Bayonet Training Manual Used by the British Forces

by Anonymous

The rifle will be slung over the left shoulder, sling to the front and perpendicular to the ground. This is a safe method of carrying the rifle and allowing the free use of both hands.

LONG ADVANCE (OPEN ORDER).

The rifle will be carried at the trail.

THE ASSAULT.

The importance of discipline and organized control throughout the conduct of a bayonet assault can not be over-emphasized. It must be remembered that in this, as in all other military operations, success can be achieved only through the closest coöperation of all concerned; and that, while individual initiative is not to be discouraged, it must be strictly subordinated to the intention of the leader of the assaulting party.

Men should be shown by demonstration that it is in their own interests to pay attention to this point, and that the failure of an enterprise can usually be traced to the lack of this close coöperation.

During training, the following general principles will be observed:

1. All members of the attacking party must leave the trench or rise from cover simultaneously. In addition to the advantages of surprise, needless casualties are thereby avoided.

2. The first stage, especially of a long advance, will be slow and steady—not faster than the pace of the slowest man. Such an advance has a decided moral effect on the enemy, makes certain of the maximum shock at the moment of impact, and at the same time allows the attacking force to reach its objective without undue exhaustion. On the other hand, if the assault is allowed to develop without control and in a haphazard fashion, the moral effect of a steady, resistless wall of men is lost, and the defenders may be given time to dispose of their opponents in detail.

Bayonet control in the attack is just as important and fully as practicable as fire control, and it depends altogether on discipline, which must be taught by close-order work, and on thorough technical instruction in the use of the bayonet. Tactical bayonet control will then follow without much difficulty, provided the instructor has done his work properly.