Literally, the dagger in the left hand.

An old friend responded to the pic of the trench knife by saying it reminded him of his la main gauche.

Interesting in a couple of respects. Yes, there’s a resemblance. A brutal proof that death has stalked men for hundreds of years. But there’s also a big difference between the French dagger and the trench knife. The former is a weapon of treachery, the latter a final measure of self defense.

When the trench is overrun, the knife is just a chance at living for one more minute.

It’s clear we’ll have to talk a lot more about World War I, the trenches, and the hell of life on the western front.

Which we can accomplish here.

Among other things.