From a letter signed by Churchill to a telegram declaring WW2, just some of the items under the hammer in Shrewsbury
War medals, a letter signed by Sir Winston Churchill and a naval telegram declaring the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 are just a few of the lots included in an auction in Shrewsbury.
Auctioneers Halls have gathered 270 lots of militaria, including a vast selection of medals, for the February 11 auction held at the Battlefield salerooms in Shrewsbury.
Two Waterloo medals will be on offer on the 200th anniversary of the famous battle, with bidding expected to rise to around £4,000.
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One of them was awarded to a severely wounded officer of the King's German Legion Artillery, Lieutenant Ludwig Heise, while the other recipient was Gunner George Sizeland, of the Royal Foot Artillery, who was originally a labourer from Norfolk.
The medals on offer span from 1815 to the Iraq War and include a Crimean War medal and a Knight Legion of Honour medal awarded by France to an assistant surgeon John Gibbons, of the 44th Regiment of Foot.
Derek Ainsworth, Halls' medals specialist, said: "We have sold expensive individual medal groups in the past, but this is the best ever selection of medals that we have offered in the same auction.
"The medals have come from collectors and families across Shropshire and Worcestershire."
The Churchill letter, dated 1918, signed when he was Minister of Munitions, recommends someone for a CBE and is expected to fetch in excess of £600.
The naval telegram, dated September 3, 1939, was sent to Admiral Sir Charles Gordon Ramsey, Commander in Chief at the Royal Navy base of Rosyth, Scotland and is valued at up to £400.
Caroline Dennard, Halls' militaria specialist, added: "Just six weeks later, this base was the intended target of Germany's first air attack against Britain.
"Nine German planes took part in the raid, which their crews soon discovered was at the extreme limit of their bombers' range and took British air-defence completely by surprise.
"No alarm was sounded and the performance of the early-warning system gave serious cause for concern. Anti-air-raid gunners on the Forth were engaged in a gun-drill at the time and quickly had to exchange their dummy ammunition for live as the German planes appeared overhead.
"The bombers damaged the light cruiser HMS Southampton and two cruisers, HMS Mohawk and HMS Edinburgh, killing 16 Royal Navy crew and wounding a further 44, although this information was not made public at the time."
The auction also features a private collection of military uniforms, ranging from the 1920s to the '60s and a First World War scrapbook compiled by a farmer from Cheswardine, which is valued at around £60.
He was instrumental in serving on the Agricultural War Committee and trained a number of women workers on his farm.
The auction catalogue can now be viewed online at www.hallsgb.com/fine-art.
