Swords in the trenches

File: history armor.jpg (218KB, 1592x479px) Image search: [Google]

218KB, 1592x479px

>>3094724
Kind of like why the various colonial armies didn't bring back steel armor for fighting tribes with pre-gunpowder weapons. Why didn't they do it?

My guess is that it has to do with being stuck in a contemporary mindset.

Wasn't a big part of trench raids to kidnap enemy soldiers? I could see a bludgeoning weapon being better for that purpose. But other than that I don't know. A sturdy sabre or cutlass would trump any melee weapon found in the trenches.

>>3094724
Too much space to catch moonlight

File: 1831French_artillery_short_sword.jpg (258KB, 1920x785px) Image search: [Google]

258KB, 1920x785px

Here's a French 1831 artillery shortsword. As you can see it took heavy inspiration from the Gladius, and was often used in a machete-like capacity.

The US military had almost identical swords to this as well. Their short length and cut-and-thrust blade would've made them extremely useful, and the lack of a handguard probably wouldn't have been a huge deal either.

Swords are too long for the tight spaces they'd be fighting in, especially given that there would be tons of people packed in there. That'd be my guess at least.

File: German infantry sword.jpg (1MB, 2048x1536px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 2048x1536px

>>3094759
You can carry a sword in its scabbard until needed, or paint the blade if necessary
>>3094774
The swords I'm talking about are all very short, and as I said, some were outright designed for combat in very tight spaces.

File: B1422-1.jpg (40KB, 850x166px) Image search: [Google]

40KB, 850x166px

Remember that for the vast majority of the time a soldier isn't using their weapon, they're just lugging it around. A sword would be cumbersome and hard to maintain, and most soldiers would probably never use it.

Also remember that bayonets during the early stages of the war practically were swords, and they were pretty much universally derided as being useless.

>>3094759

Paint it black or cover it in boot Polish before you go out

File: sabre briquet.jpg (80KB, 800x396px) Image search: [Google]

80KB, 800x396px

>>3094811
Bayonets were seen as useless primarily because they were told to stick them on the end of a needlessly long rifle. (seriously, look at the fucking Lebel and G98, they're fucking pikes)
Also their blades, while superficially resembling cut-and-thrust weapons, were not actually designed with cutting in mind at all.

A decent scabbard and some oil will protect a sword blade from the elements, and a short sword (especially without a substantial guard) is very easy to carry, (it's kinda why swords are a thing), and didn't even necessarily need to be lugged around all the time either.

Considering that cutlasses could withstand the highly corrosive environment on a 19th century ship, a sword in the trenches would probably be manageable too.

File: OMaA463_Chinese_Warlord_Armies_1911-30-17.jpg (894KB, 1861x2592px) Image search: [Google]

894KB, 1861x2592px

>>3094724
Not WWI, but the Chinese Sword & Pistol units (the Big Sword Units), pretty much were derived from Chinese observers in WWI observing trench-raiders. So during the warlord period, the Chinese had trench raiders wielding melee weapons of their own, iconically, various kinds of dao sabers. Although the Big Sword corps also other CQC weapons such as carbines, early SMGs, or sacks of grenades just like their WWI counterparts.

>>3094724
>Chances are that every nation involved still had large stocks of short swords
They didn't. All the surplus metal was melted down to make something useful.

File: trenchshovel.jpg (218KB, 720x1080px) Image search: [Google]

218KB, 720x1080px

>>3094724
Most infantry carried a trench shovel and a rifle (club) anyway. Why add one more thing, when hand to hand was a rare occurrence?

>>3095475
Weren't the shovels sharp as fuck and were favored over bayonets? Or is that just a meme?

>>3096523
They were sharpened yeah, plus you can always smack someone with the big flat if you need to capture people. Very handy.