Thanks to the web site DiggerHistory, some photographs of the trench club.
[Australian soldiers are referred to as "diggers"!]
From the era of the Great War [WW1], caveman-like weaponry for that very up-close and personal form of combat, the trench raid. Barbaric, savage, mano-a-mano deadly warfare necessitating primitive weaponry - - the simpler the better!
Weaponry carried for close-quarters combat of the type as you might imagine would be engaged in by "street-gang" members, thugs, rioters!!
My original thoughts were that the "trench clubs" more than likely resembled a belaying pin as would be found aboard a sailing ship of the pre-war era. That seems NOT to be the case. A weapon more along the lines of an American baseball bat with metal attachments for increased lethality.
"This is an original example of a trench club obtained from a long-standing collection. The club is made from turned hardwood and pressed with hobnails. The head has been drilled out and filled with lead. There is no way to know if this is a German or Allied trench club. Contrary to popular myth, these clubs were not produced by individuals. They were produced in mass by units in the field utilizing regimental carpenters and welders etc to produce large amounts of the same pattern of club."
"Trench club, cast iron head on a rough timber shaft, marked S&W, 1914/18."
And this too! A "short handled German trench pick". Obviously an "implement" that could do a lot of damage! Cleave your head open right down the center if need be!
"Short handled German trench pick. Although designed as a tool these were often used in the hand to hand fighting of the trenches."
Well, take your "pick"! Don't leave home without it!
Aren't I the funny one?
coolbert.
That first club is probably German, as the British equivalent usually had just three rows of slightly smaller nails. The second one is a known German type.
ReplyDeleteTechnically British clubs from about 1916-17 started to use more rows of nails to increase effectiveness, so the first one could be British.
ReplyDeleteIf the second one is marked S&W, it stands for Smith and Wesson, an American gun maker. If that is the case, then it is in fact an American club.
The pick is definitely German.