Original Austro-Hungarian WWI Trench Raiding Mace Club – Personal Collection David Machnicki Author of At Arm’s Length Series Original Items

Original Item: One-of-a-kind. Purchased directly from David F. Machnicki, the author of At Arm’s Length Trench Club book Series. We were told that this club will be featured in the upcoming Volume three of the series

This is a gruesome example of a Great War Austrian Trench Club comprised of a simple yet effective design. It measures 23.5 inches in overall length and weighs nearly 4 lbs. A thick section of iron pipe that measures 4 inches in length serves as the head of the club into which 20 pyramidal shaped spikes have been hammered in place in a concentric pattern of two’s and three’s around the circumference. There are twenty points in total. The wood haft tapers gradually towards a carved rounded pommel which has a ridge approximately 2.5 inches from the end. The ridge would improve the users grasp on the club. This is a fantastic almost medieval appearing trench mace from the Austrian-Hungarian forces during Wold War One!

Total Length: 23.5 inches
Diameter at top: 1.75 inches
Weight: 4 lbs

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.