An imposing pair of Second World War German Kriegsmarine Deck Binoculars, which became British war booty before being used to keep an eye on Tyneside ship breakers sold for £10,000 in the Militaria and Ethnographica Sale at Tennants on 18th March (all figures exclude buyer’s premium). The binoculars were originally mounted on the S-Boat Tender Ship ‘Tsingtau’, which was commissioned in 1933 and saw years of active service in the German navy before becoming part of the British fleet in 1945; later ending up at a ship breakers’ yard at Dunston on the River Tyne, the directors of the company used the binoculars to oversee their workforce.
Pieces of Second World War Militaria sold well across the sale, with further highlights including a Second World War German Luftwaffe Paratrooper’s (Fallschirmjäger) M38 Single Decal Helmet (sold for £4,500), a Second World War Japanese Officer’s Shin Gunto Katana (sold for £750), and a Bovey Pottery Figure on a ‘ARP’ Warden from the “Our Gang” Series (sold for £350).
Dating from the century earlier but having been nearly destroyed by a flying bomb in a German air raid in 1944, were a set of Four Early 19th Century Mosaic Roundels, which were once part of the floor of Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, London and sold for £1,500. The roundels formed the regimental badges for the Scots Guards, the Grenadier Guards and two to the Irish Guards. Further interesting early lots included a 19th Century 4 Bore Percussion Wildfowling Gun (sold for £800), and an 18th Century Flintlock Duelling Pistol by Wogdon of London (sold for £1,400).
The sale also included a Private Collection of Cap and Headdress Badges and Accoutrements, which includes over eighty lots with examples from the Indian and South African Armies. Notable amongst the collection was a group of Fourteen Indian Army Cavalry Badges that sold well above estimate at £420, and a Victorian OR’s Helmet Plate to the Derbyshire Regiment which was sold alongside eleven related badges for £950.
Medals continue to attract good interest, and amongst the highlights in the sale from the First World War were a First World War Nursing Trio comprising a 1914 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal awarded to A. Matron M.E. Wilkin (sold for £650), and an interesting First World War V.A.D. Group of Five Medals awarded to Miss Dorothy Grace Lawson, V.A.D., who served in Dunkirk (sold for £850). Selling well, too, was a Victory Medal awarded to Lieutenant Hon. F Henderson, sold together with a Second World War group of six medals awarded to Captain Ian Henderson of the Royal Horse Guards and his uniform for £1,400, and a South Atlantic Medal, 1982 awarded to P S Beard who was on Board HMS Hermes during the Falklands War.
The Militaria and Ethnographica Sale realised a total hammer price of £100,030 for 458 lots, and an 85% sold rate.
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