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This is the bayonet for the Brunswick rifle, introduced as a replacement for the Baker rifle of the Napoleonic era. It would have been issued to the rifle regiments: the King's Royal Rifle Corps and the Rifle Brigade. Rifle and bayonet would have seen extensive use in the Crimean War 1854-56. On one side at the forte it is stamped 'Enfield 1846', together with 'VR' under a crown. The other side has an Enfield inspector's stamp and the initials 'W.S.'. On the pommel, there is engraved: a company letter (perhaps D?), mainly polished out and therefore illegible, over the regimental number '52'. The 52nd later became the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Apart from some scattered areas of minor pitting to the blade and a little age/use wear to the ribs of the hilt, the piece is in excellent shape, with a 22" blade. It would have had a black leather scabbard with brass mounts, now missing. |