Sixteen upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK.

Military uniforms reached their ornamental peak in the 19th century Western Europe – with the leaders of the day sharing in their ostentation

Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of the Nile was the 'Vanguard'. An oil on canvas coming up at Charles Miller’s July 7 auction in west London features a very unusual portrayal of this vessel.

A signed memorandum letter sent by Nelson from HMS Victory to one of his captains sold for a mid-estimate £3200 at a recent TW Gaze (18% buyer’s premium) auction in Diss in Norfolk.

A Zulu War medal awarded to a Victorian soldier severely wounded while fighting in the hospital building at Rorke’s Drift has been bought at auction – by a doctor.

The 80th anniversary of Operation Dynamo, aka the Dunkirk evacuation in May-June 1940, has been in the headlines recently. However, less well known is the fate of the British 51st Highland Division almost 100 miles further along the French coast.

An American collector bought this original Second World War RAF ensign flag at a recent East Bristol Auctions (18% buyer’s premium).

A rare ‘pocket watch’ sold by East Bristol Auctions (18% buyer’s premium) was more surveillance device than timekeeper.

Fifteen upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK.

As the Scottish regiments went over the top on July 1, 1916 – the fateful First Day of the Somme – they were led into battle by the wail of bagpipes.

A long time ago, a poster costing $1.75 launched a series of films set in a galaxy far, far away. Forty-four years later, that series has become the phenomenally successful Star Wars blockbuster and a rare example of that same design sold at auction for £4000.

A gold winner’s medal awarded for the 1893 FA Cup – Wolverhampton Wanderers’ first major trophy – sold for £8000 at Mullock’s (20% buyer’s premium) on April 29-30.

Well before the darker Batman film versions of directors Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan there was a more innocent era of Batman on the big and small screens.

A silver penny of the boy king Edward the Martyr – the teenager who ruled Saxon Britain in the 10th century and was later venerated as a saint – has sold to a UK collector for £9000 at Dix Noonan Webb (24% buyer’s premium).

In May 1875 the British Arctic Expedition under the command of George Nares (1831-1915) set off on a mission to reach the North Pole via the unchartered ‘open polar sea’.

On April 10, 1970, a Paul McCartney ‘self-interview’ ahead of the release of his debut solo album had been taken by the media to be an announcement that the band was no more.