"Bayonet use in the Spanish Civil War" Topic

Were (fixed) bayonets much used in the SCW?
Are there many recorded bayonet charges, and by which troops?

Thanks for any help!

Willie

I'm sure most troops carried bayonets, but I think actual bayonet charges would be rare by the 1930s. Look what happened to the Lincoln battalion in its first action outside Madrid. They tried to do a traditional 'over the top' bayonet assault and were badly shot up by the Nationalists.

That being said, some troops had a more aggresive reputation during the war. On the Nationalist side the Spanish Foreign Legion, Moroccans, and Carlist Requetes come to mind, at least in the early years. Some of the International Brigades had a similar rep on the Republican side.

Thanks Hrotgar!

The maim reason I asked was actually if figures modeled with bayonets would be suitable.
I'm in the process of converting a few dozen figures – which come with bayonets- and leavingsome of the bayonets on gives more variety.
Of course if it had been absurd, I would have removed all of the bayonets.

Troops were certainly issued with bayonets as part of their standard kit.

Both Jason Gurney in his "Crusade to Spain" and Orwell in "Homage to Catalonia" mention this.

Alun Menai Williams in "From the Rhondda to the Ebro" just talks of machine guns and artillery.

In attack or defence the bayonet was a weapon still relied on through the Second World War, Korea and even Vietnam

There are many references in books on the I.B.'s in english to the fact that the russian supplied rifles were designed to fire with the bayonet attached. I assume this would be the moisin nagant. As to the bayonet as a favoured assault tactic, they probably saw more use as tin openers!

There are several photos of troops with fixed bayonets in the Osprey IB book I think.

….and of course, if you don't have a bayonet, how do you open your ration cans?

"…and of course, if you don't have a bayonet, how do you open your ration cans?"

I suspect that this was the bayonet's primary function in war.

I remember reading, from first hand accounts from the American Civil war, that soldiers who actually used bayonets on opponents in combat were very rare. Very few casualties from this period were reported to have had sword or bayonet wounds.