Trench Raiding Clubs of WWI

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 1/10/20 | C Cocloe

[w1n1]

Far Outweighs the Firepower in Trench Warfare - You would think having extreme fire power would be the ideal thing to have when entrenched in a world war. However, in trench warfare during World War I having medieval/zombie types of weaponry was a better choice and more effective while fighting in the trench at close quarter.
Trench raiding clubs were homemade melee weapons used by both the Allies and the Central Powers during World War I. These raiding clubs were used during night time trench raiding expeditions as a quiet and effective way of killing or wounding the enemy.

The objective of trench night raids were either to knock out a machine gun nest, reconnoiter or just putting pressure on the enemy.
At this close range the bolt-action rifles were ineffective after a shot due to the long reloads time. Using the bayonet requires stabbing a man before engaging another enemy, you must first withdraw the blade from the bad guy’s flesh. Again, time is the problem here.
This may have been the reason why improvised raiding clubs came to be about, there was no more reload time at close quarter melee. So, troops grabbed old pieces of wood and converted them into weapons.

The clubs were usually made out of wood with metal object at the striking end for maximizing the injury inflicted. Bosnian soldiers serving in the Austro-Hungarian army were fond of using maces. They were also used by officers to finish enemy soldiers wounded by poison gas attacks. Read the rest of trench raiding clubs.

[Vermont Lt]

I was going to say, I thought the short barreled shot gun was used to clear trenches. I’ve seen what my 590A1 does to paper targets at close range. I would hate to see what it does to your innards.

[D_Idaho]

“What a horrible kind of warfare.”

WWI was literally a human meat grinder and a true crime against humanity.

[DesertRhino]

The American indians knew that a few centuries before. War clubs.

BTW, a small point of trivia. Many places that forbid guns are strangely silent about war clubs.

[Vigilant1]

They were just contemporary maces.

[MCF]

The model 1897 Winchester could be slam fired. It was the common shotgun used by the the U.S. Here is a demonstration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sljg40DgQbs

[struggle]

There's a bunch of missions as Italian Elite forces dressed like this in WWI in the game Battlefield I. It's a beautiful game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSvnQgRKeTs