THE MEN BEHIND THE MEDALS

AUCTIONS

The stories associated with militaria are often intriguing and heartbreaking at the same time. Jane Hall finds out more about the fate of three brothers, whose World War One medals were recently sold at Hyperion Auctions

Lester Day of Hyperion Auctions in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, says interest has grown in militaria, with medal groups, watches and even World War One and World War Two reproductions doing well. But it is the stories behind the items that become the real sellers.

One can only imagine the sorrow and pain that must have engulfed Thomas and Sarah Parker McGee when news came, in autumn 1916, that three of their sons had died on the same day in France.

Thomas Jnr, James and Bertie grew up together in the small east Cambridgeshire village of Stuntney. As World War One dragged on and the death toll mounted, the siblings were to perish on the Western Front on October 12, 1916.

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