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A trench knife is a combat knife designed to kill or gravely incapacitate an enemy soldier at close quarters, as might be encountered in a trenchline or other confined area.〔Peterson, Harold L., Daggers and Fighting Knives of the Western World, Courier Dover Publications, ISBN 0-486-41743-3, ISBN 978-0-486-41743-1 (2001), p. 80: "Right at the outset trench knives were introduced by both sides during World War I, so that the common soldier was once again equipped with a knife designed primarily for combat."〕〔Alger, John I., ''Definitions and Doctrine of the Military Art: Past and Present'', Avery Publications Group, ISBN 0-89529-309-9, ISBN 978-0-89529-309-1 (1985), p. 102〕〔''Catalog of Standard Ordnance Items'', Washington, D.C: U.S. Army Ordnance Publications (1943)〕 It was developed in response to a need for a close combat weapon for soldiers conducting assaults and raids on enemy trenchlines during the First World War. An example of a World War I trench knife is the German Army's ''Nahkampfmesser'' (close combat knife).〔Bull, Stephen, ''Encyclopedia of Military Technology and Innovation'', Greenwood Publishing, ISBN 1-57356-557-1 (2004), p. 70: During World War I, many German trench or close combat knives (Nahkampfmesser) were officially issued by the military, while privately purchased knives were often made to standardized military patterns. Most featured blades of approximately 150 mm (6 inches), with slab wooden grips and metal scabbards.〕〔''Military Collectables: An International Directory of Twentieth-Century Militaria'', Crescent Books, ISBN 0-517-41266-7, ISBN 978-0-517-41266-4 (1984), p. 37〕 With the outbreak of the Second World War, the trench knife, by this time usually referred to as a ''combat knife'', proved so useful that armies continued to develop and issue new designs. On the Axis side, the ''Nahkampfmesser'' and designs developed from it were again widely issued to the ordinary soldier as general-purpose fighting and utility knives, while Allied armies generally restricted issue of trench knives to elite infantry units and infantry not otherwise equipped with the bayonet.〔 ==Early trench knives== With the exception of the German ''Nahkampfmesser'' or (combat knife),〔 most early trench knives were fabricated by hand by individual soldiers or ordnance blacksmiths for the purpose of silently eliminating sentries and other enemy personnel during trench raids.〔Duan, James T., ''Dear old "K"'', Boston, MA: James T. Duane (1922), p. 76〕 These early "trench knives" were often nothing more than shortened and sharpened Army-issue bayonets. One type of stabbing weapon, the ''French Nail'', was made by cutting and pointing the steel stakes used to support the ubiquitous barbed wire protecting the trench lines. All trench knives share one common characteristic: they were designed specifically for military use in close combat encounters with enemy personnel. Some historians say that some trench knives models were inspired by the Bowie knife for its design.〔Shotgun, ''www.civilwarhome.com'' (2002)〕 Soon afterwards, these fabricated trench knives were being used in defensive close-quarters trench warfare, and such fighting soon revealed certain limitations in existing designs. A more elegant form of the ''French Nail'' was the introduction of the ''Poignard-Baïonnette Lebel M1886/14''. Approved as a standard military infantry weapon after its development by Lt. Col. Coutrot〔Roquier, Roger, and Lecoeur, Gérard, ''Les couteaux de nos soldats'', Paris: Editions Crépin-Leblond, ISBN 2-7030-0195-9 (2001): In 1915, Lt. Col. Coutrot, an artillery officer, was serving as the officer-in-charge of the military acceptance board for machine guns made by MAC (Manufacture d'armes de Châtellerault) located in the French commune of Châtellerault, which also happened to be a center of the French cutlery industry.〕 of the French Army, the ''Poignard-Baïonnette Lebel'' consisted of a long, needle-pointed, stiletto-profile blade with wood handle and an integrated knuckle guard made of steel. Originally a conversion of the French ''Épée-Baïonnette Modèle 1886'' (bayonet), and designed strictly as an offensive weapon, the ''Poignard-Baïonnette Lebel'' used a section of the M1886 Lebel' long, narrow stiletto-type cruciform blade, designed to quickly kill a surprised enemy soldier with a single deep thrust. Up to three trench knives could be constructed from a single M1886 Lebel bayonet. Because French industry was working under wartime conditions with numerous material shortages, often using subcontracted labor, even officially sanctioned French Army trench knives tend to vary significantly from knife to knife. The need for knives was so great that already-understrength French Army formations were forced to demobilize hundreds of former cutlery workers so that they could return to their former jobs and begin quantity production of trench knives for the armed forces. As the war went on, newer and more versatile blade-type trench knife patterns such as the double-edged dagger ''Couteau Poignard Mle 1916 dit Le Vengeur'' began to replace the ''French Nail'' and earlier stiletto-style trench knives.〔http://www.fightingknives.info/Collection/AlamoCollection/FrenchTheatreKnives/tabid/1200/Default.aspx〕 The French lead in trench knife development was closely followed by the United States, which introduced three successive trench knife models - the M1917, M1918, and Mark I (1918) - all based directly or indirectly upon previous French designs. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「trench knife」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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