Buying an Antique Japanese Sword

“Old Pete” with a favourite rifl e and at work on Oiling Day

Some of these photographs have appeared in other publications in the past. Much of the detail passed down was recorded in his Rotary Club outing, and the many interviews that Peter had with various journalists, and other occasional reports thought perhaps worth a few lines in the local papers on a burglary when a young lad broke and stole three old pistols and some ammunition, but was caught and charged after pointing a hand gun at his teacher. He was thought to have shot a dog. All the property was returned to Mr Anderson and the lad was dealt with and was, hopefully, reformed.

At one of the meetings held at Peter’s place, an accidental discharge of an “Unloaded” revolver resulted in one member being hospitalised, with a bullet in his abdomen and a visit from the local police, who judged the incident to be an unlucky accident with no charges considered. The incident was reported in the local newspapers, and was picked by the National News outlets appearing in the Sydney Morning Herald of 2nd September 1944 and also in a newspaper in Perth. Western Australia, citing a .38 pinfire revolver being examined by Geoff rey Youl, who was checking the action of the weapon when the discharge occurred, injuring a Mr Alexander Patterson Mitchell, aged about 50, the Assistant manager of Paton’s & Baldwin’s Ltd Knitting Mills Launceston.

The victim was in a serious condition, after surgery to remove a revolver bullet, in Launceston General Hospital. Mr Mitchell made a full recovery, and it is not known if he was a member or an invited guest to the Club meeting.

The man holding the pistol was Colonel, Retired, G A.D. Youl, a former Captain, later Major in WW1. Born in Launceston in 1892, Geoff rey Arthur Douglas Youl was a soldier and a farmer, and as a lad attended the Launceston Grammar School, before going to England to serve as a cadet on a Royal Navy Training Ship HMS ‘Worcester’. When war broke out Geoff rey Youl joined the British Army as a Sub Lt, progressing to Captain, then Major by war’s end, also being highly decorated with the Military Cross and the Belgian Croix de Guerre. He was twice mentioned in dispatches

Returning to Australia, Geoff rey Youl, was appointed as a Major with the 12th Battalion in 1936. Then in June 1938, he was appointed Lt Col of the 12/50th Battalion In July 1940 G A D Youl was promoted to Colonel of the newly formed 2/40 Battalion, mainly raised in Tasmania, which in 1941,. formed the bulk of the Australian part of the international “Sparrow Force”. He was the CO of this Unit throughout the initial training it Tasmania, later Bonegilla in Victoria, and later in the Northern territory, prior to the force being shipped to the Dutch East Indies and Timor.

Lieutenant Colonel Geoff rey Arthur Douglas Youl M.C. Peter checks the sights on a large French Lefaucheux Pinfi re Revolver, perhaps the one used in the preceding incident.

PIX Magazine cover in which Peter Anderson’s article appears dated April 26 1941

In November 1941, Lt Col Youl was replaced as O.I.C, 2/40th by Lt Col W Leggatt, “after some friction with 23rd Brigade C. O. Brigadier Lind, before the force set sail for the Dutch East Indies.

Youl was later chosen as Off icer Commanding Citizen forces in Tasmania, where he served out the rest of WW2. There was some uproar about the dismissal, detailed in a book,

“Appointment Wrongfully Terminated,” by D M Wyatt , Lt Colonel Retired. Perhaps a further mention may appear later.

Peter met his end on 3rd February 1952, after being admitted to Hospital in Launceston, when he fell and broke a leg, the complications due to his advanced age leading to his demise. Having endeared himself to many residents of Launceston, by his good citizenship and community involvement over more than fifty years, the man was widely respected for his charitable acts and contributions to many worthy causes, including donations to the Food for Britain Fund. He funded a fully equipped Ambulance used by the Red Cross in New Guinea, while gifting 2000 pounds for the native porters with the Army, the “Fuzzie Wuzzie Angels”

There will be an indefinite pause in the story of the Cave Dwellers’ club, until further information comes to light. There must be many stories about other members still to be teased out of people’s memories and hopefully this little chapter might produce some more interesting thoughts to light.

In the writing of this I have relied upon much assistance of Andrew Harvey who provided the correspondence between Peter Anderson and Robert Mason and family from the 1920s to the late 1940s. Andrew was also able to provide me with emailed copies of the “Pix” article and photos, obtained from a friend who owns a copy of the magazine.

As always, my daughter Lynne was able to sift through reams of documentation to find early background on Pete Anderson and his movements in Tasmania and later NSW, then back to the Island State again. I had also been searching, finding some detail of this story as well. The search for background on Geoff rey Youl brought the book “Appointment Wrongfully Terminated” By D M Wyatt to light. This also. might possibly lead to a further mention in a possible next chapter when and if more additional information is to hand.

A Beginner’s Guide

Look for a sword that has a distinct character - that ‘speaks’ to you - for it will give greater pleasure in the long term than one that merely ticks the boxes.

By W T L Taylor

These guidelines are a starting point for the aspiring Japanese sword collector. I have minimised using the many technical Japanese words applied to swords, as they may confuse and deter even the most enthusiastic beginner.

Please note that this article does not cover Japanese Army and Navy swords, which are a separate collecting category to antique swords. While it is true that antique blades can be found in 20th century military mounts, military swords will generally have blades that were made by modern smiths, or mass-produced factory blades made from a piece of steel, shaped and finished to look like a hand made sword.

Sword types

There are four main types of Japanese sword: • Tachi - cutting edge at least 60.6cm but usually much longer than a katana • Katana - cutting edge more than 60.6cm • Wakizashi - cutting edge more than 30.3cm • Tanto - cutting edge up to 30.3cm

The tachi was a cavalry sword, worn slung with its cutting edge downwards, whereas the other three swords were worn through a sash at the waist with their cutting edge upwards. The signature on a tachi will be on the right-hand side of the tang when the edge is downwards. All the others will be signed on the left-hand side.

While there is an understandable preference amongst collectors for the longer swords, they are more expensive than their shorter counterparts in equivalent condition and quality. An aspiring collector who despairs of aff ording a nice katana might be very happy with an equivalent quality wakizashi that is 3040% cheaper. There is more to enjoy in a good sword than just its length.

Sword condition

For a sword buyer the key starting point is the overall condition of the blade, because if it is in good Japanese polish it’s features are easy to see. If it is somewhat stained and a bit rusty those features may be obscured, but there may still be a fine old blade beneath.

Light surface rust or staining may look unsightly, but a trained polisher can remove it easily. Rusting only becomes unacceptable when it goes too deep for a polisher to remove it without taking too much metal off the whole sword. Heavy rusting and pitting are therefore best avoided.

Bends in sword blades are not uncommon, but can be fixed by a trained polisher. However if a bend is extreme you may see fine wrinkling in the laminations of the sword - these are sometimes impossible to remove, so it is better to avoid them.

The bane of sword collectors are enthusiastic DIY guys with wet-and-dry abrasives and steel wool who burnish a blade to a shine worthy of a chromed bumper bar, but in so doing remove details of its tempering and grain, and even degrade its shape. Sometimes they go so far that a professional Japanese sword polisher cannot restore the sword.

Features of the blade

A pre-requisite to examining a sword is direct, strong light. Looking along the blade from either end there should be no dips in the surface, which would indicate that someone has removed metal to remove a deep patch of rust. If the surface is a flat plane for its full length, it has been polished by a professional.

The polisher aims to highlight the shape and texture of the tempered area of the sword. Close examination with a magnifying glass will reveal the

Images: Andrew Ickeringill

fine crystalline structures produced by tempering, particularly along the temper line (hamon), which is a significant element in the quality appraisal of the sword.

In the area above the temper line (the ji) the polisher will reveal the grain and forging pattern of the blade, created by the number of laminations and the particular process used by the smith in forging the blade. This is the jihada: the grain can be quite open and pronounced, or it can look as fine as silk.

If you are examining a blade in very clean condition but you cannot see any tempering shape or any jihada, and cannot see small crystalline structures along the hamon, either walk away, or get advice from an experienced sword collector.

Even if you think you can see these features, the sword may be one of the many modern Chinese copies that can be bought for a few hundred dollars on eBay. Some examples fake these features very convincingly to an untrained eye, so obtain advice if you are in doubt.

Blade geometry

A sword blade in good polish has clean, sharp planes. Where they meet - such the cutting plane of the blade, the plane between it and the back edge, and the back edge itself - the lines should be sharp and should follow the curve precisely.

At the top of the sword the fan shaped tip (kissaki) should be separated from the other planes by clear edges. The tempering inside it is called the boshi: its shape should curve around parallel to the cutting edge and (in most cases) turn back as it gets to the tip. In most wakizashis, there is no line in the polishing between the main part of the sword and the kissaki – the blade is a continuous curve to the tip. If you cannot see the boshi, or if it seems to disappear into the cutting edge before reaching the tip, the sword’s tip has been broken and reshaped. Don’t buy it.

The tang and signature

Older swords were often shortened, because swords made for cavalry fighting were too long for fighting on foot. A tachi originally of 85cms may have been reduced by as much as 15 cms. This means that