FORMED TOWARDS THE END OF THE CRIMEAN WAR, the Land Transport Corps was an attempt to provide a more organised system of transport for the British Army. Prior to this, they had made do with a chaotic system of wagons and drivers, variously designated as the Royal Waggoners, Royal Waggon Corps and finally, the Royal Waggon Train. With the Crimean War it was changed again to the Land Transport Corps and then changed again to the Military Train.
This sword is intriguing because there appears to be little evidence that it was actually carried by soldiers within the L.T.C. Previous authors on the subject have been unable to provide specimens with actual regimental markings. Some branch of the British Army must have carried this sword as they are normally found with official British Army inspectors’ marks to the blade forte but a definite attribution is still unclear.
The design was based on contemporary short swords worn throughout Europe (particularly France). Its distinctive design was copied from the Ancient Roman gladius and the British version exhibits a long, straight blade in comparison to the continental, wider, leaf-shaped blade.
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