The SA80 bayonet we looked at a few weeks ago was used in combat with a black plastic scabbard that protected the blade and allowed it to be carried in the PLCE frog. When the SA80 rifle was introduced it was decided to offer two different scabbards for the bayonet. Frontline infantry would receive a version with built in saw, wire cutter and sharpening stone. Rear echelon troops received a simpler (and cheaper) scabbard without these features, the argument being that they would rarely need to use any of these features so it was safe to delete them. This simplified scabbard was made from a black Phenolite plastic:
The design retained the fixing points to allow the extra features to be added if required:
The differences between the two scabbards can be seen here:
Other features remain the same however, so six raised grooves are provided near the throat to allow grip to remove the bayonet from the scabbard and to help add extra rigidity to this portion:
A small plastic detent is used to keep the bayonet in the scabbard and prevent it from rattling around:
The bayonet fits neatly inside, but will only fit in one way due to the design of the bayonet itself with its offset grip:
In order to attach the scabbard to the PLCE frog, a female Fastex clip is moulded into the top of the scabbard:
This marries up with a male Fastex clip sewn into the frog itself and keeps the scabbard firmly attached.
This scabbard has clearly seen some service as an armourer’s rack number is painted on it in white:
These simplified scabbards are much easier to find on the collectors’ market than the full combat versions which have not been released for resale in anywhere near the same amount and can easily make five times the price of their simpler counterparts.
The Army’s dress regulations explain:
A belt loop is sewn into the top of the frog to allow it to be carried:
A pair of brass rivets help reinforce this and prevent the weight of the bayonet from splitting the stitching:
The bayonet fits into the frog neatly, with just the handle visible:
For parades these frogs are cleaned and polished until they are sparkling. Brasso is used on the protector and rivets to make them shine and a white liquid cleaner is provided, much like emulsion paint, that is used to ensure they are sparkling and white. They are worn with a white woven nylon belt and can be seen with both the bayonet carried in them, or empty if a regiment has the freedom of a city to march with fixed bayonets through the street.
The bayonets were produced using the lost wax casting process and were produced as a single casting of six bayonets that were then separated and machined to the final design.
There is a slot at the forward end for use with the scabbard. 
The handle is shaped so that the bayonet can be used as a fighting knife; at the rear of the handle is the release catch which holds it onto the muzzle of the rifle.
The handle is heavily ribbed to allow for grip when it is used as a fighting knife and the catch ensures that the cutouts in the handle will line up with the corresponding gas slots in the muzzle of the rifle:
The quillion of the bayonet has a larger depth behind where the thumb would rest for a right-handed soldier using it as a fighting knife:
Using the bayonet with such a short rifle brings its own challenges, the following positions are illustrated by the pamphlet as the best ways to use the bayonet:
This was done for use on parade and makes the bayonet look particularly impressive in the sunshine, as the light catches and glints off the chroming. The ricasso of the bayonet has the date and manufacturer’s details, in this case the blade was made by Sanderson in March 1915:
The opposite side has the War Department /|\ and various inspectors marks stamped into the steel:
It is on the tip of the pommel that this bayonet really becomes interesting though. Here what I believe are the letters ‘6KRR’ are stamped into the metal:
This indicates that the bayonet was originally issued to the 6th Kings Royal Rifle Corps. It is always nice to find a piece of equipment marked to a particular unit! The other feature of the pommel is what it is missing. In 1916 a small hole was added to the pommel to allow cleaning of the catch and springs used to attach the bayonet to the rifle. It was found that the mud of the trenches was working its way into this area and fouling up the mechanism and so a small hole was provided so a piece of wire could be inserted to unclog the catch. This bayonet, dating from before this change does not have this feature. By way of illustrating the point, here is the handle of the Second World War example, with the cleaning hole clearly visible:
These little holes seem to be often referred to as ‘oiling holes’ but bayonet catches do not really need oiling, they do need to be kept clear of debris. The following is the official list of changes entry for the adding of these little holes, published on the 23rd February 1916:
There are actually three variations of the bayonet frog, an earlier design for the C1 bayonet was shorter and lacked a top strap, sadly I do not have an example of that one. When the C7 was introduced it was found that the bayonet could easily fall out of the scabbard so a new design was introduced with a top strap. Two distinct versions of this frog exist, the earliest securing with Velcro:
This was clearly found to be inadequate as a variant was introduced that replaced the Velcro with a press stud:
Both have a pair of nylon loops to hold the stud on the bayonet scabbard:
The rear of one of the frogs has an NSN number and the owner’s name written on in pen:
Interestingly I have seen accounts that suggest bayonets in the Canadian army were armoury issued rather than on permanent issue to troops, but they came pre-fitted in a frog. As it was a real pain to dismantle the webbing sets to fit the frog on every time, soldiers bought their own frog and left it permanently attached to the webbing, then took the bayonet and scabbard out of the frog issued by the armoury and fitted it into their own frog already on the webbing set; before reversing the process when it was time to hand the bayonets back in.
