RAA LIAISON LETTER- 2025 – 2026 EDITION CANNONBALL SUPPLEMENT 127 Brigadier Doug Perry OAM (a former Colonel Commandant, Victoria) asked Ian Armstrong to identify the sword. A ‘tag team relay’ operation moved the sword across the country from Windang NSW, via Thirroul, Canberra, Puckapunyal, to Melbourne for evaluation. Ian Armstrong carefully and magically exposed the sword’s markings employing specialist restorer’s techniques. The Purveyor/Seller of the Sword The markings successfully uncovered by Ian Armstrong revealed the purveyor of the sword’s name. Further research found that in 1885 the purveyor/seller of the sword formally established his company as A. Bowley and Company in Melbourne, in the colony of Victoria. The Company became a major supplier to the military from 1885. The name and location of the purveyor is embossed on the sword, presenting as: A. BOWLEY & Co. COLLINS St. MELBOURNE An extract from The Age, 26th September 1936 page 8. x An exact year of sale of the sword or the date of manufacture is indeterminate from information found at the time of writing this article. The Sword Maker Marks on the sword identified the manufacturer as a Prussian firm with a long history in making edged weapons. The manufacturer (W.K&C) is well known. The Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Co. partnership began in 1883 with the merger of the "Gebrüder Weyersberg" and "W. R. Kirschbaum & Co." companies.xi Gebr. Weyersberg trademarked the "King's Head" as their official emblem. W. R. Kirschbaum & Co. was founded by Wilhem Reinhordt Kirschbaum in 1854, and he trademarked the "Knight Helmet". The king's head and knight helmet trademark was a representation of each company and their partnership. Did the Sword Accompany an Airey to the Sudan? When the ‘1883’ W.K&C company’s startup date is considered along with the establishment date for Alfred Bowley’s Collins Street business of c.1885, it is unlikely the sword was purchased prior to the departure of the Sudan Contingent from Sydney and therefore is unlikely to have accompanied an Airey to the Sudan in March 1885. Purchase Period? Based on the Bowley Company’s history and career trajectories of H.P. and G.J. Airey, it is assessed the sword could have been purchased in the period 1885 to 1890. If purchased in 1890 the sword is now over 135 years old. Any of the three colonial Airey artillery officers who deployed to Sudan in 1885 may have subsequently owned the sword, however as assessed earlier H.P. and G.J. Airey seem more likely candidates than C.B. Airey. If the sword can be specifically linked to one of the three Airey contenders with evidence, it will strengthen its heritage value. Readers with any additional knowledge are invited to contact the author.
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