Border regiment 1907 Bayonet?

[Gunner Bailey]

Just brought this back from France. Quite a nice 1907 by Wilkinson, dated 11/17. By the Pommel are the letters / numbers. 3BR and underneath 533. Is Border Regiment a fair guess for this? Woodwork is also stamped with a crown and some feint letters. Oddly the only corrosion is in the area of the lettering.

John

[shippingsteel]

Thats right John, BR would indicate Border Regiment for sure. You do see the corrosion only on the pommel quite a bit on battlefield found stuff.

If you can imagine a soldiers kit being left or lost on the battlefield with bayonet still in scabbard, the exposed portion will get the most corrosion.

I think a lot of equipment from early years of the war spent time partially buried before being later recovered. Protected metal will survive better.

Cheers, S>S

[Khaki]

Hello S>S,

I have always wondered, on 1907 bayonets, are the pommels iron or steel, as I see the degradation more consistent with iron?

khaki

[shippingsteel]

Thats a good question, and come to think of it the very pommels are of different grade metal, so perhaps they were a casting to get the shape.?

The rounded knob piece does simply slot onto the tang with some light brazing keeping it in place. No machining is found on the external knob.

I am not a metallurgist but now that you mention it, it could be entirely possible that the knob of the pommel is a high grade of a cast iron/metal.

Cheers, S>S

[Gunner Bailey]

Hi S>S. Thanks for the confirmation. The rest of the bayonet is unrusted and is pretty good. I suspect it's been kept somewhere like a barn or a shed, so the end of the handle near the pommel has become pitted on one side. The pommel works well. There's also a little light pitting above the makers marks. I bought this in a French Brocante / street market. I expect it had been lurking with a French family for 90+ years after being picked up as a souvenir. John

[jscott]

Interesting that its marked to the 3rd BR - which was a reserve battalion. Presumably a lot of bayonets marked to reserve battalions would have come across to France with reserves etc so probably not that surprising I guess.

[Gunner Bailey]

Interesting that its marked to the 3rd BR - which was a reserve battalion. Presumably a lot of bayonets marked to reserve battalions would have come across to France with reserves etc so probably not that surprising I guess.

Yes I thought that too, but reserves obviously get moved around. The date of the bayonet 11/17 may be relevant to that. John

[RupertDubrecht]

Lovley