A set of medals won by a naval volunteer during the London Blitz of World War II will be sold at auction next month.
The collection of honours (eight in total) was awarded to Acting Lieutenant-Commander Ernest Oliver “Mick” Gidden, who to history is “the man who saved Charing Cross”.
The medals will be sold by Noonans Mayfair on March 11, and are expected to realise between £100,000 and £130,000.
Noonans deputy chairman, Nimrod Dix, said: “Gidden, who was born in Hampstead, was a master of mine disposal operations and the first man to be awarded both the George Cross and George Medal, his gallantry in dealing with a parachute mine on Hungerford Bridge, outside Charing Cross Station, in April 1941, was among the great epics of the war: in a six hour operation, in which he was unable to apply a safety device for much of that time, he had to resort to using a hammer and chisel.”
The addition of an OBE to the collection of medals makes it completely unique.
The enormous German explosive which Lieutenant Gidden saved London from. Image courtesy of Noonans Mayfair.
Lieutenant Gidden led the operation to defuse a mine found close to Charing Cross Station. The mine had to be turned over to get at its fuse. Gidden then used a hammer and chisel to try to access the mine, but started a clockwork mechanism inside it. Thankfully it did not detonate and Lieutenant Gidden was able to complete the six-hour job of defusing it.
He died, aged 51, in 1961.
These medals are from the collection of Jason Pilalas, an American collector who amassed one of the largest collections of naval medals anywhere.
Alongside the London Blitz collection, a Victoria Cross awarded posthumously to Lieutenant-Commander C. H. Cowley after his murder following capture on the Tigris River in 1916 will be sold. It carries a top estimate of £220,000.
Last summer, Noonans auctioned the first part of Mr Pilalas’s collections, selling every lot for around £1.8 million.
Victoria Crosses remain the most collectible and valuable of all British military decorations. Many of them have been bought by Lord Ashcroft, whose collection is on display at the Imperial War Museum.
Only 1,364 VCs have been awarded, to 1,361 recipients.
The George Cross is the highest award for civilian bravery and is considered equal in status to a Victoria Cross.
