WW1 British Rifle Officers Wilkinson Sword, Lieut C N Curwen, Sold

In overall good to very good condition, a WW1 British Rifle Officers Wilkinson Sword, Lieut C N Curwen, KIA 1916

Lieutenant Cecil Niel Curwen, King's Royal Rifle Corps, killed in action on the 15th September 1916 aged 27. Wilkinson serial number 48188 for 1914. We bought his sword along with his brother's, Major Brian Murray Curwen, from the Curwen family.

The 32 1/4 inch blade is very good condition and firm in the hilt. The hilt with age / tarnish but good. The grip is good but aged, the grip wire bindings with tarnish but sound. The original black rifles sword knot is aged with leather surface losses. The field service scabbard is good. The sword sheathes and draws well.

More details on Lieutenant Cecil Niel Curwen below.

What a great sword to own with full provenance for a hero officer. You can own this important piece of history for just £? (oo late, now sold). Please quote item reference T22 (0750). Further / full sized pictures available upon request.

Cecil Niel Curwen was the elder son of Thomas Cecil and Margaret Curwen, of Lindfield Gardens, London, N.W. He entered the School in 1903 and left in 1908. He then went up to Caius College, Cambridge. After taking his degree he spent a year in an Accountant's Office, and then joined his father in business.

In October, 1914, he enlisted in the Inns of Court O.T.C., rising from private to sergeant, and in February, 1915, he received a Commission in the 15th Battalion The King's Royal Rifle Corps and was gazetted Lieutenant in the following May. Having taken courses in field-engineering and explosives, and in bombing, he took an active share for a year in the work of his Battalion; but in February, 1916, he was transferred to the 18th Battalion, with which he went out to France in May as Bombing Officer.

In the course of the Battle of the Somme, he was given a Company 48 hours notice before the serious action in which he lost his life. During a pause in the advance he turned aside to bind up the wounds of a brother officer and dragged him to comparative safety, after another officer had already been killed in a like attempt. Returning to his men, he again led them in the attack from near Delville Wood towards Flers, and shordy afterwards fell shot through the heart. He died on September 15th, 1916 age 27.

No letters were received from his superior Officers, for most, if not all, of them, were killed on the same day. His Captain in the Inns of Court O.T.C. wrote of him :- "He was one of the best men we ever had in the Company, and I am sure he made an excellent Officer."