Collector pays record sum for Victoria Cross.A VICTORIA Cross was bought at auction by a businesswoman for pounds 357,500. Cardiff-born Melissa John snapped up the rare war medal at Spink auctioneers in London. The VC is the highest honour for gallantry in the Armed Forces and was awarded to 21-year-old Bill Reid William (Bill) Ronald Reid (January 12, 1920 – March 13, 1998) was a Canadian jeweler, sculptor and artist. He was born to a father of European descent and a mother from the Haida (one of the First Nations of the Pacific coast) in Victoria, British Columbia. in 1943. The father of two, from Crieff, Perthshire, flew his damaged Lancaster bomber 200 miles despite serious injury sustained during a raid on Germany. The attacks on his aircraft claimed the lives of his navigator and wireless operator, but Flt Lt Flt Lt Flight Lieutenant Reid averted further tragedy by returning the aircraft to Norfolk. Eight years after his death in 2001, his proud family sold the VC for a British record amount. Miss John, 44, who now lives in Chelsea, London Coordinates: Chelsea is an area of west London, England bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. , said: "They are so rare and there were very few issued to pilots. "Most of them are in museums and there may never be another one on sale again. The pinnacle of any collection would be a Victoria Cross - that is why it was very important to me to acquire it." Miss John began collecting war medals in 1990, and was a long-time collaborator with her brother, Christopher, a well-known Cardiff estate agent who died suddenly at his Llandaff home last year, aged 47. |
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