[Peter Hudson]

These weapons became extinct as in 1914 a general order was issued instructing the withdrawal of these swords and their replacement by the Officers Cane. Swords remained in use as Parade items. Today the puzzle of what happened appears baffling to say the least however in opening this story it will become clearer that the 19th Century acted like a magnifying glass amplifying the quite amazing story ..In fact almost every type of British sword was resurected and variants of Cutlasses Rapiers Heavy and Light Cavalry spikes and even Colichemardes ...Amazingly almost the only style not to have been reintroduced was the Katana and Wakezashi types of Japan. The fact is that they had evolved a weapon system that needed two swords since fighting could require multiple designs. Was there a sword in the British Armoury that could have served in this task ..As it happens this is also ironic since quite clearly Japanese swords were excellent at chopping and slashing with the sharp edge and with the excellent Tanto point...as well as being good for running through a target...something that British had difficulty with since their swords were often too flexible and often would not penetrate Russian greatcoats in the Crimea War ...for instance...

For me this has been something of a journey down memory lane and since I was commissioned in 1969 and used a sword in The Royal Marines for a decade and for another ten years in The Sultan of Omans Land Forces both of similar design but of course only for Parade duties...In fact insofar as sword style and design was concerned and provided ones sword was clean and presentable almost any British sword was allowed provided it was of a Victorian or after style although I think the Omani swords were I think POOLEY designs...The Corps also required the other associated equipments to be of the standard Sam Brown Belt, Leather over wooden Scabbard, Brown Leather Sword Frog, and Sword Knot .

It must have been odd in the early days in 1914 in the trenches..when Officers were instructed to get rid of their weapons and even more odd to replace them with a short cane...but there is evidence that the attrition rate on the battlefield was very high ... Snipers targeted Officers and particularly in the Boer war the toll was incredible...

Some of the cornerstone factors or principles governing the subject of fieldcraft was that individuals ought not ignore things like shape... shadow... shine... silhouette as it gives their position away...to snipers...Sitting atop ones horse or simply moving around on foot and holding a shiny sword was equivalent to shining a massive lamp on yourself ...To combat the shine effect some even painted their scabbards and blades in a dark varnish or paint...To a reasonable sniper this was a waste of time and so the demise of the sword was assured....especially since the battle ranges in the earlier Boer confrontation their weapons were The German Mauser fitted with a telescope...meaning they could hit a target well over 1000 yards away ...In the Trenches in WW1 battle ranges were more often a fraction of that.. However I am not convinced that the use of a 2 foot long cane would have been of the slightest use but what weaponry would you have carried to be more effective? You have to remember that troops attacked in lines upright and at a walking pace......Canadians couldn`t believe this and quickly they at least switched to running and zig zagging ...

Personally on weaponry and looking at what was available I would have considered a sawn off carbine and a couple of revolvers.. It should be remembered that Officers in those days bought their commissions plus much of their equipment including weapons and ammunition. Cavalry Officers had also to buy their own Horse. It must have annoyed many and to others it was the giving up of his badge of office ...The entire century had been taken up with finding the best sword and in the complicated design testing and distribution of these weapons when suddenly a piece of paper arrives trashing the weapon forever...relegating the once famous swords to parade only...


Before I begin to unleash pictures of the myriad of different designs I will discuss in part 2 the following;
Why did British swords have a peculiar kind of half basket hilt ...?
Where did it originate? ....
How many new sword designs were there entering the British military say between 1796 and about 1914 and what was the net effect ?
While it was still a weapon what was the reason why sword style was designed as either a cut n thrust or a spike...and how could one system be better than the other ...?
What was the real reason for the demise of the British Battle Sword?

Peter Hudson.