THE sale of five medals won by a Spalding war hero has exceeded expectations by fetching £2,900 at auction.
A Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), Air Force Cross (AFC) and three other medals won by former bomber pilot Ben Garner went under the hammer for charity at a sale in London last Thursday.
The collection was snapped up by a mystery bidder for at least £700 more than auctioneers were expecting after they estimated that the medals would sell for between £1,800 and £2,200.
All proceeds from the sale at Spink Auctioneers will go towards a new £9.5million Battle of Britain museum being created in north London.
Oliver Pepys of Spink Auctioneers said: “The atmosphere in the room where the auction was held was encouraging and the audience were both good-humoured and excited about the lot that was at auction.
“There are often war medals that sell for slightly in excess of the top estimate, but this lot was well over the top estimate and we were grateful for having the opportunity to sell it.
“The fact that the proceeds were going towards the museum was definitely on people’s minds and I think it did encourage them to bid that little bit extra.
“We certainly wouldn’t rule out doing something similar again.”
Mr Garner, who was born in Spalding in 1918, joined the RAF after attending Moulton Grammar School and serving as a police officer in London.
He was awarded the DCF in 1945 for displaying “a high standard of skill and resolution” in destroying two German aircraft before getting the AFC in 1951 for his work as an instructor at RAF Cottesmore in Rutland.