Bayonets Panted Sand Colour

[Simon P]

Just unpacking an old case of Spike Bayonets and noticed some were painted sand / pale yellow colour.

Was this a British & Commonwealth spec for desert camouflage or other nations.

Don't remember seeing sand color before, had plenty that were painted black & a few dark green

[Strangely Brown]

Simon, I've had one painted like that in the past; my gut feeling is that they were post war stock for training in Libya during the 1950's.

[Simon P]

Thanks Mick - That's Really Helpful,

I done a bit of digging on line yesterday, there seems to have been a few out there which have surfaced recently with people claiming them to be WW2 desert spec etc. which I thought was a bit optimistic.

These have been in a dealers store for 30 plus years, he had to give up because of age & health and these were found when we were going through his old out buildings, the boxes on top had 1981 dated news papers mixed in with them

[30Three]

Same colour paint as on a 1942 Jerry can that I have. Although I suspect the Jerry can was probably never sent to North Africa and ended up in France!

[BVZ24]

Is that the same color as the nose caps on the cadet rifles? Training use only bayonet?

[Flying10uk]

I did ask Graham Priest about this very matter some years ago and, if memory serves me correctly, the reply that I got was that the yellow sand coloured paint likely did date to WW2, North African campaign.

There are a few brown and green ones out there as well but probably not relating to North Africa.

[Surpmil]

Tap the scabbards on a hard surface and collect the sand that falls out and put it under a microscope.

Not hard to find out where a given type of sand originates.

[Terry Hawker]

Was this a British & Commonwealth spec for desert camouflage or other nations.

Simon,

Yes.

Back in the early '90's the government of South Africa disposed of their Lee-Enfield spares and accessories. It was a huge lot, purchased through the efforts of a British arms dealer, so a large potion of which went to the UK, while further pallet loads went to the US through Victoria Trading Company (previously "J. R. the Webley King"), in Newfane, Vermont. All existing models of No. 4 bayonets and scabbards were represented, from original Singer cruciforms, to incomplete, unfinished and mint Savage manufactured spikes lacking locking mechanisms. The P.'07 bayonets and scabbards in the shipment also consisted of a similar wide range of manufacturers - from the more common Brit makers (even a few Vickers!), with a nice batch of Australian examples, some of which were unissued and still in mint condition, as well as some mint double-stitched scabbards. There was even a small number of South African P.'07's made by AECO that I learned about too late to get one (still burns!).

Your photo of that grubby pile of No. 4 bayonets brings back memories. The paint on the bayonets appears to be identical to that which was slathered on many of the No. 4 bayonets, as well as a large number of the P'07 grips and scabbards. Whether this application was a South African effort or not, I have no knowledge, but with the multiple conflicts going on in that part of the world at the time, it is certainly a possibility.

It is just as likely, if not probably more so, that this sand color paint job is a relic of WWII. With as quick as the Mother Country was to divest itself of arms after the war, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that surplus arms and accessories ended up in several of those ex-Commonwealth countries in Africa. The hodgepodge-like, wide-ranging plethora of types and manufacturers, although a blessing to future collectors, does suggest to me a government's post-war effort to rid itself of its surplus.

Cheers,

Terry