C & T Auctioneers and Valuers Ltd
Lot 975
WW1 British Officers Sword Belonging to Captain Claude Lapworth 11th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment, Taken Prisoner of War During the German Spring Offensive in 1918, standard George V 1897 pattern Infantry officer’s sword, Wilkinson blade No.51662 etched and polished with royal cypher and arms amidst scrolls, with owner’s name C.LAPWORTH, regulation plated hilt, in its field service leather scabbard. Blade 82cms, overall 98cms. Good condition, hilt and plating well worn. Captain Claude Lapworth (1891-1988), 11th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment (1st South Downs). Born in London, he was educated at Latymer Upper School and was commissioned into the Royal Sussex Regiment in September 1916. One of his fellow officers was poet and author Edmund Blunden; in his classic 1928 memoir Undertones of War he recalled seeing Lapworth marching into his first battle, the taking of Stuff Trench in October 1916: "Lapworth went by at the rear of his company, a youth with curling golden hair and drawing-room manners, sweetly swinging his most subalternish cane from its leather thong; and he was the last to go by." The battalion lost heavily for their success, Blunden writing that Lapworth 'stalwartly endured the pandemonium'. Lapworth continued to serve with the battalion throughout 1917 and was mentioned in despatches for his efforts as a company commander (London Gazette 18th December 1917). His luck finally ran out in March 1918, when 11th Royal Sussex were overrun during the German Spring Offensive and he was taken prisoner. The circumstances are described in his own statement: "I had taken up a position about 11 a.m. (24/3/18) East of HEM in a derelict trench running from the SOMME to the PERONNE ROAD. I had with me what I was able to get together of the remnants of the Battalion, which I was commanding at the time of capture, approx. 40 men and 3 officers. We held on to this trench for 3 hours during which time we fired on the enemy who was advancing in very large numbers across our front to our left flank under cover of a smoke cloud. It was reported that the (?33) Div were to counter attack here and a battalion (name unknown) came up in artillery formation and took up a position in a trench on the N side of the road on our left but shortly afterwards at approx 2 p.m. the enemy broke through in very large numbers on our immediate left and at the same time a party with light MGs also came round on our right flank thus surrounding the trench. An order was given for the men to clear out and I believe some were able to get away but we were under heavy MG fire from the left, causing many casualties. I endeavoured to get away but in doing so fell in some barbed wire and when I had extricated myself found a German officer with a party of men advancing towards me, he ordered me to lay down my revolver and I was taken prisoner." Captain Lapworth was held at POW camps at Rastatt and Schweidnitz until released in November 1918.
