| Pictures (click to enlarge) |
Type | Description | Blade Length |
Overall Length |
Muzzle |
Markings | |||
| in. | mm. | in. | mm. | in. | mm. | ||||
     |
FAL Type C |
Socket bayonet introduced in the 1960s for the FN-FAL selective-fire rifles that incorporated the 22 mm. NATO-spec flash hider.
This example has the M1963 spring catch. The finish is black paint. As part of the British Commonwealth, the Rhodesian Army was equipped with the British L1A1 FAL variant. When Rhodesia declared its independence from Britain in 1965, a UN arms embargo stopped further arms shipments from Britain. South Africa began covertly supplying the Rhodesian Army with the R1 FAL, which used the Type C bayonet. This bayonet and scabbard came in the Pattern 1937 frog pictured below.
|
6.50 |
171 | 11.50 |
292 | .890 |
22.6 | Socket: "RA 0594" (in electropencil) |
   |
Pattern 1944 Web Belt Frog | Pattern 1944 olive green web belt frog made for the post-War scabbards.
This example came on the FAL Type C bayonet above. According to South African collector, James D.N. MacKenzie, the RNG-Triangle mark represents Northern Rhodesian Government. This frog was made in 1956 by the Mills Equipment Company. AA2016 is the stores catalogue number. The AA prefix was always used for webbing. The frog measures 8 inches (200 mm.) long by 1 3/8 inches (35 mm.) wide. Carter classified this frog as #167. |
n/a | n/a | n/a | Reverse: "MECO 1956" and "R" over "N G" inside a triangle and "AA2016" | |||
      |
Pattern 1961/64 Web Pouch w/Frog | Web belt pouch with integral frog for carrying the FAL Type C bayonet.
According to Carter, Pattern 1961/64 web equipment was the production version of an experimental design, used prior to So. Africa's fielding of the Pattern 1970 web equipment system. The pouch is made of khaki webbing. The fittings are made of blackened brass. The pouch measures 8.00 in. (203 mm.) high. The pouch measures 4.00 in. (102 mm.) wide at the top, tapering to 2.00 in. (51 mm.) wide at the bottom. Carter classified this pouch/frog as #579. This example was made in 1962. The identity of the maker represented by "L.B. & D.I.F." is not known. However, "D.I.F." likely identifies D. I. Fram & Co. Ltd., a Johannesburg maker of South African webbing. Hopefully further research will clarify what "L. B." signifies and how the two relate. As the images at left illustrate, the pouch has one straight side and one tapered side. The frog is on the tapered side, with heavy blanket-stitching to reinforce the frog stud opening. This one-side-tapered arrangement resulted in the left and right side pouches not being interchangeable. The So. African seller indicated that this piece came from Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Collector/Researcher Wolfgang Roux confims that both Rhodesia and So. Africa used these, with the khaki version being used by Rhodesian forces and the olive green version used by So. African forces. Pattern 1961/64 webbing would have been used during the early phase of the Rhodesian Bush War, which began in 1964. |
n/a | n/a | n/a | Inside of Cover: "L.B.& D.I.F." over ? and "62" | |||
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