Getting up the blood spirit

Getting up the blood spirit: An Army instructor's phrase in bayonet fighting exercise. Sacks stuffed with straw served as dummies, and the men had to attack them not only in scientific form, but with suitable ferocity – the "blood spirit." The phrase was invented during the war at the musketry school at Hardelot (see Spirit of the bayonet). The exercise formed part of the Army training course. The "enemy" (dummy stacks), were placed in alignment, the assailants were drawn up in front of a parapet or wall, which they scaled and then rushed forward to tackle the dummies, afterwards pressing on in pursuit.