Churchill’s finest hour

Awide array of collectables came under the hammer at the recent Mullocks sale: there was everything from railways through live steam models to WW2 paper memorabilia and automotive collectables. Railway buffs might have opted for the 0 gauge Exley Great Western Livery Royal Mail Car (a K6), in very good condition: just requiring a locomotive, it sold for £300. Meanwhile a Mamod Live Steam Wagon, an unfired example, in its original box with inner packing and instructions, sold for just £90.

Comics are good sellers, especially where early issues are concerned. Mullocks raised £260 on a 1950 bound edition of The Eagle; if that sounds a lot for a 12 month run, it should be noted that there was an inscription from Frank Hampson within. He was a well-known illustrator and in fact was the creator of Dan Dare. Besides that, there was paperwork for real car fans in the shape of a 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B model brochure, plus a 1950s Alfa Romeo La nuova 6C 2500 2a serie tipo sport e super sport brochure, together with an Alfa Romeo model 8C2300 fold-out sheet: these appealed to the tifosi on the day, who bid the trio up to £800.

An oddity in the form of a James Valentine’s Anti-Slavery Envelope ‘God Hath Made Of One Blood All Nations Of Men’ was also up for grabs: circa 1850s, it depicted an illustration of a kneeling African slave being protected by Britannia. A slave being whipped in a tropical setting and slave ship appeared in the background. Originating from Dundee, this unusual item (its size was just 5¼” × 3”) realised £320.

Arguably the most interesting lots, though, appertained to World War Two. The original Churchill ‘til Death or Victory’  poster, printed as one of a series of posters sponsored by The National Industrial Information Committee, was marked National Association of Manufacturers, and measured around 41 x 50 centimetres. Another (‘Let Us Go Forward Together’) poster (but not in English) was included in the lot, which reached £360. There were other Churchill posters on the day but the most evocative item was undoubtedly the Dambusters’ Wing Commander Guy Gibson’s autograph: this was a signed note inscribed ‘Regret No Photograph, sincerely Guy Gibson’ together with a magazine cutting depicting Gibson. The pilot, who won the Victoria Cross, actually flew various aircraft but he is best remembered for leading the raid on the German dams. There was much interest in this note before the hammer finally fell on £900. ■