M1895 "Mannlicher" or "Hembrug" (text and photos by E.G. Meutstege)

Technical data :

Total length : 476/605 mm
Blade length : 476/605 mm
Muzzlering : 13.88 mm

Was used on : M1895 "Mannlicher" rifle or carbine.

General information :

After more then seven years of testing the Royal Netherlands Army finally got its new rifle in 1895. On the 4 th of december 1895 it was decided that a Mannlicher weapon (Calibre: 6,5 x 53,5 R) would act as the new standard service rifle known as the M95.

This M95 rifle and its carbine variants would stay the standard service rifles for the Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy and the Royal Dutch-Indies Army (KNIL) until the second world war. The arrival of the new rifles and carbines also meant that the old Beaumont rifle bayonets had to be replaced for new M95 bayonets.

During the rifle testings also different models of bayonets were tested. This finally resulted that the choice was made for a bayonet with strong recembalance to the Brittish Lee-Metford rifle. The M95 rifle bayonet had a triangular, almost 36 cm long T-back blade, by a total length of almost 48 cm. Initialy the bayonets were ordered by three forreign suppliers: the Oesterreichische Waffenfabriks Gesellschaft in Steyr (marked with OEWG), Alexander Coppel in Solingen (marked with A C and a balance scale) and the firm of Weyersberg & Kirschbaum in Solingen (marked with W.K. & C.). In 1904 the Dutch started to fabricate their own bayonets which was done at Staatsbedrijf der Artillerie Inrichtingen (marked with HEMBRUG).

Since the arrival of the M95 rifle it took several years before the bayonet got its definitive form. Since approximately 1900 the hooked quillon disapeared, while in 1905 the leather scabbard got a brass finial and a securing leather strap.

M95 Carbine bayonets

After the introduction of the different carbine models, the Royal Netherlands Armed Forces received a wide variaty of bayonet types. The first of this was the Carbine No. 2 Old Model bayonet. This bayonet was officially introduced in 1896. The bayonet originally came from a Remington carbine and was fitted with a steel tube in the muzzle ring to fit the thinner barrel of the carbine M95. The folding bayonet was permantly atached to the carbine and was locked/folded by pressing the coiled spring press stud.

When the carbine No. 2 New Model was introduced in 1918, the bayonet wasn’t modified. In 1896 the bayonet for the carbine No. 3 was introduced. This bayonet had a total length of over 60 cm with a triangular T-back blade. Because the carbine No. 3 was to be carried on the back of a soldier, the pommel in comparison with the rifle bayonet was turned by a quarter (1/4) in order not to damage the soldiers clothing.

Initially this bayonet was fitted with a hooked quillon, but this was to be removed since (approx) 1900. This bayonet was also used for the carbines No. 3 New Model and the No. 4. Altough the bayonet kept the same there were different versions of scabbards. For the No. 3 carbine the scabbard had a longer integral leather frog and also had a lower placed securing leather strap for the artillery version while the Engineers version had a higher placed strap. For the carbine No. 4 issued to the armed bicycle corps a scabbard with a lower integral leather frog was used. The reason for this was to prevent that the scabbard would swing less in order to prevent that it became stuck into the spokes of the wheel of the bicycle.

During the First World War a bayonet was issued for the Carbine No. 1 Old Model. The reason behind this was that the cavalry of other countries were issued with bayonets. The choosen sollution was as simple as it was cheap; bayonet of the old Beaumont rifles were shortened and equiped with a tube inside the muzzle ring in order to fit the thinner barrel of the M95 carbine. The bayonet had a leather scabbard which was secured to the integral leather frog with a leather strap. Left: the M95 rifle model. Right: the M95 artillery carbine model.

The last carbine bayonet of the Netherlands Royal Armed Forces was the bayonet for the carbine No. 1 New Model which was issued in 1918. This bayonet had a simmilar grip as the bayonets for the No. 3 and No. 4, but had a blade like the KNIL issued rifle bayonet. The total length was a little more then 37 cm.

M95 Royal Dutch-Indies Army (KNIL) bayonets

nside the KNIL people thought differently then in the motherland armed forces. During testing of the M95 rifle in the Dutch-Indies also two sorts of bayonets were tested; the model issued in the Netherlands , and a bayonet with a shorter and thinner blade. Neither got approved by- and issued to the KNIL. Finally a double edged knife bayonet got approved by the KNIL. In December 1896 36.000 rifles and these type of bayonets were ordered by the Oesterreichische Waffenfabriks Gesellschaft in Steyr (marked with OEWG). At the same time the same amount of steel bayonet scabbards with a wooden lining and a leather frog were bought. These types of steel scabbards became a major dissaster. Once they arrived in the Dutch-Indies it became clear that the steel scabbards unpleasantly tinkled against the steel scabbards of the klewangs (manchetes). As a result of this the steel scabbards were abolished and the bayonet was to be fixed permanently on the rifle. In 1911 again an bayonet scabbard was issued, altough this time it was made out of leather. The M95 steel scabbard types are currently extremely rare and only a very few are known!

The next bayonet that got issued to the KNIL was the bayonet that belonged to the M95 cavalry carbine. In 1912 it was decided that these weapons also had to be issued with a bayonet. This bayonet was equel to the rifle model but had slightly different measure grip and crossguard. To prevent that the wrong type of bayonet was fixed to the rifle, the bayonets were marked with the letters “CAV”. The scabbards of the cavalry bayonet was also a bit different then the M95 rifle bayonets; the cavalry bayonet scabbard had a brass finial. In 1917 the M95 engineers carbine was issued in the KNIL. This carbine also got the same bayonet as the M95 cavalry carbine. This type of bayonet was issued with the same leather scabbard as the M95 rifle bayonet. As of that time all M95 cavalry and engineers bayonets were stamped with the letters “KAR” (for carbine). A strange fish in the Dutch-Indies pawn was the bayonet that belonged to the M95 artillery carbine. During the testing of the M95 rifles, experiments were done with a bayonet that had no grip and was screwed onto the rifle. The artillery bayonet, which was issued in 1904, was a modified version of this. The blade was equel to the other bayonets but indead had no grip. The rear end of the bayonet (pommel) was to be inserted into the bayonet lug of the M95 artillery carbine and to be fied with a coiled press stud (located on the carbine). The artillery carbine stayed in service until 1938.

The M95 Navy bayonet

The M95 rifle was also issued to the Royal Navy in 1897. The assosiated bayonet was in principle equel to the model of the Royal Army; the only difference was that the Navy model had a grip wich was secured with a screw (and a oval metal plate) instead of rivets. The reason for this was that by doing so the grips could be removed in order to check the bayonet for rust (oxidation). In contradiction to the Royal Army the Royal Navy kept the hooked quillon.

Also the scabbards were slightly different then the scabbards used by the Royal Army; the integrated leather frog was slightly longer and the securing leather strap was placed lower more to the mouth of the throat of the scabbard, instead of copperwire the finial was secured with pecked (oiled) wiring. As it was common for leather items used in the Royal Navy, the frogs were issued with a brass plate with the shipnumber engraved on it.

M95 serial numbers and inspection stamps

A batch of M95 rifles/bayonets consisted out of 10.000 rifles. These weapons were applied with a serial number and a serial character. The character I was not be used because it could be mistaken for a 1. The first batch of M95 rifles/bayonets received the serial numbers and serial character starting from 0A till 9999A, the second batch 0B till 9999B, etc, etc.

There are also rifles/bayonets known which had a double serial character, however this makes sense when you want to give 400.000 M95 rifles/bayonets a serial number/serial character. During recent inquiries done by members of the bajonet.be forum the following was noticed: only M95 rifle bayonets had double serial characters (also single serial characters) like AA, FF, HH, JJ, MM, RR, QQ. The M95 artillery and cavalry carbine bayonets only have a single serial character. Until know the single serial character N has been noticed onthe M95 cavalry carbine bayonet. The M95 Navy bayonets are without serial characters.

Inspection stamps, which is a character underneath a crown, are to be found on the ricasso and the pommel of the bayonet. The following inspections stamps are known: B, E, H, T, Z, O, S.

It has been noticed that the M95 bayonets made by Austrian maker OEWG were marked with a crown-T inspection stamp and that the German makers WK&C and Alexander Coppel both were stamped with a crown-B inspection stamp. The characters resembles the initial of their inspectors. The folowing inspectors are known:

Crown-B E.B. Brossois
Crown-B (gothic font) L. Brossois
Crown-E M.A. v/d Ende
Crown-H J.C. Harnas
Crown-Z (Z)wiersma
Crown-S Stratemaker

Also most all of the leather scabbards were marked with the same serial number as the bayonet but without the serial character. Some of the leather scabbards are also marked with AI (Artillerie Inrichtingen) or with CW (Centrale Werkplaats). Once a leather scabbard needed to be repaired it was send to one of these workshops. Normally the soldier received a other leather scabbard as a permanent replacement. Once the leather scabbard was repaired the old serial number was crossed out and a new serial number that was simmilar to the new owners bayonet number was stamped at the backside of the integrated leather frog of the scabbard.

Known makers :

OEWG, Österreichische Waffenfabrik Gesellschaft, Steyr (untill 1900)
WKC, Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Cie (1900-1905)
Alexander Coppel (1900-1905)
Hembrug, Nederlands Staatsarsenaal (after 1904)

Images.

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two different size logos used by the Hembrug department of the Staatsbedrijf Artillerie Inrichtingen. The small logo was used later and is considered rare.

  :
above is the standard infantry M95, below is the M95 Navy..   the M95 artillery carbine bayonet. Above the M95 rifle bayonet.

 

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