Reddit reviews The Boer War

Germany and the Allies were signers to the Hague Convention of 1907 which outlawed sawtooth bayonets because of the terrible way these weapons killed. Or didn't kill to be more specific. Here is a pic of one.

When the weapon is pulled out all your guts come out with it and you die a very painful death but not for many hours and possibly days later. All the while screaming in agony. There was nothing doctors of the time could do for you. If you're lucky maybe some morphine.

If you had been stuck with a straight edge bayonet your chances of survival aren't very good but they were better than if you had no more intestines.

The practice of using saw tooth bayonets started in the Boer Wars.


The Germans issued these weapons to engineering and pioneer corps and they were not intended to be used as a weapon (Supposedly) but as a tool for cutting wood. They pretty much sucked at cutting wood. I was not aware the allies were issued these weapons.

Here is an exert form All Quiet On The western Front

>During the day we loaf about and make war on the rats. Ammunition and hand-grenades
become more plentiful. We overhaul the bayonets--that is to say, the ones that have a saw on the blunt edge. If the fellows over there catch a man with one of those he's killed at sight. In the next
sector some of our men were found whose noses were cut off and their eyes poked out with their
own saw-bayonets. Their mouths and noses were stuffed with sawdust so that they suffocated.
Some of the recruits have bayonets of this sort; we take them away and give them the ordinary
kind. But the bayonet has practically lost its importance. It is usually the fashion now to charge with
bombs and spades only. The sharpened spade is a more handy and many-sided weapon; not only
can it be used for jabbing a man under the chin, but it is much better for striking with because of
its greater weight; and if one hits between the neck and shoulder it easily cleaves as far down as
the chest. The bayonet frequently jams on the thrust and then a man has to kick hard on the
other fellow's belly to pull it out again; and in the interval he may easily get one himself. And
what's more the blade often gets broken off.

Edit: Wow this blew up. My highest rated comment ever and I don't believe I earned it. First I got to say I am by no means an expert. I read a couple books once. For an expert you really should ask this over at /r/askhistory and hope someone replies. /u/civex and /u/rsgort makes a great point about it being mostly perception and used as fuel for the Allied propaganda machine and that makes total sense in hindsight. Let's face it. Neither side felt beholden to the Hague Convention.

/u/Citizen_Bongo makes a great point about the development of the multi-tool bayonet being developed much earlier than the Boer Wars however I believe it is equally true that due to the nature of the commando style in which the Boers waged war, these types of weapons were much more common in that theater then in others. I'm basing this opinion on The Boer War but I cannot find a soft copy to search or cite my source. I particularly remember a section which went into great detail about some very brutal things both sides did to each other one of which was pulling the intestines out of POWs with these sawtooth bayonets. On purpose! You want to read about brutally, torture, holocaust and just generally fucked up sadistic things humans can do to each other make sure to read up on that war.

As far the guts not coming out, I think the point is irrelevant. Whether guts came out or not the soldiers that fought these wars believed that guts came out so I think there is some truth to it.

Either way good job reddit! I like this sub better then askhistory because even if we aren't totally correct and cite every last fact we can discuss things without getting a bunch of shit deleted.

This one http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0349104662?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I hate when history books have an obvious bias, it takes so much away from the story telling.