The second Smith and Wilde militaria auction took place on Friday 21st March 2008 (Good Friday) in the Wellington Suite, The Royal Armouries, Leeds and viewing of the items for sale in the auction commenced at 12.00pm Thursday 20th March 2008.

Specialist collectors and enthusiast took advantage of the opportunity to view items between 12.00pm until 7.00pm on Thursday, and between 8.30am and 11.00am on Friday morning prior to the auction taking place.

On the morning of the auction the Smith and Wilde reception staff reported over 400 paddles allocated to clients. Prior to the commencement of the auction over 160 commission bids had been placed by prospective buyers from all over the world including, France, Belgium, the USA, and Australia, and of course the UK. Telephone auction room bidders were organised and the auction room saw buyers in attendance to compete for a total of 625 lots.

The lots available for sale in the auction covered all periods and were divided into twelve categories, Miscellaneous, Arms and Armour, Edged Weapons, Uniforms and Equipment, Paintings and Prints, Headdress, British Orders, Decorations and Medals, Foreign Orders, Decorations and Medals, Badges and Insignia, Model and Toy Soldiers, Ephemera and Antiquarian and New Books.

At 11.30am Mr Jeffrey Bates our newly appointed auctioneer commenced the sale. One of the items from the 'Miscellaneous' section was lot 57, a late 19th Century Sudanese tent hanging, which achieved a price of £840, and from the 'Arms and Armour' section lots 65 and 67 two suits of Japanese Samurai Armour sold for £1500 and £1700 respectively.

Mr Bates moved to the 'Edged Weapons' section and lot 151, a Victorian Household Cavalry Officer's sword achieved a hammer price of £900 and lot 158 a WWII Japanese Officer's sword with presentation plaque achieved a price of £900.

At 12.54pm at the end of the 'Edged Weapons' section Mr Bates called for a short break.

At 1.08pm the auction resumed, starting at the beginning of the 'Uniforms and Equipment' section with lot 167, a Durham Light Infantry Tunic Circa 1860 which achieved a price of £120. The auction proceeded into the 'Paintings and Prints' section and lot 222, a Wellington and Blucher Waterloo print sold at a price of £200.

At 1.43pm the 'Headdress' section followed, which saw lot 244 a British 21st Lancers Lance cap (Other Ranks) achieve a hammer price of £920.

At 1.55pm at the end of the 'Headdress' section Mr Bates called for a second short break in the auction proceedings, which was prior to commencing the 'British Orders, Decorations and Medals' section.

At 2.10pm the auction activity resumed with the 'British Orders, Decorations and Medals' section and saw lot 276 a copy Victoria Cross to G. Hinckley, Oct 9th 1862 sell to a UK bidder achieving a price of £800.

The auction saw the sale of lot 281 a Distinguished Conduct Medal to the Scots Fusilier Guards named to Pte. Frederick Minster sold at a price of £1550 to a UK telephone bidder. A few moments later the auction moved to lot 287, a Crimea 4 Clasps medal to the Fusilier Guards also named to Pte. Fredr. Minster. The lot achieved a price of £460 and sold to the same UK telephone bidder causing the two previously separated medals awarded to a brave soldier to be reunited.

The atmosphere in the auction room increased as the proceedings moved towards three of the items taking pride of place, lots 353 a Military Medal group of six to the SAS killed in action Italy 1945. Lot 354 GSM & CSM pair to Sergeant Gin Cooper SAS and lot 355 CSM with MID and LSGC pair the SAS (Special Air Service and Royal Hamps) which achieved hammer prices of £12,000, £3,800 and £5,600 respectively and all sold to the same UK bidder.

At 3.00pm at the end of the 'British Orders, Decorations and Medals' section, three and a half hours in the auction Mr Bates allowed for a ten minute break to be taken.

At 3.10pm bidding resumed at the start of the 'Foreign Orders, Decorations and Medals' section. The auction room saw lot 390 a Hero of the Soviet Union Group to Soviet Fighter Ace Mankevich achieve a hammer price of £6,600 selling to an auction room telephone bidder from the USA.

At 4.00pm the auction moved into the 'Badges and Insignia' section and lot 445, a Hungarian Officer's Bullion Para Badge WWII sold to a UK telephone bidder realising a hammer price of £660. A short time later lot 499 Two WWII Officers Glengarry badges sold at a price of £230 and towards the end of the 'Badges and Insignia' section lot 543 a Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) cap insignia achieved a price of £300.

At 4.25pm the 'Model and Toy Soldiers' section saw lot 560 a set of scarce DJ and HJ campside figures sell at a price of £300 and the 'Ephemera' section saw lot 601, RAF Prisoner of War artwork sell at the hammer price of £100.

The final section, 'Antiquarian and New Books' saw lot 611 Army Lists 1918. Hayward sell to a bid of £70 and after a hectic day, at approximately 4.53pm the sale concluded.

The auction achieved successes for all allowing sellers the opportunity to realise the equity in their investments and buyers a fantastic opportunity to purchase superb items of Militaria at bargain prices.

Smith and Wilde are now accepting lots for their next militaria auctions which will be taking place on Friday 5th September 2008 and Friday 21st November 2008. The auction venues will be the Royal Armouries and the sales will take place in the Wellington Suite. Viewing of the items for sale in the auctions will take place on Thursday 4th September 2008 and Thursday 20th November 2008 and on the morning prior to the sales taking place.

If you have any items that you wish to place in the forthcoming Smith and Wilde militaria auctions please do not hesitate to contact us. We offer attractive rates of commission and the closing date for acceptance of items for sale in the Friday 5th September 2008 and Friday 21st November 2008 auctions is 20th July 2008.

The September 2008 and November 2008 auction catalogues will have a full colour photograph of each item for sale. The catalogues will be available in print and will also be accessible on-line through the Smith and Wilde website.

We look forward to seeing you in September and November 2008.