Military Medal

A Victoria Cross group awarded to a British soldier who volunteered to carry a vital message to a stranded platoon at Mericourt in October 1918, in the knowledge that five of his comrades had already been in killed in turn making earlier attempts, sold for £200,000.

“I joined up as a youngster for a bit of fun, but it didn’t turn out like that. We were young men made old before our time.”

Soldiers are often associated with hard drinking – but rarely temperance.

Major Henry Milligan of the Royal Army Medical Corps not only won a Military Cross for bravery in the First World War in 1917, but gained another one.

The medal group of a colonel believed to be the most heavily decorated Military Police officer in the history of the corps sold for a mid-estimate £2400.

The world record for a George Cross has been broken by a medal awarded to a courageous British soldier who died in captivity during the Korean War.

Among the highlights of the year at Spink was a group of 17 medals awarded to Air Vice-Marshal Sir Matthew Brown ‘Bunty’ Frew (1895-1974).

The Medals, Orders and Decorations sale at Morton & Eden in November featured two Victoria Crosses awarded during the Indian Mutiny. They sold to the same buyer for a combined hammer price of £300,000.

Dix Noonan Webb’s highest-priced lot of 2020 was this Crimean War Naval Brigade Victoria Cross group of four sold for £240,000 on October 15. The estimate was £120,000-160,000.

After a somewhat chequered period before the war, during which his employment ranged from gold-digging and sailing the South Sea Islands to running a camel racing team and a betting shop, Lt Hubert (Ted) Carse of the the Royal Australian Naval Reserve ended up as a hero.

Hughie Green (1920-97) is well known as star of film, radio and TV, such as Opportunity Knocks – and a colourful personal life such as being father to Paula Yates. However, he also had a long and eventful career in aviation.

The Falklands War was 38 years ago now. However, for medal collectors the conflict is very much in mind, as evidenced by two six-figure results recently at London saleroom Dix Noonan Webb (24% buyer’s premium).

Two Victoria Cross medals awarded during the Indian Mutiny offered by Morton & Eden (20% buyer’s premium) in London sold to the same buyer.

A First World War ‘dead man’s penny’ memorial plaque awarded to a soldier believed to be the first black officer commissioned into a British army regiment during the conf lict and the first black officer casualty is coming up at auction.

As heroic a defence against the odds as Rorke’s Drift, and certainly more important, the twin battles of Imphal and Kohima are much less well known.

A Military Cross group awarded to a soldier who carried a fallen comrade through fierce gunfire in Iraq sold at £36,000 (plus 20% buyer ’s premium) in Macclesfield on September 11.