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Nation : Turkish
Local Price : 2,250.00 USD

OTTOMAN TURKISH FLINTLOCK BLUNDERBUSS, C.1800. 21 ½” length. Mediterranean walnut full stock with dropped comb and circular section wrist terminating in a scroll. Stock inlaid throughout in scrolling brass inlay, complete. Iron butt plate, trigger guard, lock and side plate. The barrel is of particularly exaggerated form, 2 3/4” diameter at the muzzle, with lapped seam to the underside. Breech boldly chiseled in stylized foliage. The center and muzzle in silver calligraphy, probably Thuluth (some wear). Good uniform character. A type now rarely seen on the market.

Nation : French
Local Price : £1,595.00

French Naval AN X Sabre de Bord or 1811 Pattern Cutlass. Ref 9361. A Rare French Naval AN X Sabre de Bord or 1811 Pattern Cutlass. 32&157; overall, 27&157;blade slightly curved with broad fuller, engraved on both sides with an anchor & inspector stamps, & ´M-F´ture Imp du Klingenthal Coulaux frere´ on the spine. Sheet iron half basket hilt with octagonal iron grip, five lobed quillion, Phrygian helmet pommel, in it´s original brass mounted black leather scabbard, with a frog stud on the top mount. Circa 1811- 1815. Rare sword with scabbard in good condition Jacques and Julien Coulaux managed the Klingenthal factory from 1803 to 1836. See ´Naval Swords and Dirks´ by Sim Comfort page 418, 425 & ´Boarders Away´ by &194;&160;W. Gilkerson pages 78-80 &194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160;&194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160;&194;&160; Images courtesy of West Street Antiques (https://antiquearmsandarmour.com/)

Nation : German
Local Price : £1,595.00

German Feldsäbel Sabre circa 1680-1720. EL7065 - A Continental (probably German) 'Feldsäbel' military sabre, dating to circa 1680-1720. Featuring a 29 inch sabre blade, bearing various emblems and motifs of religious and mystical significance. Various Latin mottos, including "Vincere aut mori" (Conquer or die!). The blackened iron hilt, with perforated side shells, thumb-ring and side bars, of quite a typical German form for the

Nation : French
Local Price : £1,595.00

French Napoleonic AN XI Light Cavalry Troopers Sword. Ref X3416. A French Napoleonic AN XI&194;&160;&194;&160;Light Cavalry Troopers Sword. 40&157; overall, 34 1/2&157; curved fullered blade with inspector´s poincon of ´J. Krantz´, back edge engraved ´M-F´ture Imp du Klingenthal Septembre 1812´. Three bar brass hilt, brass pommel with V stamp, original leather grip with large brass rivet, stamped ´Versailles´ with other unidentified stamps. In its original heavy steel scabbard with two suspension rings. Dated 1812.&194;&160; Sword in good condition, some old worm holes in grip.&194;&160; Images courtesy of West Street Antiques (https://antiquearmsandarmour.com/)

Nation : British
Local Price : £1,595.00

**RARE**ATTRIBUTED RNAS PILOT OFFICER’S**MINT**WW1 Era British Kings Crown Henry Wilkinson Sword With Blued & Etched Panels Blade Presented To Captain (Later RAF) William Hallett-Carpenter, Bullion Cord, Portepee & Matching Maker Scabbard. Sn 22088 -. The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty’s Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army’s Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force (RAF), the world’s first independent air force. This is an excellent WW1 era British Royal Navy Officer’s Sword presented to Captain (Later RAF) William Hallett-Carpenter on being commissioned into the Royal Naval Air Service (Captain William Hallett-Carpenter was commissioned into the RNVR RNAS in 1915 and served as an Armourer and Gunnery Instructor. He transferred to the RAF in April 1918 and was promoted to Captain). The sword in near mint condition has a clean single edged straight blade which is 31¾” in length with central fuller (37 ¾” overall). The blade is crisply etched with Naval fouled anchor & foliate panels on both sides together with King’s crown and heraldic arms. The riccaso is marked on one side by the manufacturer Henry Wilkinson Pall Mall London together with Royal Warrant and the reverse has the ordnance acceptance proof star with inlaid roundel. One side of the blade has a nice presentation panel ‘PRESENTED TO LIEUTENANT W. HALLETT CARPENTER BY THE DIRECTORS OF THE PYRENE Co Ltd UPON HIS JOINING THE ROYAL NAVAL AIR SERVICE AS A MARK OF THEIR APPRECIATION OF HIS VALUABLE SERVICE’. It has a gilt brass lions head with mane pommel and grip strap & full knuckle guard with the Royal Navy Kings Crown and fouled anchor motif. The spine of the blade is number 50993 (1914/17 Period) and has ‘London Made’ cartouche. The sword’s fish skin grip with bullion wire binding is undamaged. Attached to the guard is its bullion cord and portepee all in excellent condition. The sword is complete with its black leather scabbard which has gilt brass mounts and 2 hanging rings. The throat mount has an embossed shield with matching Henry Wilkinson manufacturer detail. The scabbard has a retaining clip which functions as it should, holding the sword securely in the scabbard. The price for this near mint attributed RNAS Officer’s presentation sword set includes UK delivery. Sn 22088

Nation : British
Local Price : £1595.00

A Very Fine & Rare, Signally Beautiful, Anglo-American War of 1812, 'Eagle Head' & Scroll Fretted Hilt, American Officer's Sabre. In Great Condition.. It was quite extraordinary, but we acquired a pair of these fabulous and very rare American eagle head pommel and scroll fretted hilted sabres, that have been together since the war, possibly owned by brothers that served, but naturally, officer's swords were never sold as pairs, or indeed used as such, but, none the less, they have been together for almost 200 years. We are, however, selling them individually. Eagle head pommel with fully feathered back strap, in brass, with scroll fretted knuckle guard, and carved bone grip. Almost all the deluxe grade American officer’s sabres had the expensive alternative option of a carved bone hilt, as opposed to carved ivory, as enjoyed by their British counterparts, as the new nation of America lost all its access to ivory after its split from being part of the British colonial forces. Another one of the long list of negative consequences resulting from the revolution of 1776. It has an engraved bright polished blade, and its original brass mounted leather scabbard, with both twin ring belt strap supports, and an alternative wear option of a frog mount stud. Overall in excellent condition, with usual aged blade etching surface wear. Used in the War of 1812 period, and a very nice example of these very fine swords,For Canadians, historically, the War of 1812 was the successful defence of a small colony against attack by a much larger neighbour. Canadians endured repeated invasions and occasional occupations, but each invasion ultimately ended with an American withdrawal. The Royal Navy and British Army supported by Canadian regulars, Canadian militia, and First Peoples warriors, successfully defended Canada. Isaac Brock, Charles de Salaberry, Laura Secord, and Tecumseh became, and remain, iconic Canadian figures. The successful defence of Canada allowed British North America to evolve into an independent transcontinental country. The War of 1812 was fought between the United States of America and Great Britain and its colonies, Upper and Lower Canada and Nova Scotia, from 1812 to 1815 on land and sea. The Americans declared war on Britain on June 18, 1812, for a combination of reasons, outrage at the impressment (seizure) of thousands of American sailors, frustration at British restraints on neutral trade while Britain warred with France, and anger at British support for native attacks along the frontier which conflicted with American expansion and settlement into the Old Northwest. The war started poorly for the Americans as their attempts to invade Canada were repeatedly repulsed; later in the war, American land forces proved more effective. The Royal Navy lost some early single-ship battles but eventually their numbers told and the naval blockade of the eastern seaboard ruined American commerce, and led to extreme dissatisfaction in New England. Following the American raid and burning of York (now Toronto), the British raided the Chesapeake Bay area and burned parts of Washington D.C. but were repulsed at Baltimore and withdrew. The Americans gained naval control of Lake Erie and Lake Champlain, preventing the planned British invasion of New York. The Americans destroyed the power of the native people of the Northwest and Southeast. With the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, and the stalemate on the battlefields, both nations agreed to a peace that left the prewar boundaries intact.

Nation : British
Local Price : £2,200.00

Scottish WW1 Field Officer's Broadsword of Brig. Gen. Norman Richard Crockatt, Royal Scots, First Director of MI9, CBE, DSO, MC, MID, Legion of Merit, Legion d’Honneur, Croix de Gu. Straight spear-pointed blade with double fullers 32 5/8 inches in length, 1.1 inches wide at the forte, the sword 39 inches overall. Pierced nickel-plated steel guard with foliate ‘honeysuckle’ decoration also incorporating thistles, and the emblem of the Royal Scots: a figure of St Andrew, holding a crux decussata (a.k.a. the saltire, or St Andrew’s cross, also seen on the Scottish flag). Patron saint of Scotland, St. Andrew was said in medieval tradition to have requested to be crucified on such a cross, as he felt unworthy to be executed in the same manner as Jesus. Wire-bound shagreen grip, chequered backstrap with integral chequered oval pommel, secured by screw with eyelet. No leather washer. Fabric hilt liner with red exterior and white interior. Steel parade scabbard with two hanging rings. The blade is etched at the ricasso on one side with the royal coat of arms above the maker’s mark ‘Henry Wilkinson Pall Mall London’. At the ricasso on the other side is a hexagonal brass proof slug set within an etched six-pointed star - the hexagonal proof slug was used from 1905 onwards to denote Wilkinson’s best quality blades. The spine of the blade at the ricasso is stamped with the serial number ‘44310’, indicating production in 1913. Wilkinson Sword records confirm that sword 44310, described as a ‘Claymore’, was finished on the 9 th October 1913 and sold to ‘R Crockatt, Rl Scots’. The blade is further etched with thistle motifs, the crown and cypher of King George V, ‘Royal Scots’ enclosing a thistle and beneath another crown, and the family crest of the Crockatts: a Dog Sleeping Sable, Spotted Argent (in this instance with a variation of a five-pointed star placed on the dog) above the family motto ‘TAK TENT’ – a Scots phrase meaning ‘take heed’, ‘keep watch’, or ‘beware’. Norman Richard Crockatt was born in 1894. Educated at Rugby School, he went on to attend the Royal Military College at Sandhurst and joined the Royal Scots as a 2 nd Lieutenant in 1913. He disembarked in France with the 2 nd Battalion in August 1914 as part of the British Expeditionary Force and was severely wounded during the Retreat from Mons in the same month. He was promoted to temporary Lieutenant in September 1914, and to Lieutenant in November 1914. He was appointed an Adjutant serving with the Yorkshire Regiment in May 1915 which came with the Territorial rank of temporary Captain – I believe the Adjutant position may have allowed him to first use the field officer’s hilt on his sword. He was mentioned in Dispatches in June 1916. His Adjutant appointment ended in July 1916 when he was assigned a Grade 3 General Staff Officer, still at temporary Captain. He was promoted full Captain in August 1916. He was awarded the Military Cross in the 1917 New Year Honours. He was made a temporary Major in February 1918. He was awarded the Order of the Nile, 4 th Class by the Egyptians for service in Palestine in the latter part of the war. He was again mentioned in Dispatches in both January and June 1919 and awarded the Distinguished Service Order in December 1919. In 1920 he was appointed Adjutant of the 4 th Battalion Royal Scots. Crockatt retired abruptly in 1927 – by one account, walking out in the middle of a staff training course – to become a stockbroker, but was recalled to the Army immediately on the outbreak of WW2 and assigned to the Directorate of Military Intelligence at the rank of Brigadier. He was specifically requested, in fact, by John C F Holland, head of the War Office’s irregular warfare branch ‘MI R’, who had known Crockatt since their schooldays together at Rugby. “ In an age of drab clothes and battledress he [Crockatt] wore at every opportunity the colourful gear of his regiment, the Royal Scots. Moreover, as a former front-line combatant who had also served on the other side of the divide, he could understand and appreciate the antagonism that combatants were likely to feel for the staff, could make allowances for it, and could do his best to reduce it. He was also clear-headed, quick-witted, a good organiser, a good judge of men, and no respecter of red tape: excellent qualities for his early struggles in the War Office. ” [MI9 by Foot and Langley, 1979] In December 1939 Holland recommended Crockatt to be the first director of the newly formed MI9. This secret unit was tasked with assisting in the escape and repatriation of Allied troops that had been captured or were stranded behind enemy lines – or rather would be captured, once fighting began in earnest. In doing so Holland deliberately went against suggestions to appoint an officer with experience escaping captivity, deciding they would be prejudiced by personal experiences. While never an escapee, Crockatt was by no means short of ideas. He later explained his objectives for MI9 as follows: To facilitate escapes of British prisoners of war, thereby getting back service personnel and containing additional enemy manpower on guard duties. To facilitate the return to the United Kingdom of those who succeeded in evading capture in enemy occupied territory. To collect and distribute information. To assist in the denial of information to the enemy. To maintain morale of British prisoners of war in enemy prison camps. Crockatt believed that the new war required a new philosophy throughout all the armed forces: while British troops had mostly remained quietly in prisoner of war camps during WW1, based on an honour-driven understanding of surrender which had been largely reciprocated by their enemies, ‘escape-mindedness’ now needed to be trained into British soldiers of all ranks in all services, with programs instituted to that effect. He insisted that ‘A fighting man remains a fighting man, whether in enemy hands or not, and his duty to continue fighting overrides everything else’. To understand potential escape methods Crockatt brought in experienced British escapees of WW1 to give lectures to MI9, and sourced fifty books from the British Museum with accounts of such escapes. The books he sent to his old school, Rugby, where sixth-formers wrote synopses of the material which MI9 then synthesised into training manuals. The resulting training courses, conducted by MI9’s ‘IS9’ division, were focused most heavily on the Royal Air Force, whose pilots were proportionately rarer and more valuable assets. A course at RAF Highgate distilled Crockatt’s new mindset thus: “ Only as a last resort should you be in a position of being captured. Your job is to fight – and only through wounds, lack of ammunition or food should you ever allow yourself to be captured. Should you be captured, it must be your firm and constant determination to escape at the earliest opportunity – to bring back information to our people. ” [Specimen Lecture for Army Units on Conduct if Cut Off from Unit or Captured, WO 208/3242] For escape-mindedness to succeed in practice troops would need new escape technology: to this end Crockatt recruited technical experts Charles Fraser-Smith and Clayton Hutton into the new ‘Q’ unit, to design devices to assist stranded British soldiers in their escape and evasion. Hutton described his new boss as ‘suave, well groomed and shrewd’. When Hutton asked how he should set about producing escape tools, Crockatt replied simply: ‘It’s entirely up to you. There are no previous plans to work from and no official records… Put on your thinking cap, do as you like.’ This unit and its ‘Q-devices’ directly inspired Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, the character of Q being an amalgam of Crockatt’s two technicians. There were at that time still no POWs needing help, but this changed rapidly from May 1940 with the German invasions of Belgium and France and MI9’s resources were increased. Crockatt oversaw the development of numerous ‘escape lines’ which ferried thousands of escapees and downed airmen back to Britain. Many of these had emerged organically out of local resistance but needed logistical support, extra personnel and improved security. MI9 was initially headquartered in rooms at the Metropole and Great Central Hotels in London, but the Metropole was hit by urban bombing in September 1940 and Crockatt opted to move the unit into the countryside, requisitioning Wilton Park House in Buckinghamshire in October, which was close to his own home in Ashley Green but not too far from London. To keep the escape lines running up to date information on the state of enemy territory was essential and MI9’s purview expanded to interrogation of enemy prisoners (as well as civilians seeking to enter Britain) and debriefing of successful escapees, this work gradually increasing the unit’s value as a source of intelligence in its own right. This was reflected in Crockatt’s promotion to Colonel in 1941, taking the new position of Deputy Director of Military Intelligence (Prisoners of War). The interrogations unit for enemy soldiers, ‘MI9a’ was spun off in December 1941 into an independent but associated agency, MI19. The work of MI9 in Europe occupied most of its attention and resources given its proximity, but it should be emphasised that it oversaw escape operations in most other theatres of the war despite the even greater difficulties of operating outside Europe. Crockatt was only able to oversee these at arm’s length, but wherever British forces were captured MI9 played a role, including the Middle East, North Africa, Russia, Burma and occupied areas of China. Major General Carl Spaatz of the United States Army Air Force first met with Crockatt in 1942, which began the development of the American equivalent to MI9, MIS-X. Spaatz and his appointees, including the academic W. Stull Holt and businessman Edward Johnston, formed a highly productive relationship with Crockatt. Holt in particular was impressed with Crockatt’s leadership and organisation, leading him to make the bold decision that MIS-X would use and support the British escape lines, rather than trying to establish their own competing system. Likewise American training programs were heavily based on the British model. The end result was that British and American captives were able to collaborate on escape efforts and make it home by the same routes. “ Crockatt’s own impressive personality counted for much in this. Not only did he stimulate Holt; he made a tremendous hit in Washington (and, in passing, in New York) when they both visited America from 28 January to 15 March 1943. His bonnet and tartan trews and the panache with which he wore them enhanced the originality, almost the eccentricity, of his approach to war; people felt in him the practical daring of a young Lochinvar. ” [Foot and Langley, 1979] Crockatt repaid the compliment a year later when Holt was nearly ousted from his position in a Pentagon turf war, intervening with American leaders on his behalf to save a productive partnership. After Lt Airey Neave made his famous escape from Colditz Castle in 1942, he was recruited immediately into MI9. Brigadier Crockatt met with him at the famous Rules restaurant in London, dressed in his full Royal Scots dress uniform and medals. It was apparently a habit of Crockatt’s to hold any conversation that might get awkward in Rules, a public place with good food naturally cooling the temper. Neave wrote in his memoirs that Crockatt ‘was a real soldier and I liked him immediately.’ Crockatt tasked Neave to MI9’s new Room 900 section which would train new agents to establish fresh escape routes, telling him frankly ‘You will look after secret communications with occupied Europe and training of agents. It won’t be a bed of roses.’ True to form, Crockatt left Neave to his work free of operational interference. Crockatt visited the Asian theatre for the first time in late 1944, where he took the opportunity to visit his son Dick, who was serving with the Royal Scots in Burma. Personal feelings from this meeting overflowed into a personal letter from Crockatt to his American counterpart in MIS-X Ed Johnston, complaining about the lack of co-ordination he’d found between the two agencies’ Asian branches: ‘I wish to God people would forget about themselves and their nationalities and get on with this bloody war, so that you and I could get our boys back.’ Crockatt was considered a highly effective leader at MI9, combining traditional military efficiency with forward thinking and a light touch to command & control of the various specialists and mavericks he recruited. He constructed an entirely new branch of the intelligence service with a unique overlap of logistics and spycraft, with limited manpower and resources and despite friction with more established units, particularly MI6. J. M. Langley, who ran IS9, wrote that Crockatt ‘attracted an immediate loyalty and devotion of all who served under him’ and noted that he argued in favour of perilous operations like the rescue of escape line organiser Lt Ian Garrow on a matter of principle, believing ‘that Ian’s magnificent work and self-sacrifice should be recognized by some effort to save him from almost certain death in a concentration camp’. 26,190 British and Commonwealth troops escaped from Europe alone thanks to the intervention of MI9, and it is estimated that 90% of troops that evaded initial capture in Europe were successfully rescued by them. Some authors have considered Crockatt lacking in the ruthless attitude of other intelligence officials, however, focusing on prisoner welfare even when more aggressive operations might have secured more escapes. He refused, for instance, to hide any escape materials in Red Cross shipments in case the enemy responded by banning the organisation’s crucial deliveries. Fake charities were used instead even at the risk of increased scrutiny. He had at all times to balance furthering MI9’s mission with the fear that reprisals or outright massacres might be carried out against prisoners of war if the enemy leadership was sufficiently provoked. More controversial were his orders to British prisoners held in Italy in 1943 to ‘stay put’ in prison camps even if their guards began to abandon their posts, a stark contrast to his own stated philosophy. There were good explanations for this policy: it would make it easier for Allied forces to find the prisoners and prevent the known problem of chaos and hardship when hordes of servicemen were left to wander the countryside without supplies. It was believed that the 80,000 prisoners in Italy might be in poor physical condition and the Allied advance through Italy was expected to be relatively swift. Reprisals were still a possibility and the senior intelligence community was by that time aware of the existence of extermination camps that could have killed soldiers en masse. True to form, Crockatt was more concerned with keeping men safe than speeding their return. What was less explicable was that he neglected to inform the War Cabinet of this order. After good initial progress, when the Allied advance stalled at the Gustav Line about 50,000 prisoners still remained in their camps even while German troops arrived to replace the fled Italians, resulting in some prisoners being resecured or transported away to other camps when they might have escaped. Churchill was dismayed at this outcome and ordered an SAS operation to find and rescue those who had left the camps, which largely failed. Crockatt retired from heading MI9 in June 1945, succeeded by Brig. Sam Derry. MI9 continued its work repatriating freed soldiers and gathering intelligence from them, particularly focusing on evidence of war crimes to be prosecuted at the upcoming tribunals, as well as locating, rewarding and honouring the various civilian ‘helpers’ who assisted in the escape lines at great personal risk. Some MI9 personnel went on to form the Joint Reserve Reconnaissance Unit, an intelligence unit specialising in battlefield surveillance and nuclear targeting. This later became 23 Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve), which during the Cold War was planned to man hidden stay-behind observation posts if Soviet forces overran Western Germany. 23 SAS still exists today under the umbrella of UK Special Forces. Being head of a secret organisation Crockatt received little public fanfare, but a number of honours did come his way. He was recommended for a CBE in the 1945 Birthday Honours by the Director of Military Intelligence Sir John Sinclair, his recommendation declaring that Crockatt ‘built up from zero the most effective inter-service Intelligence organisation which exists’. As well as ‘spontaneous and unstinted testimonials from the other Services and certain Government departments’ Sinclair noted ‘the marked appreciation of several US General Officers’ for Crockatt’s work. For their part the Americans bestowed Crockatt with the US Legion of Merit (Officer degree) and for his service to the French people he received both the Legion d’Honneur (Chevalier class) and the Croix de Guerre (with palm). In later life he became director of the Attock Oil Company, and was appointed a member of the Royal Company of Archers, the Queen’s Body Guard for Scotland. Brigadier General Crockatt died in October 1956, aged 62. As Brigadier Dudley Clarke, the head of MI9’s Middle Eastern operations, wrote in 1941: “ In war it is given to few soldiers to be able to serve simultaneously the causes of humanity and country. All who work for MI9 have this special privilege, and few calls can have more appeal than that to rescue those whom the Fortunes of war have abandoned to the enemy. ” The traditionally-styled Scottish broadsword was carried only by Highland infantry regiments until 1881, when the Lowland regiments also adopted Scottish dress and the broadsword along with it (with the exception of the Cameronians). The use of an interchangeable hilt may date back to the 1860s, but is first officially mentioned in the Dress Regulations of 1883, which authorized the Highland Light Infantry to use the basket hilt for full-dress occasions and the cross-bar hilt for all other occasions. Field Officers and other mounted officers were entitled to use a third hilt, the form of which varied by regiment: this design, a symmetrical basket hilt with thistle designs and the regimental badge, was used by the Royal Scots, Royal Scots Fusiliers, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, Gordon Highlanders and Highland Light infantry. See plate 178 on page 186 of Swords of the British Army by Robson for another example of the Royal Scots model. The hilt could be changed by unscrewing the pommel nut, removing the pommel, grip and guard, then replacing each with the other version. The blade is bright with a high reflective polish, no edge damage and no significant patination, some light scratching towards the tip, none affecting the etching which is crisp and retains the contrast between the matt acid-etched background and the reflective polished designs within it – the custom family crest panel has an interesting darker grey background applied in the etching that makes it stand out even more. The regimental hilt is undamaged and retains almost all of its bright nickel plating, with wear only at spots along its edges exposing patinated steel. The shagreen of the grip is all present with light handling wear and no scale losses, the grip wires are all present and tight. The interchangeable hilt is securely screwed in place. The scabbard has a few small spots of patination towards the chape end and some very light scratches from carry. The fabric of the hilt liner retains bright colours, particularly the red showing through the pierced guard, with some rubbing to the inner edge and surface-level cracking on the inner surface where it curls at the pommel end.

Nation : British
Local Price : £1,575.00

**SCARCE & DESIRABLE**WW1 Era King George V British WD Scottish Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Staff Sergeants / Officer’s Basket Hilt Broadsword With Etched & Blued Panels & Stylised Monogram Blade & Scabbard. Sn 23484:107 -. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise’s) was an Infantry Regiment of the British Army until amalgamation into The Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2006. During the Crimean War The Highlanders earned the sobriquet of “The Fighting Highlanders” and carried with it the status of having been the original “Thin Red Line”. This title was bestowed following the action of the 93rd at Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in which the Highlanders alone stood between the undefended British Army base at Balaclava and 4 Squadrons of charging Russian Cavalry. The Regiment saw much action in both WW1 & WW2. This is an original WW1 Era King George V British WD Scottish Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Staff Sergeants / Officer’s Basket Hilt Broadsword. It is similar in form to those illustrated 187-195 of Swords Of The British Army by Robson. The Scottish basket hilt Broadsword has become one of the most sought after swords for collectors (see page 35 of World Swords by Withers). The sword measures 39” overall with a 31 ¾” double edged fullered blade which has etched & blued panels of Thistles and other foliate devices on both sides. One side has King’s Crown Royal Cypher ‘GRV’ (King George V Rex) & heraldic arms. The etching also features the Regimental badge of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and stylised monogram (illustrated, most likely the Officer / NCO who commissioned this sword). The ricasso has ordnance acceptance star and proof roundel. The blade has its original leather hilt washer. It has the correct medieval appearance basket hilt with wire wrapped fish skin bound wood handle, nickel plate fittings, flat cross guard, ribbed ferrule and bell shaped pommel cap with holed ball end. Its fish skin handle is tight and undamaged as is its full ‘heart design’ pierced steel basket hilt with original leather lining. The sword is complete with original steel scabbard with ball end and 2 steel hanging rings. The scabbard is undamaged with no dents. The price for this sought after sword with scabbard includes UK delivery. Sn 23484:107