Lot 524
VISCOUNT TRENCHARD'S ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS SWORD.
A Royal Scots Fusiliers Field Officer's Sword with an 82.5cm 'Claymore type' pointed double edged blade with partial double fuller. The blade with etched markings for the 'Royal Scots Fusiliers' above crossed thistles and foliate scrolling decoration, marked by "J .. Johnston Sackville Street, London and Dublin". The blade possibly remounted in a pierced scrolling and lined 'basket' hilt, with wire bound grip and rounded pommel, with red tasselled fringe. With a polished steel scabbard with double ring suspension, 103cm overall length and an additional leather covered service scabbard.
Hugh Trenchard was Colonel in Chief of the Royal Scots Fusiliers between 1919 and 1946.
Had Hugh Trenchard (1873-1956) not become universally remembered as the 'Father of the RAF' he would deserve to be remembered for his place in military history as an Officer in the Royal Scots Fusiliers. Gazetted as a 2nd Lieutenant in September 1893 he saw service as a Captain in the Boer War suffering at the hands of a Boer ambush and receiving a bullet wound to the chest. He returned to England barley walking with two sticks and lacking much of one lung, his military career may well have been over, however he was not the sort to let disability get in the way and he enjoyed tobogganing on the Cresta Run whilst recovering in Switzerland. He attacked the run with the same approach he took to all life's challenges, head on giving it his all, one of his regular crashes resulted in a freak impact to his spine which put his legs back in working order and enabled him to regain sufficient health to continue with his military career. Before his involvement with flying from 1912 he spent a significant period of time with the West African Frontier Force (24 Oct 1903 - 3 Nov 1910) sorting out tribal conflicts and barbaric practices amongst the warring tribes of Southern Nigeria. Rising to the rank of temporary Lieutenant Colonel and being awarded the DSO for his part in commanding the expedition in the Bende-Onitsha Hinterland of Southern Nigeria. Trenchard's biographer, Russell Miller, portrays him as a strict, highly energetic and driven officer who spoke his mind at all times and was loved by those men who followed him into battle.
Provenance: The first Viscount Trenchard and by direct descent in the family.
