World War Two

Edged weapons such as swords and daggers are on a ‘hot streak’ as one saleroom puts it. Here we look at the latest highlights

Second World War posters recruiting British and American women to the war effort are a familiar sight at auction.

A personal collection of Second World War pictures compiled by dealer John Noott over more than 40 years is on display at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum.

Despite their sterling service with the Allies, a large number of Polish soldiers could not return home when the fighting ended, as a fascinating archive reveals.

In 1888, in response to a tender issued by the War Office, Prof Archibald Barr and Dr William Stroud submitted an application for an optical range-finder patent to the Patents Office.

Unique medal combinations will always catch a collector’s eye, particularly when accompanied by a highly emotive backstory.

The highlight of a Cornish auction on June 10 was an RAF logbook from Battle of Britain Spitfire pilot Flying Officer Arthur Peter Pease (1913-40).

Serving in the Glider Pilot Regiment was a tough task during the Second World War.

Two impressive Battle of Britain medal groups offered a day apart at separate auctions both took six-figure sums.

An historic archive belonging to the engineer who oversaw the design of the Mulberry Harbours in the Second World War comes to auction in Cumbria later this month.

A group of “historically important” watercolour and pencil drawings of the London Blitz sparked a bidding war at Cirencester saleroom Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium).