The Sword of Stalingrad

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To commemorate Russian victory in the Battle of Stalingrad (see article in FH 200), the British government had forged a ceremonial longsword with the following inscription etched on the steel blade in both Russian and English:

TO THE STEEL-HEARTED CITIZENS OF STALINGRAD • THE GIFT OF KING GEORGE VI • IN TOKEN OF THE HOMAGE OF THE BRITISH PEOPLE

Designed by an Oxford professor of fine arts and manufactured by the Wilkinson Sword Company, the sword is approximately four feet in length, with the grip bound in gold wire and the pommel made of rock crystal. Each end of the silver crossguard is shaped like the head of a leopard. The scabbard, made from Persian lambskin and dyed crimson, bears the coat of arms and royal cypher of King George VI.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill took the sword with him to the Teheran Conference in late November 1943 in order to present it to Stalin. In Closing the Ring, the fifth volume of his war memoirs, Churchill described the presentation on the afternoon of 29 November:

Before our second plenary session began at four o’clock, I presented, by the King’s command, the Sword of Honour which His Majesty had had specially designed and wrought to commemorate the glorious defence of Stalingrad. The large outer hall was filled with Russian officers and soldiers. When, after a few sentences of explanation, I handed the splendid weapon to Marshal Stalin, he raised it in a most impressive gesture to his lips and kissed the blade. He then handed it to [Marshal Kliment] Voroshilov, who dropped it. It was carried from the room in great solemnity, escorted by a Russian guard of honour.

Today the sword is displayed in the Battle of Stalingrad Museum in Volgograd, a city no longer named for Stalin.