EL6398 - An excellent Edward VII era Scots Guards officer's sword, by Wilkinson (numbered 38941 for 1901), for Nicholas George Berwick Lechmere (served at the end of the Boer War and was killed in action in WW1).
"Nicholas Lechmere was born on 20th September, 1881 at 61 Curzon Street, London and was educated at Westminster School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He married Maria Katherine Pegg in London in 1906. Maria died in 1910.
Nicholas Lechmere was first commissioned in the Scots Guards on 8th May, 1901 but left the Army in 1907. He re-joined the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards for active service with the British Expeditionary Force in France on 17th June 1915. He was transferred to the 1st Battalion, Scots Guards, in the Field, on 2nd October, 1915. His death occurred during an attack to take the German ‘Fosse’ and ‘Dump’ trenches, near the ‘Hohenzollern Redoubt’, located about 3 miles north of Loos. The attack, well supported by artillery and trench mortars, started at 5.00am. Nothing was heard of the attacking companies for some time, except for repeated demands for more bombs (grenades). It was later reported that they were having what was described as ‘a stiff time of it’. At 8.00am orders were received to consolidate on the ground captured. During the attack, three officers were killed, including Lieutenant Lechmere, and two wounded. There were 136 casualties in the other ranks."
The sword itself is in excellent condition, everything is solid, all in bright polish and with clear etching. The blade has been service sharpened. A fantastic sword and a great and poignant piece of history to a brave fallen officer of WW1.
