A few days ago i found a sword from my grandfathers collection. When he was still alive he told my mother that it was used in WW1, I am interested now, if there was any usage of swords in WW1, and also which soldiers were most likely to carry/use them.
I am living in Austria, if that's helping.
Even in the second World War there were several instances of Light cavalry with sabres being involved in battles. In the Austrian forces of WW1, the cavalry of the kaiserlich-königliche Landwehr had several lancer regiments, and as far as I know, the rifled cavalry would use sabres as well. Additionally, infantry officers in pretty much every involved army would still carry swords, at least in the beginning of the war. They weren't uncommon at all, you should post some pictures if you want that specific sword to be identified.
Any pictures of the sword could help
As swords seem to have been relatively common, I want to ask a related question:
Were these swords actually used in battle or were they mostly decorative? This pertains to both swords in WWI in general and to OPs sword (if we manage to identify it, as I'm writing this it has not been).
One of the first confrontations of the war between the BEF and the Germans involved swords. A cavalry squadron led by a Captain Hornby came face to face with four German Uhlans on the 22nd of August, near Mons. After a few seconds of surprise, the Uhlans fled back to their unit, chased by the British.
The two units of cavalry than engaged in a sharp skirmish in the streets of Soignies, where Hornby's men killed three or four Uhlans. Hornby received the DSO as the first British officer to kill a German with the new pattern cavalry sword.
Just one specific example among many.
Source: Tuchmann's The Guns of August
Your question has already been answered, but I thought I might point out some other uses of sword like weapons being used in the first world war.
One notable occurrence was the 4th Australian Light Horse Brigades charge Beersheba in 1917. Basically, instead of dismounting and performing in the way standard infantry would, only using their horses to reach the destination, the men decided to charge Beersheba on their horses, but due to the fact they were not equipped with lances or traditional sabres, they sharpened their SMLE 1907 Bayonets, which were about two foot long, and charged with them.
It was a success, and in 1918 some brigades were issued with proper cavalry sabres.
As has already been said, Austrian cavalry units at this time would use sabres, I also believe some big up officers would occasionally carry swords, although mostly for appearance or ceremonial purposes.
Yes, in the early days/years if the Great War swords would have been used by cavalry. Some officers who were still wearing their swords may have used them during trench combat. Later in the war bayonets, trench clubs and trench picks were common during hand to hand skirmishes. Some of the bayonets were 16-18 inches long. So, with that in mind. If a soldier had access to a working sword I'm sure that he would put it to use.
As for which soldiers would have used them. Regular soldiers would not be given swords. Swords were typically given to officers or cavalry.