Pictures
(click to enlarge)
Type Description Blade
Length
Overall
Length

Muzzle
Ring
Diameter

Markings
      in. mm. in. mm. in. mm.  
Thumbnail image of Greek Y:1903 knife bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek Y:1903 knife bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek Y:1903 knife bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek Y:1903 knife bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek Y:1903 knife bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek Y:1903 knife bayonet.
Y:1903
Knife bayonet for the 6.5 mm. Y:1903 Mannlicher-Schoenauer rifle. This example has had the muzzle ring reamed out to allow mounting to the 8 mm. M1895 Steyr-Mannlicher Carbine.

Made at Oesterreichsche Waffenfabrik-Gesellschaft, Steyr, Austria.  According to Steyr records, 150,000 Y:1903 rifles were produced from 1906–1914. (Greek nomenclature used the letter upsilon, 'Y', as an abbreviation for 'model'.)

Typical Austrian pattern bayonet, where the cutting edge faces upward when fixed. This example has the figural of St. George slaying a dragon on the pommel. St. George is one of the most venerated saints of the Greek Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches, and is the patron saint of Greece.

According to Greek bayonet researcher, Giannis  Filippou, this example was modified in Bulgaria. The scabbard is Austrian and was made by Vogel & Noot of Hartberg, in the Southeastern State of Styria. Vogel & Noot are still in business today, manufacturing heating products.

9.625
244
14.125
359
.595
15.1
Ricasso (left):  "OE" over "WG"

Crosspiece (left):  "9548" and "7462"

Pommel (left): St. George Slaying the Dragon figural

Scabbard (frog Stud) "V & N"
Thumbnail image of Greek No. 4 spike bayonet belt frog.Thumbnail image of Greek No. 4 spike bayonet belt frog.Thumbnail image of Greek No. 4 spike bayonet belt frog. Belt Frog Brown leather belt frog for carrying the British No. 4 spike bayonet.

Greece was provided quantities of the .303 caliber Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifle for use during the Greek Civil War of 1946–49.

Measures 8.125 in. (206 mm.) long by 1.625 in. (41 mm.) wide. Has four steel rivets and is without a hilt strap.

This frog was not classified by Carter.

The marking "ΑΒΥΠ" are the Greek letters Alpha Beta Upsilon Pi, an abbreviation for Αποθήκη Βάσεως Υλικού Πολέμου. (War Materiel Base Warehouse).

Bayonet Belt Frogs Page

n/a n/a n/a Front: "ΑΒΥΠ"
Thumbnail image of Greek M1 bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek M1 bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek M1 bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek M1 bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek M1 bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek M1 bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek M1 bayonet. M1 Knife bayonet for use on the caliber .30–06 U.S. M1 Garand rifle.

Military Assistance program (MAP) records document that the U.S. provided 185,881 M1 Rifles; 1,780 M1C sniper rifles; and, 17,538 M5A1 bayonets to Greece between 1951 and 1963. An additional 1,085 M1 rifles were reportedly purchased under Foreign Military Sales (FMS).

These bayonets are believed to have been made under contract to the US Government and provided to Greece under the Military Assistance Program. They appear to have been made to US Government specifications, identical to those produced by US makers during the Second World War, save for the markings. The scabbards produced along with the bayonets were also identical to the US M7 scabbard, except for the markings. The maker is unknown, although believed to be European.

Later, replacement scabbards were procured. The example at left is one of these replacements. They are simply marked “U.S. M7” on the steel throatpiece. A key to their origin is the mold mark in the scabbard body, which is identical to scabbards produced with M1 bayonets made and used by Nationalist China.

Both the bayonet and original-production scabbard are marked with the Ordnance Department “shell and flame” marking except that it reads “E-US” instead of “US.” According to author/researcher Martin Jan Brayley, the "E" stands for ξιφολόγχη, the Greek word for bayonet.

19,000 of these bayonets were imported into the U.S., along with M1 Garand rifles returned to the U.S. Government by Greece.

Greece was devastated by a civil war from 1946-49, when communists encouraged by Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia attempted to take power. The beginning of the Cold War made ensuring that Greece did not fall to the communists a priority for the U.S. and Britain. Unknown to western powers, Josef Stalin was also trying to dissuade the Greek communists, recognizing that the world’s leading naval powers (U.S. and Britain) would not permit the communists to gain a foothold from which to contest the Mediterranean and not wanting Russia to be drawn into a fight they couldn’t possibly win.

9.75 248 14.25 362 .625 15.9 Ricasso (left): "EN   S" over (shell and flame) over "E_   US"

Crosspiece (right): "4394"

Scabbard (throatpiece): "U.S.  M7"

Scabbard (body): (plum blossom) over superimposed "H" and "I"

Thumbnail image of Greek M4 knife bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek M4 knife bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek M4 knife bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek M4 knife bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek M4 knife bayonet.Thumbnail image of Greek M4 knife bayonet. M4 Greek copy of the wartime U.S. M4 bayonet-knife for use with the caliber .30 U.S. Carbine M1.

MAP records document that the U.S. provided 146,863 M1 and M2 Carbines to Italy between 1951 and 1963. The origin of these bayonets is a mystery. They came to the USA in 2010–11 when Greece returned its stock of M1 Carbines to the U.S. Government.

Although patterned after the U.S. M4 bayonet-knife, there are distinct differences and the workmanship is crude. The blade is copper-plated, then finished in a black coating of some sort. Traces of copper show through where the black finish has worn away. The leather grip has much greater taper than other leather-gripped M4 variants. The crosspiece is patterned after the wartime M4 production, however, the muzzle ring is slightly off-center.

The identity of the maker represented by the "EME" trademark and the date of production are unknown. In the Greek alphabet, "EME" would be Epsilon Mu Epsilon.

There is an Italian cutlery maker, EME-Posaterie. I corresponded with them and they indicate that they were not the maker of these bayonets. Hopefully, further research will reveal the maker's identity.

The U.S. M8A1 scabbard with this example was assembled at the Pennsylvania Working Home for the Blind 1969–70.

6.75 171 11.625 295 .590 15.0 Ricasso: "EME"

Scabbard: "U.S. M8A1" over "TWB"

Thumbnail image of Greek FAL Type A web belt frogThumbnail image of Greek FAL Type A web belt frog Belt Frog Olive green web belt frog for carrying the FN–FAL Type A and Type C bayonets.

Greece purchased FN–FAL rifles produced in Belgium and subsequently manufactured the FAL under license by the Greek firm PYRKAL (ΠΥΡΚΑΛ). FALs were used by the Greek Army and the Greek Coast Guard 1973–1999, before Greece adopted the West German G3A3 in 2000.

Measures 6.625 in. (168 mm.) long by 1.50 in. (38 mm.) wide.

This frog was not classified by Carter.

Bayonet Belt Frogs Page

n/a n/a n/a None
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Bayonets of Greece

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