Arms, Armour & Militaria

Including seafaring, tin, copper, studio potteries and fishing, a Penzance sale covered just about everything from the region bar pasties.

Irish castle home of earls about to be turned into hotel and spa furnishes a remarkable sale

One of the most daring air operations of the Second World War included New Zealand pilot Flight Lieutenant Maxwell Nicholas Sparks as a participant.

The London Antique Arms Fair, founded in 1967, will be running its 103rd fair at a new venue, the RAF Museum in Hendon on Sunday, October 3.

The government has reminded owners of certain old firearms that they will need to obtain a licence following a change in the law from September 22.

Serving in the Glider Pilot Regiment was a tough task during the Second World War.

To mark the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s death, Sotheby’s is holding an auction from September 15-22 in Paris titled Les Arts sous Influence: Napoléon.

The gun Pat Garrett used to kill Billy the Kid has been sold for a world auction record for any firearm at Bonhams in Los Angeles.

The best-performing entry of the Lindsay Burns (20% buyer’s premium) sale in Perth on July 20-22 against estimate was a militaria lot.

Nearly 200 items of Al Capone memorabilia are coming to the market for the first time after being consigned to a California auction by his granddaughters.

This otherwise humble 1914 Star acquired great historical resonance in the knowledge it was awarded to Private John Parr of the 4th Battalion, Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment).

As his nickname suggests, Wing Commander Sidney Baker (1918-2007) enjoyed the finer things in life.

Illustrated with 76 hand-coloured flags, a 1794 Signal Book for the Ships of the Line sold to an online bidder for £11,000 in a Shrewsbury sale.

Cheffins’ auction in Cambridge on August 26 includes a silver presentation salver given to Air Vice Marshal James Edgar ‘Johnnie’ Johnson (1915-2001), the highest-scoring Western Allied pilot against the Luftwaffe and the RAF’s officially recognised top-scoring fighter pilot of the Second World War.

An intriguing condition report that mentions ‘water and smoke damage’ gives a clue as to what happened to this battered copy of the Encyclopedia Britannia sold in a Charles Miller (24% buyer’s premium) auction.

A new high for a British army Victoria Cross as 'exceptional’ example also sets a house record for a medal at Dix Noonan Webb

Among the medal groups that impressed at Dix Noonan Webb's July 21 auction was one awarded to a famous recipient: RAF Group Captain Peter Townsend.

The sale of a Military Cross group of honours at Woolley & Wallis (25/12% buyer’s premium) of Salisbury marked what is believed to be the first time that the medals of a British prime minister have been offered at auction.

Letters written by Nelson to his wife make obvious his esteem for Captain Sir William Hoste KCB (1780-1828)