01/02/2025 General News
From Trooping the Colour and the military pomp of the coronation celebrations to nightly TV images of the war in Ukraine, our connection with the Armed Forces remains as strong as ever – something which is reflected in the continued interest in all things military in the saleroom, and especially military medals, writes Oscar Crocker.
It is the human stories behind the medals, the tales of bravery and valour, which make them so attractive to collectors. Whenever we offer a medal or medal group with a detailed history behind the individual to whom the medals were impressed, there is always much more interest.
The most expensive single British military medal ever sold at auction was a Victoria Cross awarded at Gallipoli to Australian Captain Alfred Shout, which sold for £406,716 in 2006. Three years later the Victoria Cross and Bar awarded to Captain Noel Chavasse, also in the First World War, sold for £1.5 million; Chavasse is one of only three people to have been awarded the Victoria Cross twice.
While VCs sell for huge money, it is often the more modest medals, and especially those with a local story, which perform well in the saleroom. For example, in our March Medals and Militaria Sale, we have a fabulous medal group awarded to the man who would go on to become the first Lord Mayor of Norwich in the reconstituted Norwich City Council in 1974.
Major William Spear was born in 1908, moving to Norfolk when he was just five years old. He was educated at Paston School in North Walsham, later becoming an architect, including a spell as an articled pupil to the famous George Skipper.
Spear saw wartime service in the 228 Field Company Royal Engineers, and was amongst those taken prisoner in Singapore on 15th February 1942. He was forced to work on the infamous Siam-Burma Railway in Thailand, and was among the lucky ones to survive that ordeal, being liberated on 4th September 1945.
Returning to Norwich, he re-formed and commanded a Territorial Army company (no. 251) of the Royal Engineers in the city. He was elected city councillor for Nelson Ward in 1956, and served a Sheriff in 1962. When the local government reorganisation of 1974 reconstituted Norwich as a non-metropolitan district council, Major Spear became its first Lord Mayor under the new regime.
He was president of the Norfolk and Norwich Conservative Club and was only the tenth person to be honoured with life membership. He retired from being a councillor at the age of 79, and died in 1991 aged 88.
His medal group, which comprises six medals (5th type Order of St.John, 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star, Defence Medal, 1939-45 War Medal and GRVI 1947 territorial efficiency decoration with two GRVI Bars) will go under the hammer in our March Medals and Militaria Sale, and with such a local connection, is sure to be in demand from Norfolk collectors.
Another interesting medal group in the same sale was impressed to a man who served in both world wars, being wounded at the age of just 16 in the First World War, and losing his life while serving as a submariner in 1940, aged 38.
Leading seaman Harold Simpson was born in Middlesex in 1902, and signed up to fight for his country at the age of 15, with the rank of ‘Boy, 2nd Class’. He served on HMS Barham from 1918, and was wounded in action in June of that year.
On the outbreak of the Second World War, Simpson returned to service as a submariner, joining HMS Thistle with the rank of Leading Seaman. Sadly his submarine was sunk by a U-Boat just off Stavanger in Norway in the following year, with the loss of all crew.
This is a relatively rare medal group, in that it includes combat medals from both World Wars. While First World War veterans did sign up in some numbers after 1939, their age (most would have been at least in their 40s) meant that many fulfilled non-combat roles in the second conflict.
Both of these medal groups tell fascinating personal stories. At a time of global instability, it is always worth remembering that behind the big picture of every conflict are thousands of such human-level tales. That we still value them ensures that they will never be forgotten.