Antiques Roadshow guest left ‘absolutely stunned’ after learning true value of WW2 medals
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BBC’s Antiques Roadshow sees members of the public visit with their beloved belongings, in the hope they might find out they are the holders of some unknown treasures. The programme’s latest instalment saw a young guest get a huge surprise when he learned of the true value of his relatives’ war medals from the First and Second World Wars.
The BBC show’s latest instalment came from the picturesque location of Wrest Park in Bedfordshire.
Once more, Fiona Bruce was joined by her team of experts as they got to work scanning for valuable items from the public.
War expert Mark Smith left one guest stunned after they discovered just how much money the medals they brought along were truly worth.
The youngster explained he was displaying his great-grandfather and great great-uncle’s medals.
Mark went onto quiz the guest on the photograph which was presented alongside the medals.
When asked who was in the snap, the guest pointed to someone in the frame and replied: “Ralph, he’s just there.”
The Roadshow expert went onto divulge more information about the historic items, including medals from World War One and Two.
Mark continued: “What we can see when we look at these medals is Ralph fought in both World Wars and he was in Burma for the Second World War.”
Pointing to one medal, in particular, the expert explained: “That one there is the Burma Star.
“In the First World War, he wins this one here, which is called the Military Medal, that is a bravery medal – only two away from the Victoria Cross.
“So was a very brave lad,” before asking the guest if he knew why his great-great-uncle had been awarded the accolade.
The guest said: “Yes, he was in Cambrai – the Hindenburg Line – in 1917, he saw an office’s dugout had been hit [by a shell].
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“So, he and two others went into the trench to get the body out and he was there for about three-quarters of an hour…”
Mark probed: “So this was all under fire, this was while he was being shot at by the Germans? The whole time he’s trying to rescue this man?”
The guest continued his story, adding: “He got the body out, Lieutenant Pritchard was pronounced dead until the nearest shell hit didn’t explode, so he made it out alive!”
Going on to give his verdict, Mark said: “Two things. First of all, he’s a very brave person and secondly, you’re very lucky you know the story.
“Most of those stories of the military medal for World War Two were lost when the army office was bombed, so you’re quite lucky you actually know what he did.”
It was soon time for the expert to give his all-important valuation.
“You’ve got a very nice couple of sets of medals, so as a family group – because you have the Military Medals and the Second World War medals as well as this box here – I think your collection is worth about £800!”
The young guest couldn’t believe what he was hearing, replying to the expert: “I’m absolutely stunned!”
“Well, the Military Medal is a very high up award. So what I want you to do, is I want you to go home and keep looking after them like you do, keep collecting them and keep researching them,” concluded Mark.
Antiques Roadshow airs Sundays at 8pm on BBC One.
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