World War II is one of history’s greatest tragedies.
The death toll is enormous in a sprawling conflict - or series of linked conflicts - that it isn’t easily agreed on.
Let alone comprehended.
It’s certainly 10s of millions.
But it saw off an even greater tragedy.
Nazi world domination.
US soldiers destroyed the swastika over the site of the Nuremberg Rallies in an emblematic image from the end of World War II.
This week, ceremonies have celebrated one of the key dates of the end of the war.
VE Day on May 8 celebrates the anniversary of the German unconditional surrender in 1945.
The ceremonials this year have reminded us that living memories of the war are fading into the background.
Collectors can transcend lifetimes though, and here are a few ways you can build a collection that commemorates or celebrates the greatest conflict in human history.
Militaria
A Spitfire after delivery. There's no limit to the ways you can collect military equipment.
The most obvious way to get close to war is with the actual equipment that was used to fight it.
Not everyone wants to do this. These are the machines of violence.
But it’s a big and growing market.
For example:
A propellor blade from a P-47 Thunderbolt could have been yours for $45,000 via eBay. The US fighter bombers were used throughout the war, but only around 50 survive. Aircraft parts are one way to celebrate the technological innovation of the war.
Flags are particularly collectible and some of the most valuable WWII collector’s pieces include flags like a D-Day Stars and Stripes flag that was sold in 2016 for $514,000.
A landing flag from D Day that was sold for $500,000 has certainly seen action. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions.
That example was donated to the US Government by a Dutch buyer who picked it up at auction. It had been in action on one of the landing craft that helped the Allies storm Normandy’s beaches on June 6, 1944. And, it showed. Quite a memento, and now in a museum collection.
Such an enormous conflict saw millions upon millions of people in uniform and there are huge quantities of militaria.
Collectors will look for quality and condition as well as a provenance that - convincingly - links the piece to a notable time, place or person in World War II.
There are any numbers of way to narrow a collection to a specialism of your own choice. Enigma Machines, for example, are very popular and valuable. These are a rare example of Nazi or fascist items that are considered unproblematic because they are collected to celebrate their failure thanks to the Allied codebreakers.
Medals
A set of medals, including the award for Mick Gidden's vital bomb disposal work in London. They sold for over £100,000. Image courtesy of Noonan's Mayfair.
When war stories are told we look for heroes.
And heroes are celebrated with medals.
The highest award for the UK military is the Victoria Cross.
Most of these are now in museum collections, many via the collecting drive of Lord Ashcroft, whose enormous collection is in the Imperial War Museum.
The most valuable sold for £200,000 in 2004. It had been awarded to Norman Jackson for his heroism on a bomber flight in 1944. Despite his own injuries, Jackson climbed out onto the wing of a Lancaster bomber to fight a fire. While there, he was again shot by a German fighter, breaking his ankle as he fell into captivity saved by a fire-damaged parachute.
Norman Jackson whose heroism was extraordinary and earned him a Victoria Cross, and a long spell in a POW camp in Germany.
More recent notable medal sales have included the £100,000 reached by a collection of “Blitz medals” awarded to “Mick” Gidden, a Royal Navy Acting Lieutenant Commander whose bomb disposal work won him the moniker, “the man who saved Charing Cross”.
Rarity, condition, but most of all the story are vital to the value of medals.
Documents, maps, photographs
The Second World War was a total war largely fought between advanced, industrial economise - some with enormous colonial empires.
Away from the battle field they were wars of industrial production and bureaucracy.
Enormous amounts of paperwork was generated in every conceivable endeavour.
The meeting of US and Soviet troops was a symbolic and actual moment of military triumph, commemorated in this map that's on sale for just $1,500.
The most valuable World War II documents are probably going to be in our next section, about personalities, because they will be important papers linked to leaders.
In fact, collecting papers, photographs and maps - because they were so numerous - is a good value way to engage with World War II collecting. And, it produces a collection with real meaning that is likely to be attractive on show.
For example, the map celebrating Elbe Day, when Soviet and US troops met for the first time on April 25, 1945 could be yours for well under $2,000.
Personalities
Collecting is above all about personal connection.
And personal connection to heroes and big, historical personalities is the height of the hobby for most people.
World War II was full of big personalities.
And you can collect around them.
As a British company, the most obvious figure for us is Winston Churchill.
And his long life is collected by a legion of admirers.
Everything from used cigars to the paintings he knocked up in his spare time.
Last week, a car used by Field Marshall Montgomery was sold for over £100,000.
Political (FDR, Churchill), military (Eisenhower, Montgomery), cultural (Vera Lynn perhaps), scientific (Oppenheimer, Einstein, Turing)… notable folks from all walks of life played their part in this all-encompassing conflict.
Stamps and coins
We’ve touched on the battling bureacrats of World War II, and they included the postal and monetary officials in all combatant nations.
Stamps have always had an element of propaganda to them, and World War II meant that nationalistic, jingoistic or patriotic themes came to the fore.
A World War II stamp collection from any nation would be fascinating.
And the changing border and ebbing tides of military fortune produced some of the most famous rarities in philately, like overprints showing short-lived occupations, dastardly forgeries designed to demoralise enemies, or fund-raisers for disgusting Nazi collaborators.
Pressure on metal, ink, and paper supplies has also produced some numismatic and philatelic oddities created not by heroism but by the very prosaic shortages that marked the war years.
Money served a similar purpose, carrying messages and stirring up emotions.
And, of course, once the war was over it had to be commemorated.
This year, the Royal Mail has issued a set of 10 stamps for the 80th anniversary of VE Day that is just the latest in a long line of celebratory or commemorative issues that one could collect.
Propaganda, art and media
War on all fronts, including the home front, meant one of the most famous artistic mobilisations in history.
Hollywood certainly tried to pull its weight in the battle against fascism.
Casblanca, from 1942, was clear enough in its views that it was almost banned in neutral Ireland and wasn't released in an uncut German language until the 1970s. Posters are now highly collectible.
One of my favourite ever films, Went the Day Well, is in fact a World War II propaganda production that brings in some great names: made by Ealing Studios, with a script from a story by novelist Graham Greene, music by William Walton and starring Leslie Banks, it would have been a great Britflick in any era.
A collector’s study of some of the films of World War II opens up myriad fascinating possibilities.
Some actors, like James Stewart, a decorated air force officer, did more than just promote war bonds or make morale-boosting films.
More prosaically, ministries churned out posters, leaflets and ads to get the people onside.
Some are now highly collectible rarities and considered design classics.
Inspired art and media
We still live in the world World War II created.
We always will.
The scope of the conflict means it will be reflected upon as long as we’re around.
And a collector could easily focus on how the war has been recorded after the fact.
To take the Best Picture winner at the Oscars as a decent proxy for popular, artistically worthwhile movies, just a quick skim through the list of post-war winners brings up: Oppenheimer, The King’s Speech, The English Patient, Schindler’s List, and Patton just since 1970.
And movies mean stars, publicity, autographs…
It’s a whole new level to your World War II collection.
Collect historical rarities today
We are the world’s largest dealer in rare collectibles.
And that includes plenty of items that touch on World War II across our collections.
