unique ice
Although I am generally known as a rifle collector, I think the most significant piece to me personally is the sabre carried by my great great grand uncle as part of a Ulan unit at the outbreak of the war in 1914.
It's an M.69 model for officers as you can tell from the hand basket, accepted in 1903. You can tell he generally took good care of it, but apparently had a habit of sticking it into dirt to mark places, leading to a broken tip and some patina on the front end.
For those interested, the war for him ended in 1915 when a bullet, courtesy of a Russian infantryman, hit his right arm and took him out of service for the remainder of the conflict. He mostly recovered functionality of the arm in the years after from what I heard, but would regularly sling myriad profanities eastwards at the man who sent that bullet flying towards him.
I'm not sure how or why he got to keep the sabre, but I am glad he did for sure. As to how I got it? I am one of his heirs and have a known love for history, so other family members decided that it would make the most sense if I kept it safe. I wish I had his revolver too, but one can't have everything.
hollow mirage