via Guardian.
A long-lost Military Cross, awarded to a poet who articulated the futility of war, has been found in a Scottish attic. The medal, presented to Siegfried Sassoon and thought to have been thrown away 90 years ago in disgust at the slaughter of the first world war, is expected to fetch up to £25,000 when it comes up for auction at Christie's in London next month.
Sassoon was awarded the MC in 1916 for "conspicuous gallantry during a raid on the enemy's trenches". His citation in the London Gazette noted that he had braved "rifle and bomb fire" and that, "owing to his courage and determination, all the killed and wounded were brought in".
But in 1917, he was said to have thrown the medal into the Mersey after the authorities declined to court-martial him for his refusal to carry out military duties .
Robert Pulvertaft, whose stepfather George was Sassoon's only son, said: "I found it while clearing out the attic of the family property on Mull. Bizarrely, it was in a treasure chest, like a pirates' chest, covered in cobwebs and long-dead insects. The ID tag was there too, along with the revolver in an old Jiffy bag and some poetry medals."
He must have valued it, after all. The medal he was supposed to have thrown into the Mersey was just the ribbon, anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment