The British Lee Enfield

The .303 caliber Lee-Enfield bolt action and magazine fed rifle was the main rifle used by the British Army and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century.

It was the British Army's standard rifle for nearly 70 years from its official adoption in 1888 ( originally as the Lee-Metford ) until its demise 1957. The Lee-Enfield was also used by the military forces of Canada, India, and South Africa.

About 5 million Lee-Enfield rifles and their corresponding bayonets were produced during its lifespan, making it one of the most prolific rifle-bayonet combinations ever. Hence I decided to dedicate a solo page about the bayonets, apart from my other bayonet and sword pages here.

All the images of the bayonets are to scale with each other to show their comparative size. The Photo set is by bayonet aficionado Claven2 of Ontario in Canada.

Below is the 1881 pattern first model bayonet.

Below is the 1903 pattern bayonet that was issued with the "smelly" SMLE MkII

Below is the 1907 pattern bayonet, this model was also produced with a large hooked quillion similar to the type 30 Japanese bayonets. The deep groove in the blade is called a fuller it was a strengthening and tension groove, not a blood groove as related to by old women, swashbuckling imaginations and fairy stories.

Below is the hooked quillion version of the 1907 pattern.

Below is the 1907 MkII pattern bayonet that was issued during WWII and was seen in combat with the Indian forces. These MkII's were issued with and without the fuller groove.

Below is the No.4 MkII and MKIII bayonet also called a pig sticker because of its cross section. There was no blade on these type of bayonets, instead there was just the sharp point for thrusting into the enemy soldier.

Below is the No.9 bayonet, and next to the MkII and III it was perhaps the shortest of all the Lee Enfield bayonets.