British 1912 Cavalry Officer Sword

British 1912 Cavalry Officer Sword

The 1912 British Cavalry Sword is akin to the 1908 Sword - it was an embellished version to separate the officers from the troopers who carried wholly utilitarian cavalry swords. The 1912 has a leather grip inlaid with wire and a decoratively engraved guard and blade.

It would ultimately matter little, for the warfare of WWI demanded radical changes to cavalry doctrine before making horse-mounted cavalry entirely obsolete. Cavalrymen no longer did charges with blades drawn. Instead they fought as rifle-armed mobile infantry, moving quickly into positions supported with horse-drawn machine guns and artillery. The greatest proof of the forced doctrinal change was that the cavalry was issued entrenching tools. In an era of entrenched machine guns and artillery and fields churned with the tracks of smoke-belching tanks, the flashing steel charge of the cavalry was a bygone, romantic notion.

This 1912 Pattern Cavalry Sword has an unsharpened blade of high carbon steel embossed with the symbols and devices of the British Empire. The guard and pommel are of steel and the grip is wrapped with brown leather inlaid with twisted wire.

The scabbard is made of steel or leather (mention in order note).

1912 British Cavalry Sword features

Steel: Tempered EN9 High Carbon Steel.
Overall Length: 43 1/2".
Blade: 35 3/4".
P.O.B.: 5".
Grip Length: 5".
Weight: 2 lb 3.1 oz.

British military swords and sabers.