AN auction house’s estimate that a set of top-secret plans for the Liberation of the Channel Islands could be worth more than £1,000 has been described as “hype” by an eminent historian.
Hansons Auctioneers is preparing to sell a set of plans for the naval element of Operation Nestegg, which was developed by the British military during 1944 and put into practice in May 1945, leading to the Liberation of Jersey, Guernsey and Sark.
The Derby-based auction house said the “historically important” plans had been found in a “dusty box of papers” and would be auctioned on 13 August, with a guide price of between £800 and £1,200.
But renowned Liberation historian Mark Lamerton, who wrote the definitive two-volume account Liberated by Force 135, was unimpressed by news of the forthcoming auction.
Mr Lamerton, whose book stretches to two volumes and almost 1,200 pages, pointed out that there are already two copies available to view, and that he had bought what appeared to be the same copy on CD from a seller on eBay in 2014, paying £14.99.
“The copy that I have on the CD is numbered 34, and that’s the number of this set,” he said. “As soon as I saw it, I noticed the same marks and stains on the cover.
“You could say that the value of something is what a buyer is prepared to bid for it, but I think this is hype, and I’d hate to think someone would seek to buy it as something unique.”
Mr Lamerton said his research indicated that there were 42 copies of the plans for Operation Nestegg, made up of seven sections and covering the challenge of ending five years of Nazi Occupation.
“Two of the copies are here – one at Jersey Archive and the other at the Société Jersiaise,” he said. “There might be a private collector who would like to have their own copy, and I hope it goes to a good home, but it’s not something that I’d bid for.”
Hansons stated that the box of papers had been found at a property in Derbyshire and had belonged to Sub-lieutenant Walter Page, who served with the Royal Navy in the D-Day landings, although it was not known how the papers came into his possession.
Mr Lamerton said he had bought the CD in 2014 from an eBay user named “Rupert the Rooster”, who was also based in Derbyshire.
Stuart Nicolle, senior archivist at Jersey Heritage, confirmed that the organisation had its own copy and that for this reason there would not be a bid from Jersey Heritage.
