A silver bracelet given to a survivor of the sinking of the Lusitania by a fellow passenger made £500 at Bonhams London on June 2.

The passenger ship was sunk in a German U-boat attack in 1915.

Aroon means friend or loved one in Gaelic

May Maycock lent money to a businessman named Bill after he lost everything in the attack that almost killed them both - including his family. He presented her with the piece, inscribed "from Bill to May", once he got back on his feet.

The lot was consigned by May's daughter Barbara Thomas (age 90), who told the BBC that her mother had kept the bracelet from her family until after her husband had died.

She explained: "In those days, a personal gift like that [from another man] could have been taken in the wrong way and mother would not have wanted that for the world."