Arms, Armour & Militaria

Organiser Peter Binfield is hoping for fine weather and a good turnout of 100-plus dealers at the first of this year’s Vintage & Classic Arms Fairs at Kempton Park on Sunday, May 2.

“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.”

MADAM –In the Militaria & medals section in ATG No 2485 it was inferred in an article on Capt Leefe Robinson VC that following his Zeppelin exploits he was confined to a desk for the remainder of the war as a ‘celebrity pilot’.

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.

A New York auction offered reminders of the vital work carried out by ships of all backgrounds, shapes and sizes during the Dunkirk evacuation

By 1941, wartime Britain was facing severe shortages of both the raw materials and the labour force needed to make clothing.

A long search for an 1914-15 Star had a happy ending after the Dix Noonan Webb (24% buyer’s premium) auction in London on February 17.

A car boot sale find 25 years ago has revealed how a luxury cruise liner was converted for transporting thousands of troops during the Second World War.

An early issue Queen’s Gallantry Medal was one of the highlights of the first militaria auction section at Elstob & Elstob (22% buyer’s premium).

If you are a birdwatcher, you need a good pair of binoculars.

Stowmarket saleroom Bishop & Miller’s Military, Medals & Weapons auction on April 30 features items from a distinguished Victorian military family.

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.

Medal group awarded to First World War nurse is coming up at Bishop & Miller auction.

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

The postponed January auction at Gloucestershire saleroom Chorley’s will take place on March 23-24.

A Second World War beret sold at a Kent auction was not only one of the famous maroon British paratrooper examples but had star billing of its own.

Princess Margaret’s lover Flight Lieutenant Peter Townsend (1914-95) has been introduced to a new generation of TV viewers due to Netflix TV series The Crown – but militaria lots sold at auction also underline his renown as an RAF ace.

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.

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.

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).