Arms, Armour & Militaria

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

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

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

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).

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.

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 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.

This small oval gold medal was struck at the end of 1650 to mark the victory of the New Model Army at the Battle of Dunbar.

Weapons proved a highlight of the Lockdales (18% buyer’s premium) Coins, Medals & Militaria auction on January 23-24 held during the third lockdown.

Two iconic Colt pistols were the big money-earners from both sides of the Atlantic in the pre-Christmas arms and armour sales.

Nicolas-Noel Boutet and Anton Vincent Lebeda pistols star at two London auctions.

Provenance can count for a lot when it comes to gun collecting and two names with quite different connotations came up at Holts (25/20% buyer’s premium).

The name Boutet appears on many fine presentation guns.

At Bonhams in London this single-barrelled 28-bore made in 1877 for one of the sons of Prince Duleep Singh reached £20,000.

Baker rifle stands out in Kent saleroom.

The random selection of a place in the line is one of the long-established rituals of English driven game shooting and novel methods continue to emerge.