This example of the Highland broadsword belonged to Brigadier Ian Colin Cameron who commanded the 2nd Battalion Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders during WW1. The steel hilt is lined with leather, edged with blue silk and has a red covering which shows through the openings in the hilt. The scabbard is the brown leather-covered pattern worn with khaki service dress and suspended in a frog attached to the Sam Browne belt. Before the war, this officer would have had occasion to wear full dress, in which case the sword would have been sheathed in a steel scabbard suspended from a broad white leather shoulder belt. The blade is normally etched with insignia, royal on one side and regimental on the other.
In the early days of the regiment the sword was carried by sergeants, pipers, drummers and bandsmen, as well as officers. Drummers carried them until 1872 and pipers no longer wore them after 1780. Staff sergeants wore them up until WW1 and since then they have been worn by officers, the RSM, Bandmaster and Drum Major. When the regiment went to war in 1914 officers were armed with the broadsword but it was soon found to be unsuitable for trench warfare and discarded, relying instead on the Webley revolver.
Since WW1 full dress has not been revived for the Highlanders, except for the drummers. Officers, the RSM etc wear no.1 dress for formal occasions and the sword is carried in a steel scabbard.
