern 1907, was a British bayonet designed to be used with the Short Magazine Lee Enfield rifle. The Pattern 1907 bayonet was used by the British and Commonwealth forces throughout both the First and Second World Wars.
context_section_description: When the British military adopted the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle, its barrel was shortened to 25.2 inches (640 mm), 5 inches (130 mm) shorter than the preceding Magazine Lee-Enfield.  British military strategists were fearful that the British infantry would be at a disadvantage when engaged in a bayonet duel with enemy soldiers who retained a longer reach. Bayonet fighting drills formed a significant part of a contemporary British infantryman’s training. Soldiers were drilled in various stances and parrying techniques against an enemy also armed with rifle and bayonet.  The combined length of the SMLE and the in-service Pattern 1903 bayonet and its 12-inch (300 mm) blade was 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 m), shorter than the contemporary French Lebel Model 1886 and bayonet at 6 feet (1.8 m) and the German Mauser 1898 at 5 feet 10 inches (1.77 m) and bayonet.
  In 1906–7 the British Army conducted trials to find a new longer standard issue bayonet. Experiments were conducted with a number of foreign bayonet designs, including a modified version of the American Model 1905 bayonet and the Japanese Type 30 bayonet.  The trials resulted in the British Army adopting its own version of the Type 30 bayonet. The new design was designated Sword bayonet, pattern 1907 (Mark I) and was officially introduced on 30 January 1908.
  Approximately 5,000,000 Pattern 1907 bayonets were made in Britain during World War I. The makers were Wilkinson Sword, Sanderson Brothers & Newbould Ltd, James A. Chapman, Robert Mole & Sons and Vickers Ltd. Additionally, Remington UMC produced approximately 100,000 during the war. The Pattern 1907 bayonet was manufactured in India from 1911 to 1940 at the Rifle Factory Ishapore and in Australia from 1913 to 1927, and then again between 1940 and 1945 at the Lithgow Small Arms Factory.
  The Pattern 1907 bayonet was adopted by most of the British Commonwealth along with the SMLE. It saw broad front line service until 1945, seeing service in both World War I and World War II. It remained in Australian and Indian service for some time after 1945.
  In 1926 the 1907 bayonet was reclassified as the 'Bayonet, No.1, Mk.1'
caption: Japanese Ariska, Type 30 bayonet.
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