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Nation : British
Local Price : £1,150.00

Indian pattern 1912 Officer&#acute;s Sword by Wilkinson. Rare Indian pattern 1912 Officer&#acute;s Sword by Wilkinson Sword regulation hilt but with monogram GRI and crown inside a shield. Straight tapering blade etched with with GRI Royal Coat of Arms and crown to both sides complete with field service scabbard Information: Reference: Swords of the British Army Plates 84 and 85 No Illustration of GRI Monogram Blade Length: 35 Inch Overall Length: 42.25 Inch

Nation : Japanese
Local Price : £1,145.00

**GENDAITO HAND FORGED BLADE**WW2 Era Japanese Army Officer’s Shin Gunto Sword, Scabbard & Expert Assessment. Sn 19571 -. This sword has been assessed by a UK based Japanese sword expert Bill Tagg. His assessment accompanies this piece. In exerts from the assessment he states “Army Officer’s shin gunto pattern. The blade is a lower grade gendaito with a fuzzy oil quenched hamonwhich is nioi crystals based with small notare undulating pattern unsigned tang. A couple of long folding flaws in skin steel, lots of old finger rust to polish obscures any visible grain. Saya ins honoki wood with light coating of black lacquer. No kurikata has slide on metal ashi suspension loop & 1 loop of leather cover around the throat, rest of cover missing. Tsuba good quality & condition lots of gilt finish remaining original seppa. Tsuka is in good original condition all mounts present with gilt finish to fuchi & kabuto gane. Binding intact, fish skin is the flatter type. An un-touched & un-altered example of probably a seki arsenal production”. In his drawings of the blade he describes measurements and other blade characteristics (illustrated in image 2). The price includes UK delivery. Sn 19571

Nation : French
Local Price : 14,250 kr

French dragoon saber w/1784.

Nation : British
Local Price : £1125

Click and use the code >25527 to search for this item on the dealer website Superb, 1908 Pattern, Historical, British Cavalry Trooper´s Sword by Mole & Wilkinson Sword Co. Issue of 1909. British Front Line Cavalry Issue, & 1918 Australian Light Horse Issue, Original 1918 Australian Light Horse Service Issue Buff Hide Sword

Nation : British
Local Price : £1125

Click and use the code >24302 to search for this item on the dealer website Most Fine Presentation 2nd Manchester, 33rd Lancashire Rifle Volunteers Antique Victorian Sword of 1869

Nation : British
Local Price : £1,100.00

Scottish WW1 Field Officer’s Broadsword of Lt Col. John Robert Balfour, Commander 4th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers & 2/8th Manchester Regiment. Description Straight spear-pointed blade with double fullers. Pierced steel guard with foliate &#acute;honeysuckle&#acute; decoration. Black shagreen grip bound with wire, fully chequered steel backstrap and integral chequered oval pommel. Brown leather washer. Leather field scabbard with steel throat and chape pieces, rigid band below the throat piece for hanging from a frog. The hilt parts and scabbard fittings have been nickel-plated. Blade 33 inches in length, 1 1/16 inches wide at the forte, the sword 39Â½ inches overall. The blade is etched at the ricasso on one side with the retailer&#acute;s mark &#acute;FRASER ROSS & CO. 72 INGRAM ST. GLASGOW&#acute; At the ricasso on the other side is a brass proof slug set within an etched six-pointed star.Â The blade is further etched with foliate motifs, thistles, the crown and cypher of King Edward VII (reigned 1901-1910), and &#acute;ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS&#acute; beneath a crown and surrounding the badge of that regiment, a flaming bomb. The scabbard leather is inscribed on one side below the rigid band with &#acute;Lt Col. BALFOUR 1/4 RSF&#acute;. This appears to have been done by hand, perhaps using a hot pin or blade as there is blackening around the inscribed lines that may be scorching. In the same area on the opposite side an old paper label has been affixed to the leather with faded writing in ink, the partly legible text I believe reading &#acute;Major _ Balfour&#acute;. Both the label and the inscription indicate John Robert Balfour, who held the rank of Major and later Lt. Col of the 1/4th Royal Scots Fusiliers. I must note that this attribution is tentative, however, as I do not view labels or written markings as 100% definitive, unlike the usual means of identifying a sword&#acute;s owner like a record of sale or engraved initials. It is possible, albeit very unlikely, that these were put on the sword by someone else at a later date. One should note that it was not until WW1 that fractional numbers like &#acute;1/4th&#acute; were used (distinguishing first and second-line battalions with the same numbers), so the markings must have been added after 1914. John Robert Balfour was born in 1864. He attended Glasgow Academy and lived at The Grange in Froom, Ayrshire. He became a 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers in April 1898. He was promoted to Major in October 1903. The 1st Volunteer Battalion became the 4th Battalion in 1908, with John still at the rank of Major, the second highest-ranked in the regiment under Major & Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Barnett. On the outbreak of WW1 the 4th Battalion was mustered at Kilmarnock. In October 1914 John was promoted to temporary Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the battalion. Most likely his predecessor Lt. Col. Barnett, who was transferred to the reserve, was unable to serve overseas so John was moved up into command pro tem. In January 1915 John was promoted to full Lieutenant-Colonel and rated as fit for general service by a medical board in May. The 4th Battalion came under the 155th (South Scottish) Brigade of the 52nd Division, which left England with the rest of via Liverpool in May 1915, transiting via the island of Lemnos to Gallipoli, disembarking in June at &#acute;V&#acute; and &#acute;W&#acute; Beaches on Cape Helles. As they were fresh the 155th Brigade were thrown with the rest of the 155th Brigade into an assault along the Achi Baba nullah towards Krithia on the 12th July. This meant advancing in waves across a no-man&#acute;s-land and capturing Turkish trenches softened up by artillery fire. The only other fresh brigade, the 157th, would wait while artillery prepared their own route, Major David Yuille, one of John&#acute;s immediate subordinates in the 4th Battalion, described the territory over which they had to attack: "Unless one has seen it there is no imagination that can picture a belt of land some 400 yards wide converted into a seething hell of destruction. Rifle and machine-gun bullets rip up the earth, ping past the ear, or whing off the loose stones; shrapnel bursts overhead and the leaden bullets strike the ground with a vicious thud; the earth is rent into yawning chasms, while planks, sandbags, clods of earth, and rugged great chunks of steel hurtle through the air. The noise is an indescribable, nerve-racking, continuous, deafening roar, while drifting clouds of smoke only allow an intermittent view of the damnable inferno." As hostile as the ground was, the Scottish troops successfully reached their objective of the Turkish trenches, in large part because the preceding artillery bombardment had been very effective in the rocky terrain. However, they then had difficulty navigating and fighting in the partly destroyed enemy trench network and became bogged down, taking additional casualties when isolated groups became exposed to Turkish fire and while attempting to locate a third Turkish trench line that did not actually exist. They ultimately consolidated their position in the second line and fought off a Turkish counterattack the next day despite exhaustion, dehydration and poor cover offered by the wrecked trenches, but were in no position to exploit their gains any further. The commander of the 52nd Division, Maj-Gen. Granville Egerton, was later scathing about the battle plan his men had been driven into, calling it &#acute;cruel and wasteful&#acute; to rush into an attack with the depleted forces available. Reinforcements would soon arrive which in a fortnight would have allowed a more forceful attack launched to synchronise with other offensives at Suvla Bay and Anzac Cove. &156;I contend that the Battle of July 12-13th was due to a complete want of a true appreciation of the situation. If the conception of the battle was wrong the tactics of the action were far worse. The division of the attack of two Brigades on a narrow front into two phases, no less than 9 hours apart, was positively wicked.&157; The plan was that of Lieutenant-General Aylmer Hunter-Weston, a much-criticised general notorious for his overly aggressive style, detached attitude to casualties, overly romanticised view of war and intolerance of dissent from subordinates. In fairness the divided attack had been intended to allow the artillery to focus their fire, but attacking alone deprived the 155th of support for hours and made it harder to hold what they had gained. If the 157th and nearby French troops had not also succeeded in their objectives then the 155th might have collapsed. The increasingly erratic Hunter-Weston was relieved of his command on the 23rd July after an apparent breakdown. In August 1915 John was invalided out of Gallipoli and transferred to the No.1 Australian Stationary Hospital at Mudros Bay on Lemnos, suffering from &156;Dysentery and Rheumatism&157;. Disease was a major problem in the Gallipoli campaign which accounted for more casualties than battle wounds. Dysentery in particular, known as the &#acute;Gallipoli Gallop&#acute;, spread rapidly due to poor sanitation. John&#acute;s condition evidently did not improve as in September he boarded a ship and returned to England, and underwent further treatment at the Royal Free Hospital until at least October. The 4th Battalion&#acute;s deployment in Gallipoli continued until it was evacuated in January 1916, transiting to Alexandria via Lemnos. After recovering John appears not to have rejoined the Royal Scots Fusiliers, instead seconded to become temporary Lieutenant-Colonel in command of the 2/8th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment in June 1916. Recruited as a second-line battalion from men living in the Ardwick area of Manchester, the 2/8th was based in Colchester, England as a training unit at the time, providing drafts of men to reinforce the 42nd Division in Egypt. With his combat experience John might have been seen as a good officer to train up green troops for overseas service. The Military Service Act made all territorials liable for overseas service from February 1917, and the 2/8th was deployed to France in the same month with John in command. It sat in Flanders for several months as reserves for a planned amphibious landing into Belgium called &#acute;Operation Hush&#acute;, but this never came to pass “ this may have been for the best as the now recovered Lt-Gen Aylmer-Weston was at one point included in discussions on its tactics. In September 1917 John was ordered to return to England. An internal telegram detailed the reasoning of Field Marshal Haig for this decision: &156;Lieutenant-Colonel Balfour has done good work out here, but I consider that he is too old to remain in Command of a Battalion in the Field¦ I recommend that he be given employment at home.&157; Removal of battalion commanders due to age was not rare and was an ongoing process during the war “ the initial cohort (of regulars) in 1914 were on average 47 years 11.5 months, but this average age dropped rapidly due to removal of those physically unfit, attrition through casualties and rapid promotion of capable younger officers as replacements. By late 1917 the average age for a battalion commanding officer in the BEF was 28. Age was at times used as a euphemism for poor command abilities, although it seems likely that John was genuinely no longer capable of the rigours of field service, being 54 at the time and having been so ill earlier in the war. John&#acute;s temporary rank was made permanent in October 1917. He was demobilised for just over a month from October to November 1917 “ apparently he was demobilised from the army by his own request pending a vacancy, rather than being placed on the Territorial Force Reserve. Why he did this I am unsure “ perhaps he wanted to be certain that he could not be called back except for a particular position he wanted? Records suggest this move later caused a dispute with the War Office over his retirement pay, the War Office confirming that as he was fully demobilised for that month the period should not count towards his duration of service. He assumed command of the 2/1st Ayrshire Yeomanry in November 1917, a cyclist unit within the 9th Cyclist Brigade. Based initially in Scotland, it was moved to Ireland in May 1918. He received the Territorial Decoration in August 1918, a medal awarded for 20 years of commissioned service in the Territorial Force. He appears to have remained in Ireland with the 9th Cyclist Brigade for some time after the end of the war, requesting demobilisation in a letter dated January 1919 from their HQ in Inniskillen. He remained with the Territorials until reaching the age limit of 57 in 1921. 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 multiple interchangeable hilts 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. As of 1914 the design seen on this example, which was essentially a steel version of the brass honeysuckle hilt used on the 1856 Pattern Royal Engineers sword, was used by the Black Watch, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, and Seaforth Highlanders. The Royal Scots Fusiliers used a different design, a symmetrical basket hilt with thistle designs and the regimental badge. However, I have seen multiple Victorian examples of RSF field officer&#acute;s swords with the &#acute;honeysuckle&#acute; hilt instead. I believe therefore that this hilt is correct for the Edwardian period it was purchased in and there was a switch (or perhaps a standardisation) to the regimental-badge design either in or shortly before 1914. This example&#acute;s hilt is interchangeable, with the pommel unscrewing to allow it to be swapped with the basket or cross hilt (not included). The blade is unsharpened with no edge damage. Spotted light patination to the blade, some of which impacts the etching but does not impede its visibility. All other metal parts have been nickel-plated with some spots of wear revealing patinated steel, most notably the inside and edges of the hilt. The wire binding of the grip is all intact and tight, its shagreen is excellent with no handling wear or losses. The scabbard fittings have some spotted wear to the nickel plating revealing patinated steel. One very small dent to the chape piece, which does not interfere with smooth sheathing and drawing. The leather body has spots of abrasion and staining at the throat end, one small cut to the face revealing the wood core, all of its stitching is intact.

Nation : Japanese
Local Price : £1,095.00

**MATCHING NUMBERS, BLADE NUMBERED ON SIDE**Original, WW2 Japanese NCO’s Type 95 Katana With ‘The Lijima Swords Factory’ & Kokura Arsenal Marks & Scabbard. Sn 21886 -. This is an original WW2 Japanese NCO’s Katana and scabbard. The sword has the typical aluminium cast handle with lanyard ring and fully functioning scabbard retaining clip. The hilt retains some of its original brown paint. Its early, fullered, 27 ½” blade is stamped on one side ’59554’ and with inspection mark (later examples were stamped on the spine). The blade has no damage and clean. The hilt is stamped with Lijima Swords Factory roundel with crossed swords mark and inspection mark together with Kokura arsenal mark (see pages 185 & 186 of Swords Of Imperial Japan by Dawson). It is complete with its original scabbard which has a single hanging ring. The scabbard has just a few small dents and retains its original olive green paint finish. The throat of the scabbard is stamped with matching number. This piece is clearly a WW2 bring back, surrendered or recovered from the battlefield. The price includes UK delivery. Sn 21886

Nation : -
Local Price : 13,500 kr

Saber possibly Norwegian ca: 1850.