The military mace of the great wars was nothing new in warfare, having a history dating back to medieval times and before that to prehistoric mankind.
Both Allied and enemy forces had their own versions of trench warfare maces.
Maces were also known as war hammers and battle hammers.
These maces for trench warfare were of between short and medium length with striking heads of various shapes.
The difference between a mace and a club is generally the club is made of wood and the mace has a metal head with either a metal or wooden shaft.
There are many types of short bludgeon type weapons including saps, Billy clubs and blackjacks that have been used by criminals and in citizens self- defence as well as law enforcement.
There were a wide range of other CQC weapons that included issued tools such as entrenching tools modified to fit the role.
Workshop tools like ball-peen hammers or the ball-peen hammer head could be made into a battlefield mace for trench warfare.
There were also hatchets that could sever an arm or deliver a fatal slash and many stabbing improvised weapons like punch daggers and striking weapons like brass knuckles.
In days gone by hard men have come up with their versions of clubs and maces based on available materials and how handy they were with their hands in the workshop.
Those with scrap metal and basic engineering and carpentry tools could easily make up a rudimentary but effective mace.
Those with blacksmithing expertise could forge billy clubs and maces.
This file is a general file about trench warfare maces from the great wars.
Military Allied enemy maces consisted of shafts or handles made of wood, metal pipe or round bar.
The head of the mace was made from a range of materials including lead, brass iron and steel.
The shape and designs along with the means of fixing to the shaft or handle were varied.
From cannon-ball like mace heads to diamond heads and large hex nuts along with many different designs that included not only rounded bludgeon type ends, but also edged and pointed metal spiked designs.
The trench warfare versions were often made from available materials that included munitions.
Empty artillery shells and the mills bomb/grenade casing were used to make maces along with any available mechanical and engineering components that were suitable.
Cogs, splines, bushes, hubs, shafts, knuckle bushings, and axle components along with an array of fixings and very much anything available to act as protrusions were combined to produce an effective and robust close quarter’s weapon.
The majority of maces were not issue but were custom made with what could be found in the trenches or sourced from stores or engineering or mechanical sources. The soldiers would make them or have military engineering and carpenters make them up in quantities.
Such larger quantity runs would generally be of the same design and materials including the same methods of fixing the head to the handle.
Clubs included thick wire rope shafts as well as the spring shaft version and wide ranging wood pipe and steel rod shafts and handles.
Some had knurling or leather grips and lanyards to assist with retention.
There were heads that were steel balls those that had triangular heads as well as star and metal block shaped heads and others with protruding spikes and studs.
There were trench warfare weapons that combined a flail and a mace head like the German flail mace with its wooden handle chain link flail and spiked ball mace head.
Adapting issued kit or available tools and materials to make improvised trench weapons led to some very effective means of silently dispatching an enemy.
The purpose of the mace was for CQC actions and especially in trench warfare at close to point blank range including as part of trench warfare covert raids.
They would have been a handy tool for clandestine raids on enemy trenches and being small to medium in length they could easily be swung or used to club an enemy in the confines of trenches.
Covert raiding parties could cover no man’s land between theirs and the enemy’s trenches under darkness silently making their way along enemy trenches and employing their maces or other non-ballistic weapons without compromising themselves by firing their weapons.
With no issued non-ballistic compact service bludgeon type weapon that would fit the purpose the custom made military mace was a role specific improvised weapon that was made by or for the front line soldier specifically for close quarters actions.
