Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

kronckew · 4th November 2012, 02:15 PM

Suisse (switzerland) sharpshooter's sword. model 1842-75

nice wood gripped short sword, with scabbard & frog it's a rare beasty.

i bid on one w/o the frog on ebay a few years ago & missed it by quite a few hundred bucks.

i have a swiss uncle who still keeps his army straight pull K31 carbine in his cabin. he was the first one who told me the old story (attributed to ww1, ww2 and probably earlier) about (the kaiser, hitler, bismark - take your pick) visiting switzerland prior to an invasion to 'gather information' while meeting with the swiss president to suggest surrender, he supposedly said - we have 500 thousand well armed troops poised to invade switzerland. you only have 250 thousand peasant farmers in a reserve army. what can you do to resist us.

the swiss said "shoot twice and go home".

the german of course went home and cancelled the invasion.

4th November 2012, 02:15 PM	#3
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,215	Suisse (switzerland) sharpshooter's sword. model 1842-75 nice wood gripped short sword, with scabbard & frog it's a rare beasty. i bid on one w/o the frog on ebay a few years ago & missed it by quite a few hundred bucks. i have a swiss uncle who still keeps his army straight pull K31 carbine in his cabin. he was the first one who told me the old story (attributed to ww1, ww2 and probably earlier) about (the kaiser, hitler, bismark - take your pick) visiting switzerland prior to an invasion to 'gather information' while meeting with the swiss president to suggest surrender, he supposedly said - we have 500 thousand well armed troops poised to invade switzerland. you only have 250 thousand peasant farmers in a reserve army. what can you do to resist us. the swiss said "shoot twice and go home". the german of course went home and cancelled the invasion. Last edited by kronckew; 4th November 2012 at 02:31 PM.