Quote:
Originally Posted by johnG
Mike is of course quite correct in saying the short sword of 56 Division was known as 'Wat Tyler's Dagger', and attributed to the armorial bearings of the City of London, and I am sorry to be pedantic about it, but truth is the sword depicted in the City of London arms is the Sword of St Paul, and not Wat Tyler's dagger.
From memory, the Wat Tyler dagger was (and probably still is) kept at Fishmongers Hall, London, and looks nothing like that of 56 Div emblem.
I suggest the emblem adopted by 56 Div was a depiction of the short Roman sword to commemorate the Roman past of the City of London.
The idea of the 56 Div sign being Wat Tylers dagger and all same City of London armorial bearings was probably dreamed up by an imaginative journalist, but it stuck, and will probably be so referred to for ever more.
Regards,
John
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John,
You are quite right, but as I said, it was a colloquial reference to what the soldiers called the weapon and was recorded as such in 1920 - when memories were still fresh. The colloquialism lived on through to the 1940s and 56 Inf Div Signals. Here's a 1917 dated reference with outstanding artwork:
56 Div WW1 1917.jpg