M1895 "KNIL" Bayonet
(KNIL = Royal Netherlands East Indies Army)

To be fixed on the M1895 Rifle and the KNIL Cavalry & Engineers Carbines

Inside the KNIL, people thought different then the homeland based armed forces. During testing of the M95 rifle in the Dutch-Indies also two sorts of bayonets were tested; the model issued in the Netherlands, and a bayonet with a shorter and thinner blade. Neither got approved by the KNIL. Finally the KNIL decided that a double-edged knife bayonet had to be issued within its ranks.

Above: Dutch M.95 KNIL rifle (collection Dutch Army Museum)
Below: Dutch M.95 KNIL Carbine

In December 1896 36.000 rifles and these new types of bayonets were ordered by the Oesterreichische Waffenfabriks Gesellschaft in Steyr (marked with OEWG). At the same time the same amount of steel bayonet scabbards with a wooden lining and a leather frog were also bought. These types of steel scabbards became a major disaster. Once they arrived in the Dutch-Indies it became clear that the steel scabbards unpleasantly tinkled against the steel scabbards of the klewangs (machetes). As the result of this the steel scabbards were abolished and the bayonets had to be fixed permanently on the rifles. In 1911 again a bayonet scabbard was issued, although this time it was made out of leather. The M1895 "KNIL" steel scabbards are currently extremely rare and only a few are known!

The next bayonet that got issued to the KNIL was the bayonet that belonged to the M1895 "Cavalry Carbine KNIL". In 1912 it was decided that these weapons also had to be issued with bayonets. This bayonet was equal to the rifle model but the grips and crossguard have slightly different dimensions. To prevent that the wrong type of bayonet was fixed to the carbine, the cavalry bayonets were marked with the letters "CAV" ("Cavalerie" meaning Cavalry). The scabbards of the cavalry bayonet were also a bit different then the M95 rifle bayonets; the cavalry bayonet scabbard had a brass ferule.

In 1917 the M1895 "Engineers Carbine KNIL" was issued inside the KNIL. This carbine also got the same bayonet as the M1895 "Cavalry Carbine KNIL". This type of bayonet came with the same scabbard as that of the rifle model. As of that time all M1895 "KNIL" carbine bayonets were marked with "KAR" ("Karabijn" meaning Carbine).

Dimensions
Overall Length: 372 mm
Blade Length: 251 mm
Muzzle Ring Diameter: 14,5 mm