[ariel]

OK folks, it was my idea to start this thread and Marius seemed to like it.
Thus, it is my duty to "put my cock on the block" so to speak and be the first.
If the title is not to your liking, feel free to offer something else and the moderators can change it.

So:

This is the Russian regulation infantry saber 1834 pattern.
It is engraved with the inscription " For Bravery" and has the Anne IV degree order attached ( the cross is missing, but the golden crown is still there).
Attaches is also a letter by the late Mr. Victor de Spiganowicz, a well-known Scottish architect, a personal friend of Baden-Powell and one of the founding fathers of the Boy Scouts movement. This letter is an addendum to his Last Will and Testament and was addressed to his solicitor.
Mr. de S. states there that the saber belonged to his great-grand uncle, a Russian General Pavel Petrovich Liprandi. He was a deputy commander of the Russian forces during the Crimean War and in charge of the Battle of Balaklava.
On October 25, 1854 General Liprandi happened to visit a newly captured Turkish battery and found himself on the receiving end of the Charge of the Light Brigade ( the very same one immortalized by Alfred Lord Tennyson, " The Valley of Death", the symbol of British Spirit).

Attached is an article from the British press with General Liprandi portrait, a letter from Mr. de S. and of course the saber itself.

I think this saber and its story qualify for the topic.