Despite their knuckle-dragging, backwards-looking territorialism, the war machines of the world are under constant pressure to stay one step ahead of the times. If they don’t, they lose wars. In theory anyway. It doesn’t always hold true in practice. These ten weapons from the distant past have all been deployed on modern battlefields — sometimes even triumphantly.
10. Sword (2020)
In Yemen it’s common to see men carrying swords, many of which in the civil war era are forged out of shrapnel from the streets. Although traditionally symbolic (like a Sikh’s kirpan), the Yemeni jambiya has been wielded by Houthis in their ongoing oppression of the public. In one particularly brutal instance, they stabbed a young man to death after beating him with wires — allegedly for uncovering corruption.
But the last time swords were issued to troops was during the First World War. Despite all the new weapons debuted in that conflict, the cavalryman’s sword remained in action. For British and Commonwealth troopers, it was the Pattern 1908 — which was actually credited with the first British kill of the war; Captain Hornby of the 4th Dragoon Guards killed a German of the 4th Cuirassiers. Conceived to be wielded on horseback, the design (reluctantly approved by King Edward VII, who called it “hideous”) was for running through and killing an opponent. It was for thrusting, in other words, not cutting.
Although Japanese soldiers brought cutting swords (katanas) to World War Two, these weren’t for use as weapons. They were precious family heirlooms entrusted to soldiers for luck. The hope was that both would return home safely. In the end, though, America, still pumped from murdering half a million civilians, forced Japan to hand them all over knowing a surrendered samurai sword loses its value.
9. M1910 (2022)
Russia’s follow-up to the first automatic machine gun was called the Pulemyot Maxima 1910, or M1910 for short. The original British-made Maxim, which came out two and a half decades earlier in 1884, had so impressed Russia in their war against Japan (1904-5) that they took charge of its further development. A few years later it was used by the Imperial Russian Army in WWI, giving that conflict its nickname: the machine gun war. It was also used by the Red Army in the Russian Civil War, as well as in World War Two.
And just last year it was used against Russia by Ukraine. Although Russian media mocked them, they actually had a good reason. Unlike modern machine guns, the bulky, stationary, slow-firing relic from the early twentieth century has a water cooling system, a brass water jacket around the barrel. Modern machine guns are fired in bursts to avoid overheating, barrel deformation, and ammunition exploding prematurely. The M1910, meanwhile, can fire continuously for minutes at a time.
It wasn’t the only antique they used either. Ukrainians also deployed the American-made M101 howitzer and Russian-made D-44 artillery gun, both from the early 1940s. They even resurrected an old Russian tank, the T-34, which until the battles for Lysychansk, had been installed as a monument in the city.
8. Bayonet (2004)
Not since the Vietnam War have bayonets been in regular use. Based on spears, they’re designed for impaling the enemy — which, given that they’re mounted on rifles, was far more important before automatic reload, such as in the American Revolutionary and Civil Wars. They were only used in Vietnam because the jungle made close combat inevitable.
In 2004, however, a British corporal led a bayonet charge against the Taliban in Helmand. Under heavy fire from nearby soldiers, his patrol fled into a ditch — then realized they were pinned down by the enemy. So, while two provided cover fire, the corporal and three others leapt out and charged with their bayonets. The Taliban soldiers were apparently so disoriented that they retreated and by the time they re-emerged, back-up had arrived.
Spears were used even more recently than bayonets, but not by an advanced modern army. In December 2019, before getting firearms, the Masalit of Darfur were still defending themselves with spears, as well as knives and saforok throwing sticks.
7. Club (1918)
World War One, the so-called “Great War”, introduced all kinds of weapons for fighting at a distance — from tanks and submarines to machine guns and nerve gas. In practice, however, the realities of trench warfare had soldiers on both sides improvising melee weapons. They made stakes into push knives, entrenching tools into battleaxes, and whatever was to hand into clubs.
The clubs were especially brutal. Some were just big bits of wood, while others were far more elaborate — like the German morning star type with ersatz wrist straps and deadly spiked heads. A French version, which doubled as a walking stick, was made of naturally gnarled wood, leather grip, lead weights, and iron spikes. British clubs, meanwhile, were often more basic. The knobkerry, for instance, was just a standard entrenching tool handle with a grooved metal head.
Before long, the effectiveness of these weapons for trench raiding parties led to standardization and mass production for official army issue.
6. Brass Knuckles (1945)
Brass knuckles, or knuckle dusters, were probably first used in 12th century India, where the spiked vajra-mushti, or “thunder-fist”, was a prominent feature of wrestling. Before that, augmenting the fist with metal attachments usually took the form of a glove — like the caestus worn by Roman gladiators.
Brass knuckles were later used in the American Civil War. In fact, Abraham Lincoln (as well as his bodyguards) were known to carry the weapon.
More recently, they were used in the First and Second World Wars. There were a number of reasons for this. Aside from the demands of close combat trench raids, they were also cheap to buy or easy to make by melting lead bullets and casting in moulds. Another advantage was the free use of fingers while wearing them, allowing soldiers to reload their guns.
5. Blow Gun (1945)
Blow guns are silent and deadly. The moment a victim hears a dart is the moment it strikes them dead (or worse, depending on the poison). In 1964 they were used by guerillas in the Congo, killing the Congolese Army Chief of Staff, as well as an American missionary and others.
They’re not weapons you’d associate with modern warfare. But they appear to have helped the Allies win World War Two. During the Borneo campaign, indigenous Dyak head-hunters were encouraged to use their blow guns against the Japanese. American troops even joined them. After his B-24 Liberator went down, one US soldier who parachuted onto the island was rescued by Dyaks and trained in the art of the blow gun. Two decades later, the roles were reversed and invading American troops found themselves at the receiving end of the Viet Cong’s blow guns in Vietnam.
Even more recently, in 2022, American soldiers stationed in Hawaii used blow darts on Oahu’s stray cats — prompting outcry from locals.
4. Bow and Arrow (1945)
According to the World War Two diary of the British 4th Infantry Brigade, “the sight of Captain Churchill passing down the beach with his bows and arrows” was one of the most reassuring of the Dunkirk embarkation. “Mad” Jack Churchill was known for using old weapons, once declaring that “any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed”. But he also considered a longbow essential. After the Battle of l’Epinette in France, with his company pinned down by Nazis, he killed the first enemy soldier with his longbow before resorting to machine guns.
Even today, some people wonder why archery fell out of favor. The US Army itself has shown its tactical superiority — at least in some situations. In 2015, for instance, Special Forces shot a box filled with dirt using a range of weapons (an M1911A1 .45 automatic, a .30 M1 carbine, a .30 M1 rifle, and a modern bow) and only the bow and arrow shot out the other side. The other advantage, of course, is they’re easy to make in the field.
3. Crossbow (1999)
Crossbows, invented two and a half thousand years ago, were used last century in the Vietnam War. But there it was a traditional weapon wielded by the native highlanders, or “Montagnards”.
Less traditional was its use by Serbs against the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the 90s. Surprisingly, they weren’t just using whatever was to hand. Crossbows were specifically chosen and imported from England as the counter-sniper weapon of choice. Not only are they silent, said a journalist at the time, but “they also have a psychological effect.” Furthermore, they called to mind the Serbian war criminal Arkan, who in the early 90s used crossbows and “other exotic weapons” to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies.
But there was another more practical reason. Since the British classed them as sports equipment, crossbows weren’t subject to the same export restrictions as other deadly weapons. So, at least until the British government found out, they could be freely imported to the war zone. Countries closer to the conflict, like Slovenia and Croatia, weren’t so laissez faire — as the KLA found out when they tried to buy some from them.
2. Trebuchet (2014)
Another weapon from 4th century BC China, the trebuchet was retired in the Middle Ages. The last historical use was at the 1521 siege of Tenochtitlán. They’ve since been replaced by artillery.
In 2014, however, Syrian rebels built trebuchets for use in their fight against Assad. Their advantage over modern equivalents (no sound, light, heat, etc.) was purely incidental; the rebels used whatever was to hand. With ornamental balls and shotguns, for example, they built their own grenade launchers. They also rigged video game controllers to fire mortar rounds and built their own “tanks”: cars surrounded by corrugated iron.
1. Lance (1939)
An iconic throwback to the age of chivalry, of duels between knights on horseback, the lance was in use until World War Two — at least according to legend. On 1 September 1939, so the story goes, the veteran Polish Colonel Kazimierz Mastalerz and his cavalry saw a German force amassing — much larger than their own and supported by tanks — and knew they’d need the element of surprise. Mastalerz decided to charge. And despite getting mown down by machine guns, the horse-mounted lancers managed to scatter the enemy.
In truth, this dramatic story was spread by Italian and German propagandists. Mastalerz and his cavalry did charge the enemy, just not as naively as remembered — and probably not with lances.
However, while the Polish cavalry after 1937 tended to use anti-tank rifles, lances were still a part of their arsenal. Used at the commander’s discretion, part of the lance’s appeal was its psychological impact on the enemy.