| Original caption: “The Prime Minister in behalf of King George the Sixth of Great Britain, presents the Sword of Stalingrad to Stalin, for the citizens of Stalingrad, in the board room of the Russian Embassy at Teheran.” The decisive Battle of Stalingrad, today Volgograd, on the West Bank of the Volga River, caused an estimated 1 1/2 1,000,000 casualties for both the Axis and the Soviet Red Army, and blunted the momentum of the Nazi German war machine on the Eastern Front. The scale and ferocity of the Battle of Stalingrad inspired the Allied people around the world. United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill (November 30, 1874 – January 24, 1965) understood the significance of the battle and knew that an appeal to Soviet Premier Joseph V. Stalin (December 18, 1878 – March 5, 1953) with an ostentatious display would stroke his ego. He decided to create a masterfully crafted sword, in the old style of the best of British craftsmanship. King George the 6th (December 14, 1895 – February 6, 1952) issued the official order to create the sword in early 1943. Reginald M. Y. Gleadowe (May 6, 1888 – October 9, 1944), a former Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford, submitted designs that King George the 6th approved. The Wilkinson Sword Company was contracted to build the weapon. Their 80-year-old master swordsmith, Tom Beasley (September 6, 1863 – October 12, 1950) hand made commando knives for British soldiers and was sword maker to 5 Kings. Beasley was internationally profiled and featured in Wilkinson advertisements. The special steel for this blade was supplied by Sanderson Brothers and Newbould of Sheffield. The Sword of Stalingrad, Mech Stalingráda in Russian, 4 feet (1 and quarter meters) long, had a crystal pommel with 18 carat gold wire and red silk wrapped around a hardwood grip. A solid silver cross guard, adorned with a head a leopard, matched silver engraving of the King’s seal on the scabbard. Gold rays surrounded 3 rubies mounted in red enameled Soviet stars on each side of the red Persian lamb leather scabbard. 4 copies of the sword were created. On 1 side of the blade reads “To the Citizens of Stalingrad • Strong as Steel • From King George VI • As a Sign of the Deep Admiration of the British People” and the Russian translation is the on the obverse. “Grazhdanam Stalingrada • Krepkim Kak Stal’ • Ot Korolya Georga Vi • V Znak Glubokogo Voskhishcheniya Britanskogo Naroda.” The press made the sword a sensation. The gossip columnist of the Daily Express suggested sending the Sword of Stalingrad around the Kingdom. The sword was exhibited at the Goldsmiths’ Hall, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Manchester, England; Cardiff, Wales; Sheffield, England; Birmingham, England; Glasgow, Scotland, where 21,000 people came to view the blade; and Westminster Abbey, London, where it was on display for 3 days starting October 29, 1943, to accommodate the crowds of people wishing to view it. The line wrapped around Great College Street, a 1/4-mile (half a kilometer) away. The blade took on an almost religious nature for the British people, who recognized the Soviet sacrifice. The Teheran Conference was held November 28-December 1, 1943, the 1st meeting of the “Big Three” of Churchill, Stalin, and United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945). It was held at the Soviet Embassy there, due to Stalin’s concern about security. Before the Tripartite Dinner Meeting of November 29, 1943, at the Conference, Churchill presented Stalin with the Sword of Stalingrad as a gift from King George the 6th to the citizens of Stalingrad and the Soviet people, commemorating the Soviet victory. When Stalin received the sheathed sword, he took it with both hands and kissed the scabbard. Stalin then supposedly handed it to Marshal Kliment Voroshilov (February 4, 1881 – December 2, 1969). He held the sword by to sheathe and angled the pommel downwards, causing the sword to slide out of its scabbard and fall to the ground. “There were tears in his eyes.” Roosevelt later said. “I saw them myself. He bowed from the hips swiftly and kissed the sword, a ceremonial gesture of great style which I know was unrehearsed.” Roosevelt examined the sword himself. WChurchill wrote in his 5th volume of his memoirs, Closing the Ring, “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 theblade. He then handed it to Voroshilov, who dropped it.” However, an examination of the archival footage shows that Stalin, not Voroshilov, invested the Sword of Stalingrad and dropped the blade. Churchill and Roosevelt blamed Voroshilov to spare Stalin the embarrassment. The incident is edited out of some newsreels. At the dinner, Stalin suggested “liquidating” 50,000 German officers after the war was over, perhaps as many as a 100,000, to prevent Germany from ever waging war again. Roosevelt jokily suggested 49,000. Churchill, outraged, would not accept that Stalin was joking. He believed he was trying to see if he could execute large numbers of officers. Churchill was adamant that mass executions would not be tolerated by the West. 1 of the 3 copies in the United Kingdom is at the Wilkinson Museum, Acton, London. Another is in a private collection in the United States. The Sword of Stalingrad presented to Stalin himself is in the Volgograd Military Museum. It returned to the United Kingdom 3 times during the Cold War. Each time, the Soviets formed a commission to determine if the Sword of Stalingrad was replaced by a copy. They never found that it was a replica. Beasley made a similar sword for General Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969), Commander, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in 1944. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0714.jpg |
| Image Size | 593.80 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2936 x 2360 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | November 29, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | Teheran |
| State or Province | Teheran |
| Country | Iran |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NLR-PHOCO-A-789(675) |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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