Houston, My compliments on an outstanding display!!
As for the long and short bayonets in conjunction with rank (junior NCO�s/EM), I also took a look at George Wheeler�s book to see what he had to say about the subject. And some more catalogs. George can correct me if I missed something. But my sense of everything taken together is that the end of the day it�s just as you say. Not much attention was paid to bayonet length. A sort of Laissez Faire attitude which makes sense because there were not restrictions as regards grip type, blade decoration, pommel decoration etc. With the determining factor seeming to be the size of the purchaser's wallet. When it comes to senior grade NCO�s - however. Both regulations and some catalogs clearly indicate that the type of sidearm was not to be deviated from. Regards, FP
