Remington M1917 Bayonet

[Guest]

Hello! I think there’s probably been a few forum posts on these bayonets so some of you may be tired of seeing another one. I’m just trying to get a rough idea of if this bayonet may have seen any sort of service. We discovered this bayonet with my grandfather died a couple of years ago. It was stored in a wardrobe on the top shelf by itself. He was a bit of a history buff, even helping to uncover local Roman roads, but he never mentioned the bayonet to anyone in the family (that we know of). When I inherited it, I did some surface level research. I knew it was likely WW1 era but that was about it. My curiosity piqued again the other day (it just sits in the corner of my room so I see it everyday but something just clicked to have a look again). So going into further research I learnt about the different styles of these bayonets (the original 1913’s, the 1917 I have, the later recreations used in Vietnam etc).

 

Now I never knew where the bayonet came from as no one of my family served in either of the world wars. I had theorised it may have belonged to a friend who died. Now from a handy random comment on YouTube, I’m very sure this was used in the Home Guard. My grandfather wasn’t part of it either but talking to my parents, we do know that my great uncle was a part of it and searching archives confirmed this. So we’re pretty sure it belonged to him. He used to live in the house my grandfather did so we believe he just left it behind. Now, getting to my actual question! I’m just curious to the history of them being given to the Home Guard. I know that my specific bayonet was created in the US from the markings on it. I’ve even confirmed this with a nice fellow who runs a website called US Military Knives over the pond. Unfortunately the man who wrote the entire section of bayonets on that site died a few years ago but he was knowledgable all the same. 

 

So is it likely this bayonet was a surplus that was sold to the UK or that it could have even seen action in WW1 before being returned and then sold to the UK? I’ve uploaded some photos and hopefully they’re good enough quality. I even took a picture of the rusted blade just to ask if this is common and if there’s a way to safely clean it? Or if I even should clean it? Thanks for the help and sorry for the rambling!

 

 

It may also be hard to see but on the side with the markings, there’s a faint 0 next to the “US” and a faint X above the 0 

 

[peregrinvs]

Nice bayonet. The leather 1939 Pattern frogs are typical of WWII Home Guard use. The blade looks very good to me and I would merely give it a gentle clean with some fine wire wool lubricated with oil.

[msdt]

Grade 0000 wire wool. A classic Home Guard setup. Unlikely the bayonet saw service in WW1, other maybe than training in the States. Would have come to Britain before the US entered WW2 as Lend Lease. Nice scabbard, original US one complete with the wire belt hangers, these were often cut off in HG use.

Cheers,

Tony