Unusual Pakistani No. 9 Mk. I Bayonet

[marysdad]

I picked this up a month or so back and believe it to be the first known 1950-dated Pakistani No. 9 Mk. I socket bayonet.

This example was made at Metal Industries Ltd. in Lahore, prior to establishment of the Pakistan Ordnance Factory in Wah Cantonment. M.I.L. had produced No. I Mk. II and Mk. III bayonets during the Second World War, when Lahore was still under Indian jurisdiction. The blade profile is more rounded and the edge more crude than the British or P.O.F. No. 9 bayonets. The blade is both pinned and (rather sloppily) brazed to the socket. Prior to discovery of this example in 2016, all known M.I.L. examples were dated 1951. Discovery of this 1950-dated example demonstrates that the shipment of production equipment from R.O.F. Poole to Pakistan took place earlier than may have been believed. Only a small quantity of 1951-dated examples have surfaced, so production must have been low before manufacturing ceased and the factory was relocated to Wah, away from the border with India.

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