HISTORIC First World War medals which belonged to a relation of John Lennon are now up for sale on a popular auction website.
The Military Medal was awarded to Lance Corporal Robert Smith, of the King’s Liverpool Regiment, for his bravery in rescuing both a wounded officer and a fellow soldier under heavy fire after a German trench raid in mid-1918.
Tragically, Lance Corporal Smith was killed in action soon afterwards at the age of 20, just weeks before the end of the war. His name is included in the war memorial in the churchyard at St Peter’s, in Woolton.
Robert Smith had a number of siblings, one of whom, George, later married John Lennon’s Aunt Mimi and played a crucial role in the future Beatle’s childhood.
The Military Medal, along with a British victory medal and memorial plaque, belong to avid King’s Regiment memorabilia collector George Wilson, of Waterloo, who – without realising their significance – bought them from a dealer for around £200, in the 1980s. Thanks to the Beatle connection, and the intrinsic historic interest of the medals, bids of more than £2,600 are now being made on the Ebay website.
Mr Wilson believes the churchyard memorial – which bears the name Peace – and his uncle George’s stories of Lance Corporal Smith’s experiences in the Great War, later played a part in inspiring Lennon to pen his famous anthem Give Peace a Chance, although the most immediate influence on the song was the Vietnam war.
