A few month ago I posted a picture of the day (POTD) showing a WWI German cavalryman with a lance. Yes. during the times of the Maxim machine gun, fledging air-power, barbed wire, and huge artillery weapons; there were guys running around armed with lances. Pretty crazy, huh?
Well…when most people think of WWI, they think of the Western Front and trench warfare. Here is the most concise story about these I can find documented on the internet via SARCO:
“These lances were made by Weyersberg Kirschbaum for the German Uhlans prior to WWI. They were later exported to Argentina, which was a great cavalry nation. In the 1950’s Argentina finally realized that cavalry doesn’t work against machines guns.
Enter Sam Cummings, of Interarms Fame, the largest surplus dealer ever. He bought hundreds of these & brought them to the U.S. Sam had a great relationship with the Sudan & they told Sam that they needed lances for their camel corps, and none were to be found in the world. Eureka, Sam had proper German made lances for them.
Sam sent 140 lances to Khartoum as a gift to his friends. Perhaps they are still in use. The last successful cavalry charge in the world in history was at the battle of Omdurman outside of Khartoum. Winston Churchill took part in the battle.
Sam kept the rest of the lances to someday decorate the entrance hall of Interarms, each one bearing the flag of a nation that he had done business with. Unfortunately, this never was accomplished, & Sarco acquired these when we purchased all the remaining inventory when Interarms closed.”
Marky
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