Men of the 3rd Ranger Company, 3rd Infantry Division, adjust their gear before undertaking a dawn combat patrol across the Imjin River, Korea. 17 April 1951. Korea.
Signal Corps Photo # 8A/FEC-51-12902 (Welter). From U.S. Army Archives.
Note the BAR M1918 on the left, the “broken TV” patch of the 3ID, fixed bayonets on the Garands, and the M2 select-fire Carbine with its distinctive cone flash-hider to the right.
The Turkish military was an early and frequent user of the M1 Garand. First fielding the .30-06-caliber autoloader in 1950 as a brand-new NATO ally, it took the place of reworked 1890s-era German Mausers.
Pvt. Eyup Capkin of Turkey loading ammunition into an M-1 rifle in Korea (Springfield Armory National Historic Site TEMP-965.1)
In all, the U.S. sent over 300,000 M1s as military aid to Turkey by 1972.
Turkish paratroopers, Cyprus, 1972. Note the M1 Garand and M1A1 Thompson submachine gun
In recent years, as the Turkish military has been updating its arsenals, lots of M1s have filtered back via the CMP as ordnance returns– for instance, an estimated 13,000 former Turkish Air Force Garands came back in 2018.
However, Uncle Sam provided Istanbul with few bayonets, forcing the Turks instead to come up with their own solution. This included converting old M1935 Mauser knife bayonets in the late 1950s. We have covered these already.
As the years rolled on, M.K.E. in Ankara (Makina ve Kimya Endustrsi Kurumu = Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corp.), produced a clone of the U.S. M5 bayonet, substituting black-painted aluminum grips for the traditional American plastic panels.
As the bayonets were not included in the ordnance returns, the Turkish military has been selling them on the milsurp market where both the Mauser- and M5-type have been circulating among importers (SARCO et. al) for around $20-$30.
Note the extensive wear, with the paint almost gone and some surface rust, which is common.
Like the standard M5, they are 11.125-inches long with a 6.5-inch blade.
I have to say, they are pretty neat.
As I have crates of old dirty bayonets lining my man cave, I decided to do a crash course on some common U.S. pokey things over in my column at Guns.com.
Because nothing says social distancing like a rifle topped with a pokey thing.
This Mauser bayonet looks simple enough. For those familiar with such items, it looks like your basic M1935 knife-style bayo produced locally by Askari Fabrika turkije in Ankara for the Turkish military before WWII for their wide assortment of the 8mm Mauser M1893 and M1903 rifles.
Often using a mix of older M1913 bayonets and components with new elements as needed, these typically run about 15 inches long from tip to tip with a 10-inch grooved spear-point blade.
This example is labeled on one side “AS. FA.” for Askari Fabrika with serial number “145227” on the other and has a sheet steel scabbard and walnut panels.
What makes this bayo curious is that, sometime in the 1950s, it was modified by the NATO-allied Turks to fit an M1 Garand, of which the U.S. supplied some 300,000 through the Cold War.
As Uncle Sam did not send any bayos with said M1s, the Turks had to find a solution as best they could and both converted older Mauser bayonets as well as beginning production of a local copy of the U.S. M5 constructed by MKKE.
The more you know…
Here we see Seaman David J. Lohr, USN. Serving with the Seaman Guard at Great Lakes, Illinois, after Boot Camp, 1917. Note the M1905 bayonet and scabbard with M1903 Springfield rifle to go along with his flat cap and Cracker Jacks.
Copied from the collection of David J. Lohr, by Courtesy of RM1 Pamela J. Boyer, USN, 1986. NH 100998
Next, we have a crisp new Blue Jacket at Great Lakes in the 1960s guarding a stack of M1s and the platoon guidon, likely during chow. Even while the fleet, by and large, was using M14s at the time, M1s (along with M1917s and 1903s) remained in use as training rifles not only there but at Orlando and San Diego for some time.
Stack, Arms. RTC San Diego 1970s. note the SA03s
And M1903A3 drill rifles with M1 bayonets still clocking in to one degree or another in 2002 in the below image. I’ve seen lots of images since then of Great Lakes trainees with M1s but they have all been chromed rubber ducks I believe.
020208-N-5576W-005 Great Lakes, IL (Feb. 8, 2002) — The Honorable Gordon England, Secretary of the Navy, inspects the recruit rifle team during the Recruit Pass in Review Ceremony held at Recruit Training Command Great Lakes, IL. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class Michael Worner. (RELEASED)