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Auction archive: Lot number 9

The historic 'Operation Nimrod' group of medals and memorabilia to Warrant Officer 2nd Class Ian 'Ch

Estimate
£20,000 - £30,000
ca. US$26,632 - US$39,948
Price realised:
£30,000
ca. US$39,948
Auction archive: Lot number 9

The historic 'Operation Nimrod' group of medals and memorabilia to Warrant Officer 2nd Class Ian 'Ch

Estimate
£20,000 - £30,000
ca. US$26,632 - US$39,948
Price realised:
£30,000
ca. US$39,948
Beschreibung:

The historic 'Operation Nimrod' group of medals and memorabilia to Warrant Officer 2nd Class Ian 'Chalky' White, Special Air Service and 17th/21st Lancers, who formed part of the team of S.A.S. men who stormed the Iranian Embassy in London on May 5th 1980 in a swift and decisive action that resolved a major hostage crisis. The Medals: General Service 1962-2007, clasp: Northern Ireland (24215027 TPR I.P. WHITE 17/21L.); South Atlantic, with rosette (24215027 CPL I P WHITE 17/21L (SAS)); Regular Army Long Service and Good Conduct, Elizabeth II (24215027 WO2 I P WHITE 17/21L); court mounted, nearly extremely fine. Accompanied by: the recipient's stable belt, blue with chromed buckle bearing the SAS badge; a copy of Ihis discharge certificate and other documents; a Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, 3rd model, blade etched with the Wilkinson brand, regulation leather scabbard, acquired by the recipient from stores on the Falkland Islands; after David Shepherd '16 Princes Gate', a print depicting the descent of the Embassy stairs, number 38 of 850, bearing artist's pencil signature; after John Tidewell, 'Princes Gate, The Back Door'; a collection of press photographs of the raid depicting SAS members preparing to enter the embassy at various points; floor plans of the embassy; 'Now' magazine complimentary copy 'Britain's Arab Terror - The Killers In Our Midst', May 9-15 1980; Daily Express Special Edition: 'The Day of the S.A.S.'; and various press cuttings and related ephemera. The persecution of the Arab population of Iran's Khuzestan region by Ayatollah Khomeini (and his predecessors the Shahs) had inspired an implacable resistance movement which received support from Iraq under Saddam Hussein. The Arabs themselves were concerned with political and social rights. Hussein exploited this fact to manoeuvre against his rival the Ayatollah. Specifically, he believed that an attack staged in the West would draw attention to the plight of Khuzestan, and allow him to garner international approval for his planned invasion of Iran. With Iraqi backing, a six man team, the 'Group of the Martyr', occupied the Embassy on the 30th April, taking 26 people hostage. The response was initially led by the police, but the S.A.S. acted immediately by deploying a team to the area in case their intervention was requested by the civil authorities. While they waited, they evolved a plan, and when, on the sixth day, a hostage was shot and his body thrown out of the embassy, the men of the Special Air Service went into action under the gaze of the television media. Within 17 minutes, the siege was at an end. Ian White was part of the team that entered the embassy from the roof. An explosive charge was lowered into a light well in the centre of the building and detonated as a distraction, and White's team abseiled into the lightwell to gain access through a window. During the descent, his secondary weapon, a Browning 9mm pistol, was lost owing to the notoriously poor quality holster with which the men were equipped. Nothing daunted, he continued from room to room, clearing each with 'flashbangs' and techniques perfected through rigorous training. He almost met with disaster while descending to a lower floor, as another team approaching the foot of his staircase directed sub-machinegun fire along the corridor into which he was about to step. He next encountered the well documented fire that had broken out owing to many of the curtains and carpets having been impregnated with accelerants. By sheer coincidence he had just completed a firefighting course, with the aim of posing undercover as an airport fireman, and this assisted him in temporarily controlling the blaze together with a colleague. The evacuation of the hostages involved forming a human chain to pass each one down the main staircase and out of the building to safety. White stood at the top of the chain, and such was the urgency of the situation that he resorted, effectively, to throwing them down th

Auction archive: Lot number 9
Auction:
Datum:
22 Nov 2017
Auction house:
Woolley and Wallis Salisbury Salerooms Ltd
Castle Street 51-61
Salisbury Wiltshire, SP1 3SU
United Kingdom
enquiries@woolleyandwallis.co.uk
+44 (0)1722 424500
+44 (0)1722 424508
Beschreibung:

The historic 'Operation Nimrod' group of medals and memorabilia to Warrant Officer 2nd Class Ian 'Chalky' White, Special Air Service and 17th/21st Lancers, who formed part of the team of S.A.S. men who stormed the Iranian Embassy in London on May 5th 1980 in a swift and decisive action that resolved a major hostage crisis. The Medals: General Service 1962-2007, clasp: Northern Ireland (24215027 TPR I.P. WHITE 17/21L.); South Atlantic, with rosette (24215027 CPL I P WHITE 17/21L (SAS)); Regular Army Long Service and Good Conduct, Elizabeth II (24215027 WO2 I P WHITE 17/21L); court mounted, nearly extremely fine. Accompanied by: the recipient's stable belt, blue with chromed buckle bearing the SAS badge; a copy of Ihis discharge certificate and other documents; a Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, 3rd model, blade etched with the Wilkinson brand, regulation leather scabbard, acquired by the recipient from stores on the Falkland Islands; after David Shepherd '16 Princes Gate', a print depicting the descent of the Embassy stairs, number 38 of 850, bearing artist's pencil signature; after John Tidewell, 'Princes Gate, The Back Door'; a collection of press photographs of the raid depicting SAS members preparing to enter the embassy at various points; floor plans of the embassy; 'Now' magazine complimentary copy 'Britain's Arab Terror - The Killers In Our Midst', May 9-15 1980; Daily Express Special Edition: 'The Day of the S.A.S.'; and various press cuttings and related ephemera. The persecution of the Arab population of Iran's Khuzestan region by Ayatollah Khomeini (and his predecessors the Shahs) had inspired an implacable resistance movement which received support from Iraq under Saddam Hussein. The Arabs themselves were concerned with political and social rights. Hussein exploited this fact to manoeuvre against his rival the Ayatollah. Specifically, he believed that an attack staged in the West would draw attention to the plight of Khuzestan, and allow him to garner international approval for his planned invasion of Iran. With Iraqi backing, a six man team, the 'Group of the Martyr', occupied the Embassy on the 30th April, taking 26 people hostage. The response was initially led by the police, but the S.A.S. acted immediately by deploying a team to the area in case their intervention was requested by the civil authorities. While they waited, they evolved a plan, and when, on the sixth day, a hostage was shot and his body thrown out of the embassy, the men of the Special Air Service went into action under the gaze of the television media. Within 17 minutes, the siege was at an end. Ian White was part of the team that entered the embassy from the roof. An explosive charge was lowered into a light well in the centre of the building and detonated as a distraction, and White's team abseiled into the lightwell to gain access through a window. During the descent, his secondary weapon, a Browning 9mm pistol, was lost owing to the notoriously poor quality holster with which the men were equipped. Nothing daunted, he continued from room to room, clearing each with 'flashbangs' and techniques perfected through rigorous training. He almost met with disaster while descending to a lower floor, as another team approaching the foot of his staircase directed sub-machinegun fire along the corridor into which he was about to step. He next encountered the well documented fire that had broken out owing to many of the curtains and carpets having been impregnated with accelerants. By sheer coincidence he had just completed a firefighting course, with the aim of posing undercover as an airport fireman, and this assisted him in temporarily controlling the blaze together with a colleague. The evacuation of the hostages involved forming a human chain to pass each one down the main staircase and out of the building to safety. White stood at the top of the chain, and such was the urgency of the situation that he resorted, effectively, to throwing them down th

Auction archive: Lot number 9
Auction:
Datum:
22 Nov 2017
Auction house:
Woolley and Wallis Salisbury Salerooms Ltd
Castle Street 51-61
Salisbury Wiltshire, SP1 3SU
United Kingdom
enquiries@woolleyandwallis.co.uk
+44 (0)1722 424500
+44 (0)1722 424508
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