Couteau Poignard Mle 1916
The Couteau Poignard Mle 1916 is a combat knife developed during the First World War , a so-called trench dagger . The weapon was used by the soldiers of the French army for close combat . Sometimes the weapon was also called Le Vengeur de 1870 ( French for: the avenger for 1870 ). The weapon was introduced in 1916 and replaced the Clou français and the Poignard de tranchée Mle in 1915 and remained in use until 1939.
Description and history
The weapon is 28 cm long, the blade is 16.8 cm long. The handle of the weapon is made of walnut and has a double-edged blade. The weapon was designed as a combat knife, as the French army had no comparable weapon in its inventory before. The design of the weapon was considered exemplary and was used by the US Army as a reference for the design of further combat knives. The US combat knife trench-knife M 1918 Mk I had an identical blade. In the Second World War, the Wehrmacht was able to capture larger stocks of combat knives and used them under the designation Dolch 116 (f) .
literature
- Trench daggers: Military combat knives from the First World War by Wolfgang Peter-Michel.
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30001803 Entry at the Imperial War Museum