Update: War hero Bernard Jordan's medals sell for £1650 at auction

Military collector Andrew Butler, from Ramsgate in Kent, has bought the five service medals belonging to former mayor Bernard Jordan for £1650 in an auction this morning.

The 55-year-old said the collection will be put on display in his shop in Normandy.

The lot also includes a portrait of Mr Jordan on canvas, a coloured print of a Bob cartoon published in the Sunday Telegraph last June and other reminders of his trip across the Channel last summer including printouts confirming his Brittany Ferries return ticket last June. 

Mr Butler, 55, said afterwards: "I'm very proud. It's something that will be displayed in the shop for tourists and collectors to see. I'm very pleased.

"I was fairly determined. Having the shop in Normandy, I saw (Mr Jordan's) story on the internet and in the papers.

"When I saw them come up, it was something I had to have for the display in the window."

The money raised from the sale will go to the RNLI along with the £600,000 that Mr Jordan and his wife Irene left to the charity in their will.

The medals bought as a collection include the 1939-45 Star, the Atlantic Star with French and German clasp, the Italy Star, the Defence Medal and the War Medal.

Glenn Butler, partner with Wallis and Wallis auctioneers in Lewes, said: “There has been a lot of interest in the medals.

“They are really just a £100 set of medals but because of who they belong to and what he did they have created such interest and sold for more than ten times that.

“It means another £1650 for the RNLI so that’s a good outcome for all.”

An RNLI spokesman said: "As a charity that depends on donations and legacies, we’re incredibly grateful to Mr and Mrs Jordan. 

"Bernard proudly served his country and the sale of the medals he bravely won will help the RNLI continue to save lives at sea.

"Mr and Mrs Jordan’s legacy is a very generous one and will be felt most by the people whose lives they help save."