Medals belonging to Portsmouth war hero sell for more than £150,000

The Victoria Cross and other medals awarded to Corporal Sidney Day of the Suffolk Regiment, who survived the Blitz in Portsmouth and is buried in Milton Cemetery, were purchased by the Lord Ashcroft Medal Collection.

At the Somme in 1916 Cpl Day, who ran Sidney Day VC Tea Rooms in Edinburgh Road, Portsmouth, suffered four bullet wounds from machine gun fire.

A year before at the Battle of Loos he was shot by a sniper while trying to rescue a commanding officer in No Man’s Land.

The parents of the commanding officer, Lieutenant Thomas Stevens, gave him an inscribed cigarette case for his bravery.

In March 1918 he was wounded and taken prisoner during the German offensive at Lys.

He died in 1959 aged 68, partly as a result of the wounds he suffered in the First World War.

His medals and cigarette case were auctioned off earlier today by silverware specialists Dix Noonan Webb.

A spokesman from Dix Noonan Webb said: ‘This was a strong price for a magnificent Victoria Cross group of medals and associated memorabilia, which came direct from Sidney Day’s family and so had never been on the market before.

‘It was above the £120,000 to £140,000 pre-sale estimate.

‘Dix Noonan Webb is delighted that the medals have become part of the Ashcoft Collection.’