British Edward VIII 1897 Pattern Infantry Officer’s Sword by Flights Ltd
Straight single-fullered spear-pointed blade. Steel hilt with pierced and imprinted decoration including the crown and cypher of King Edward VIII. Steel ferrule, fully chequered steel backstrap, integral oval pommel with tang button. Wire-bound black shagreen grip, brown leather washer, red and gold parade sword knot with silver acorn. Brown leather field scabbard with frog strap, nickel plated steel throat piece. Blade length 32½ inches, 0.98 inches (2.5cm) wide at the shoulder, the sword 38¾ inches overall.
The blade is faintly etched at the ricasso on one side with the retailer’s mark ‘FLIGHT’ indicating Flights Ltd – there would have been more text including the company’s street address but this has been polished off, seemingly deliberately given that there are visible polishing marks and none of the other etching shows any signs of rubbing.
At the ricasso on the other side is an etched six-pointed star within which is a brass proof slug stamped with ‘PRO_’ and a fleur de lys. Some letters are illegible but this should read ‘PROVED’. The blade is further etched on one side with the royal crown and shield, on the other side with the crown and cypher of Edward VII, and on both sides with a wreath of laurel & palm and foliate motifs. There is a cartouche for the optional etching of the owner’s name, which has been left blank.
King Edward VIII reigned from January to December 1936, a total of 326 days from the death of his father George V until his abdication. He was never coronated, but his cypher, monogram and likeness were used on various items produced during his very brief reign. Army officers’ swords bearing his cypher are rare today because for one to exist it would most likely have to have been made during this brief window of time.
Officer’s swords were privately purchased on an individual basis. The most common time for the officer to buy one was when he was newly commissioned, a sword being a necessary part of his new uniform, at which point the cypher of the current monarch would be used. This would limit the supply of Edward VIII swords to the number of Army officers commissioned during that period, with some margin for stock produced but not sold.
Existing officers purchasing a new sword for a new monarch would be very unusual, as swords with an old monarch’s cypher remained acceptable for wear (provided they were of an acceptable Pattern) and could be a point of pride as they demonstrated an officer’s length of service.
Rehilting of old swords rather than a complete replacement did occur to some extent - I have previously seen a sword with a George V marked blade paired with an Edward VIII hilt. This would have been substantially cheaper and not left the officer with a redundant sword, but would still have been an unnecessary expense done purely for looks. By the same logic there may be swords out there made as an Edward VIII then rehilted for George VI, but I have not yet encountered one and they would have to be rare indeed as a fraction of an already small number.
This example has the cypher of Edward VIII on both blade and hilt, making it true 1936 production with no modifications. Its excellent overall condition invites the question of whether it was carried much, or quietly put away when the King shocked society by abdicating in order to marry a woman widely considered unsuitable to be Queen Consort. A great many coins, stamps and items of memorabilia made in honour of the new King were simply junked. The polishing off of the retailer’s name from this example is also an interesting detail. Did this sword actually make it to an officer at all, or did it end up as redundant stock, like the mountains of unsold Edward VIII coronation mugs?
This sword’s production can be dated to between 1897, the introduction of the last pattern of British infantry officer’s swords and 1901, the death of Queen Victoria. Customarily serving officers could continue to wear swords bearing the cyphers of previous monarchs, and there were no further changes to the army regulations after 1897 that required officers to change their swords, but some officers may have bought a replacement bearing the new cypher anyway just to stay current. This example certainly doesn’t seem to have seen heavy usage.
The firm of William Flight was established in Winchester in 1750. It was at the outset a tailor’s shop, becoming specifically a military tailor in around 1852 – both the King’s Royal Rifle Corps (60th Rifles) and the Rifle Brigade had their depot in the former ‘King’s House’ at Winchester (later called the Rifle Depot, then the Green Jackets Depot, then the Upper Barracks, now called the Peninsula Barracks), totalling eight battalions of potential customers. It remained in the family for generations, Frederick William Flight taking over in 1867. The firm moved to 90 High Street in 1875. The business became Flights Ltd in 1920 and gave up its old Winchester premises in favour of newer branches at London and Aldershot. It ceased trading in 1956.
The blade’s finish is excellent with minimal patination: some spots near the tip, a few light and very small spots in the etched section with little impact. The etching is bright and clear, retaining the contrast between the matt acid-etched background and the reflective polished designs within it. The blade’s edge is unsharpened and undamaged.
The shagreen of the grip is all intact with light handling wear, its wire binding is all present with some movement to three loops. Fractional movement to the ferrule. The scabbard mouth, hilt, ferrule, backstrap and pommel have all been nickel-plated and this plating is in very good condition with only tiny spots of flaking at the edges of the hilt. The sword knot has some small spots of fray exposing to the wires exposing the fibre core above the acorn and next to the hilt (where it would rubs against the edge). The leather of the scabbard is good with only a few very small scuffs, the stitching of the frog strap bands have partly opened but it remains well attached.
