Royal Artillery officer's sword, Turkish Contingent, 1855 (c)

Made by Meyer, London.

In the mid-1840s the Royal Artillery adopted the Pattern 1821 Light Cavalry Sword already carried by the Royal Horse Artillery. When the Turkish Contingent, officered by the British, was formed in 1855, during the Crimean War (1854-1856), it included six battalions of artillery, and swords of the appropriate type were carried by its British officers.

However, this sword, marked to the Turkish Contingent, has a much heavier blade than the standard pattern; indeed, its unfullered blade is similar to those found on weapons carried by officers of the East India Company's armies whose expectation of being engaged in close fighting was greater.