En garde: British Army personnel sharpen their controlled aggression on Op Cabrit
The command to fix bayonets is rarely heard in modern combat, yet it remains a fundamental part of every soldier's training.
On deployment in Estonia under Operation Cabrit, British Army personnel took on Rifle Lesson 15 – or bayonet fighting – a high-intensity exercise designed to test a soldier's mental resilience and physical endurance when taking the fight to the enemy.
As the UK Armed Forces transition towards increasingly technology-enabled warfare, bayonet training underpins a core principle of soldiering: controlled aggression, discipline and mental robustness remain essential.
What makes the grass grow?
To the fearsome chant of 'Kill, Kill, Kill', personnel charge forward, thrusting their bayonets into dummies.
A cornerstone of military training, this weapon is essential for close-quarter combat and is still actively practised in modern, multinational exercises.
Corporal Smith of the Mercian Regiment, who helped lead the training, spoke to BFBS Forces News about the importance of keeping the fighting spirit in the austere environment of the eastern flank, where temperatures regularly plummet below 15°C.
"With the current situation in Ukraine, and wars around the world, we're instilling that fighting aggression into a bit of training," he said.
"They [bayonets] are an old bit of kit – but as an infanteer, it is our weapon system when we're in the trenches, and we've run out of rounds.
"We can still clip on the bayonet and still engage the enemy."
The British Army have been deployed to Estonia on Op Cabrit – the UK's continuous deployment as part of Nato's Enhanced Forward Presence – since it was established in 2016.
Now into its 17th iteration, forces from the Royal Tank Regiment are currently acting as the resident battlegroup, defending Nato's eastern flank amid rising Russian aggression.
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