Mark 1 (trench dagger)
The Mark 1 is a trench dagger of the US armed forces from 1918. The weapon was no longer used in World War I and was not replaced by the M3 knife until 1943.
History and conception
The US Army was poorly equipped for trench warfare . Both the US M1917 and US M1918 trench daggers proved to be failures. The US Army tried to learn from the experience of the French and commissioned a commission of officers to design a new trench knife construction. This time the Couteau Poignard Mle 1916 was the model for the Mark 1. The blade corresponded to the French model and was provided with a bronze handle that could also be used as a brass knuckle . It was again a purely stabbing weapon, while the trench daggers from Germany or Austria-Hungary could also be used as tools.
Web links
- 'US Mark 1 trench knife, with scabbard : Imperial War Museum
- '' US Mk 1 Trench Knife : Imperial War Museum
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolfgang Peter Michel: Trench Daggers: Military Combat Knives of the First World War , 2017, ISBN 978-3-8423-7719-6 , p. 177.
- ↑ Crowell, Benedict (1919): America's Munitions 1917–1918 , Report of Benedict Crowell, Assistant Secretary of War (Director of Munitions) US War Department, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, pp. 88, 228
See also
further reading
- Stephens, Frederick J, 1985: Fighting Knives, Arms and Armor , London, p 69 (ref 339).
- Cole, MH, 1968: (A) Collection of US Military Knives 1861-1968 , Cole, Birmingham, Alabama, p 22.