Original Austro-Hungarian WWI Spring Handle Trench Raiding Mace Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. Purchased from a notable trench club collection, this is a rare style trench mace from the Austro-Hungarian empire and used during World War One.

This trench club has a very attractive shape to its design. The club’s length is approximately 17.5 inches and weighs approximately 2 lbs. The Shaft is a heavy steel spring with turned wood grip handle and a cast iron that is attached via a chain link and has 5 spikes. It is a unique design and unquestionably authentic to the Great War.

Trench raiding clubs were homemade melee weapons used by both the Allies and the Central Powers during World War I. Clubs were used during nighttime trench raiding expeditions as a quiet and effective way of killing or wounding enemy soldiers. The clubs were usually made out of wood. It was common practice to fix a metal object at the striking end (e.g. an empty Mills bomb) in order to maximize the injury inflicted. Another common design comprised a simple stave with the end drilled out and a lead weight inserted, with rows of large hobnails hammered in around its circumference. Most designs had some form of cord or leather strap at the end to wrap around the user’s wrist. Bosnian soldiers serving in the Austro-Hungarian army were fond of using maces. They were also used by officers to finish enemy soldiers wounded by poison gas attacks.

Trench clubs were manufactured in bulk by units based behind the lines. Typically, regimental carpenters and metal workers would make large numbers of the same design of club. They were generally used along with other “quiet” weapons such as trench knives, entrenching tools, bayonets, hatchets and pickaxe handles – backed up with revolvers and hand grenades.