Did you know that bayonets are called ‘swords’ in the Green Jackets?

Bayonets have been called ‘swords’ in the Green Jackets since the early 19th century.

In 1800 the Corps of Experimental Riflemen (re-titled the 95th (Rifle) Regiment in 1802 and The Rifle Brigade in 1816) was formed. The Corps was equipped with the new Baker rifle, so named after its designer, Ezekiel Baker. However, the muzzle-to-butt length of the Baker rifle (46 inches, 116 cms) was 12 inches (30 cms) shorter than the standard Infantry musket (58 inches, 147 cms). The musket was also equipped with a bayonet 17 inches (43 cms) long. This meant that an infantryman armed with a musket and bayonet facing a rifleman armed with a Baker rifle without a bayonet out-reached the rifleman by 29 inches (74 cms).

Baker Rifle with powder horn (left) and two varieties of sword.  The
upper flat sided sword was the one adopted and taken into service.

To compensate for the shorter length of the Baker rifle, it was equipped with a bayonet 24 inches (61 cms) long. Although this resulted in the total length of a Baker rifle with bayonet still being 5 inches (13 cms) shorter than an Infantry musket with bayonet, a longer bayonet for the Baker rifle was not considerable practicable. When fixed, it made the rifle difficult to fire accurately. Thus, it was usually unfixed often serving a greater purpose for cutting brushwood and roasting meat.

Because of its length, the Baker rifle bayonet resembled a short sword; indeed, there were those who propounded its use as a short sword in hand-to-hand combat – hence it was termed a sword in both the 95th Rifles and its sister regiment, the 60th Rifles (The King’s Royal Rifle Corps).

The last Baker rifles were manufactured in 1837 with issues continuing in the British army until 1841. However, the tradition of calling bayonets ‘swords’ has remained unchanged ever since, including in The Royal Green Jackets from 1966 and The Rifles since 2007.

Baker Rifle with sword fixed

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