Approved as a standard military infantry weapon after its development by Lieutenant Colonel Coutrot of the French Army, the Poignard-Baïonnette Lebel consisted of a long, needle-pointed, stiletto-profile blade with wooden handle and an integrated knuckle guard made of steel. Soon afterwards, these fabricated trench knives were used in defensive close-quarters trench warfare, and such fighting soon revealed limitations in existing designs.Ī more elegant form of the French Nail was the Poignard-Baïonnette Lebel M1886/14. Some historians say that some trench knives models were inspired by the Bowie knife.
One type of stabbing weapon, the French Nail, was made by cutting and pointing the steel stakes used to support the barbed wire protecting trenches.
These early "trench knives" were often shortened and sharpened Army-issue bayonets. With the exception of the German Nahkampfmesser (or close combat knife), most early trench knives were fabricated by hand by individual soldiers or blacksmiths for the purpose of silently killing sentries and other soldiers during trench raids. On the German side, the Nahkampfmesser and associated knives were widely issued to the ordinary soldier for combat and utility purposes, while Allied armies mostly issued trench knives to elite infantry units and soldiers not equipped with the bayonet. ĭuring the Second World War, the trench knife, by this time also called a combat knife, was developed into new designs. An example of a World War I trench knife is the German Army's Nahkampfmesser (close combat knife). It was developed as a close combat weapon for soldiers attacking enemy trenches during the First World War. Note the triangular blade with the flat face facing forward, making it suitable only for stabbing and not slashing.Ī trench knife is a combat knife designed to kill or incapacitate an enemy at close quarters, such as in a trench or other confined area. M1917 "Knuckle Duster" trench knife and leather sheath of World War I.
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