This example is a British No. 9 Mk. I, made in 1949 at the Royal Ordinance Factory, Poole. It is marked on the socket underside, with the government arrow inside a "U" property mark.

The mark on this example is a less common type, with the arrow pointing downwards, rather than the proper (and more common) upwards arrow. Although observed on various equipment, it is not known how the downward arrow mark came to be used.

Go to the No. 9 Bayonets Page.

Socket (underside): "A" and "arrow-U" and "8"

Ledge: “P” inside a small circle and "1949"

The South African "M" inside a "U" property mark represents "Union (of South Africa) Military."

This example has the later 3rd type scabbard with a nylon body and steel throatpiece shaped to accept either the R1 or S.A. No. 9 bayonet.

Go to the FAL Bayonets Page.

Initially, bayonets were purchased from Fabrique Nationale (FN) in Belgium. Later, they were manufactured in So. Africa.

This example was made by FN, as is evidenced by the shape of the grips and crosspiece. So. African made examples lack the chamfer along the upper grip edge and have a different shape to the crosspiece (ref. Kiesling #1066).

This example came in the Pattern 1970 Web Equipment belt frog, below.

The bayonets were made by Armaments Corporation of South Africa (ARMSCOR), Lyttelton Engineering Works, in Pretoria. ARMSCOR is the State-owned arms manufacturer in South Africa.

According to Skennerton, the bayonets were made up in the 1960's using blades salvaged from FN-made Uzi submachine gun bayonets (known in So. Africa as the S1 bayonet). However, it has not been conclusively documented whether old S1 blades were actually used or whether the S1 blade was just copied. The blade attaches to the socket with two steel pins.

The British No. 5 Mk. I scabbard would not work with the So. African No. 9 blade, so other scabbards were substituted. There was no dedicated No. 9 scabbard.

The scabbard on this example is from a M1 bayonet (the M1 was So. Africa's variant of the famous FN-FAL assault rifle). The M1 bayonet was the So. African variant of the FAL Type A bayonet. By the time the So. Africa No. 9 bayonets were made, the M1 bayonet was being replaced by the R1 bayonet (the So. African variant of the FAL Type C bayonet). One of the pictures at left shows that the M1 scabbard is much longer than necessary for the No. 9 blade.

The S1 scabbard was also used with the No. 9 bayonet. The S1 scabbard is a shorter version of the steel M1 scabbard. The nylon R1 scabbard (pictured below) was also used with the So. Africa No. 9 bayonet.

Go to the No. 9 Bayonets Page.

The frog measures 7.50 in. (190 mm.) long. The rivets are steel, as is the roller type buckle. This frog is classified as Carter #575.

The frog measures 7.25 in. (185 mm.) long. Constructed with seven domed steel rivets.  Incorporates a steel roller type buckle. This frog is classified as Carter #577. According to Carter, these were worn by the South African Police.

Constructed with seven copper rivets. Incorporates a steel roller type buckle. The frog measures 7.50 in. (190 mm.) long. This frog is classified as Carter #576.

The frog slips over the equipment belt and is secured with a snap facing the inside of the frog's belt loop. This equipment was used during the 1970s and 1980s.

The frog measures 6.50 in. (165 mm.) long. The distinctive frog stud opening is heavily overstitched. Carter classified this frog as #582.