Medal of Edinburgh war hero shot eight times in act of valour at auction for £260k

A collection of rare naval medals - including the first naval Victoria Cross of the Great War awarded to an Edinburgh captain - could fetch up to £2million at auction.

Noonans Mayfair are set to sell a collection of 250 medals at an upcoming auction, including a standout Victoria Cross (V.C.) which is expected to make up to £260,000 on its own. The prized medal was awarded to Captain Henry Peel Ritchie of the Royal Navy as the Senior Service's first V.C. of the conflict.

The captain earned the magnificent medal for his gallant command of H.M.S. Goliath's steam pinnace at Dar-es-Salaam in East Africa on 28 November 1914.

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Deputy chairman of Noonans and director of the Medal Department, Nimrod Dix, said: "When the pinnace came under a withering fire, 38-year-old Ritchie took over the wheel from his wounded coxswain and steered for the harbour's entrance, but it took 20 minutes to get clear, in which period he was wounded eight times - on the forehead, in the left hand, twice in the left arm, in his right arm and hip and, finally, by two bullets through his right leg."

Captain Ritchie, who was promoted Captain on the Retired List in January 1924, lived at Craig Royston House in Edinburgh and died there on 9 December 1958, aged 83. Other notable items in the collection - which covers over 200 years of Naval history - include a Second War bomb and mine disposal George Cross, Distinguished Service Cross group of ten awarded to Lieutenant-Commander William Ewart Hiscock, Royal Navy.

This is estimated to fetch an impressive £80,000 to £120,000. Mr Dix added: "In his capacity as Controlled Mining Officer at H.M.S. St. Angelo, Malta, Hiscock dealt with no fewer than 125 'incidents' at the height of the island's siege, among them an 'Italian torpedo machine' and other unknown types of ordnance: in dismantling the former, which contained a 650lb. high explosive charge fitted with four firing devices and a time fuse, the clock mechanism whirred into action, but he calmly neutralised the device nonetheless.

"Tragically, he and his wife were killed in a bombing raid on Valetta in February 1942, just a few days after the announcement of his award of the G.C., so it was presented to one of his daughters by King George VI at Buckingham Palace on 23 June 1942."

The naval artefacts are set to go under the hammer on Tuesday, July 23, 2024 at 2pm. The impressive lineup comes from the collection of the late Jason Pilalas from Connecticut, USA, who was an officer in the United States Navy.

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Mr Dix said: "He was not only a man of many talents, but he was also a man of many interests, none more so than his relentless pursuit of knowledge of all things relating to the Royal Navy.

"This voracious appetite for knowledge being matched only by his seemingly unquenchable thirst to collect objects relating to his passion. However, as much as Jason cherished his collection, he was always mindful of the fact that he was just the custodian of these objects in his own lifetime."