Screw picket
Encyclopedia
A screw picket is a metal device used to secure something to the ground. Today, screw pickets are used widely to temporarily "picket" dogs and grazing animals such as sheep, goats, and horses. Screw pickets are also used to stabilize small trees, tent poles, and other objects that are intended to remain upright.
The original picket
was a stake hammered into the ground to secure a horse by tying it to the stake. This required a second tool (a hammer) or the availability of a rock to use instead of a tool. The screw picket is screwed (turned) into the ground; in hard ground it too requires a second tool (a leverage bar, or perhaps a spare screw picket) or the availability of a length of wood. Screw pickets are more easily bent or broken, but less easily pulled from the ground.
defences, were introduced around 1915 as a replacement for timber posts. The French
name for this type of steel stake was 'queue de cochon' or pigtail. The World War I
steel stake became known in the British Army
as a 'corkscrew picket'. The corkscrew picket was made from a steel bar which had its bottom end bent into a spiral coil. It also had three loops or 'eyes' (some even had four) formed, one at top, one at midway and one just above the corkscrew spiral. The final product was about eight feet long.
Groups of soldiers, known in the British army as wiring parties
went out at night into no man's land
to position these supports and then to string the barbed wire through the loops to form a defensive wire obstacle
as a protection for their trench line
. The British called this type of stake a 'corkscrew' picket because it was screwed into the ground rather than hammered in as the timber posts had been (the hammering made a lot of noise and this usually attracted enemy fire). Screw pickets, while less rigid than timber posts, replaced them because they could be installed rapidly and silently.
The corkscrew picket was screwed into the ground by turning it in a clockwise direction using an entrenching tool's handle or a stick inserted in the bottom eye of the picket for leverage. The bottom eye was used in order to avoid bending the vertical bar of the picket.
The original picket
Picket line
A picket line is a horizontal rope, along which horses are tied at intervals. The rope can be on the ground, at chest height , or overhead. The overhead form usually is called a high line....
was a stake hammered into the ground to secure a horse by tying it to the stake. This required a second tool (a hammer) or the availability of a rock to use instead of a tool. The screw picket is screwed (turned) into the ground; in hard ground it too requires a second tool (a leverage bar, or perhaps a spare screw picket) or the availability of a length of wood. Screw pickets are more easily bent or broken, but less easily pulled from the ground.
Military non-equestrian use
Screw pickets, used as supports for barbed wireBarbed wire
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property...
defences, were introduced around 1915 as a replacement for timber posts. The French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
name for this type of steel stake was 'queue de cochon' or pigtail. The World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
steel stake became known in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
as a 'corkscrew picket'. The corkscrew picket was made from a steel bar which had its bottom end bent into a spiral coil. It also had three loops or 'eyes' (some even had four) formed, one at top, one at midway and one just above the corkscrew spiral. The final product was about eight feet long.
Groups of soldiers, known in the British army as wiring parties
Wiring party
Wiring parties, , were used during World War I on the Western Front as an offensive countermeasure against the enemy’s barbed wire obstacles. Though a hazardous and stressful duty, workers worked at night to repair, improve, and rebuild their own wire defences, while also sabotaging and cutting the...
went out at night into no man's land
No man's land
No man's land is a term for land that is unoccupied or is under dispute between parties that leave it unoccupied due to fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dumping ground for refuse between fiefdoms...
to position these supports and then to string the barbed wire through the loops to form a defensive wire obstacle
Wire obstacle
In the military science of fortification, wire obstacles are defensive obstacles made from barbed wire, barbed tape or concertina wire. They are designed to disrupt, delay and generally slow down an attacking enemy...
as a protection for their trench line
Trench warfare
Trench warfare is a form of occupied fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops are largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery...
. The British called this type of stake a 'corkscrew' picket because it was screwed into the ground rather than hammered in as the timber posts had been (the hammering made a lot of noise and this usually attracted enemy fire). Screw pickets, while less rigid than timber posts, replaced them because they could be installed rapidly and silently.
The corkscrew picket was screwed into the ground by turning it in a clockwise direction using an entrenching tool's handle or a stick inserted in the bottom eye of the picket for leverage. The bottom eye was used in order to avoid bending the vertical bar of the picket.