A Peterborough Pensioner Has Sold His War Medals At Auction And Raised Fifty Thousand Pounds

Sale of medals of Tom Gould, Jewish recipient of the Victoria Cross

In an auction room, the medals are displayed by an attendant. Scenes of the auctioneer and the seated audience. Anglia TV reporter, Steve Sharp, explains that Tom Gould, now aged 72 and living in Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, is selling his medals to have funds for his old age. He is not present at the auction. Photograph of Tom Gould in uniform and an illustration of the act of bravery for which he and a colleague were both awarded the Victoria Cross. Their actions saved the submarine HMS Thrasher and her crew. The medals sold for £48,400 and were purchased by the Jewish Ex-Servicemen’s Association whose representatives are seen holding the medals. This video was made to be shown in a news story on Anglia Television early evening news / magazine programme About Anglia.

Keywords

Auctions; Victoria Cross; Medals; Heroism; Jewish people; Jewish organisations

Place

London (Other)

Additional Description

Thomas William Gould, VC (1914 –2001) was a Royal Navy sailor and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was one of three Jewish recipients of the Victoria Cross in the Second World War (the reporter in this film clip says that Tom Gould was the only Jewish recipient of the Victoria Cross during that war). On 16 February 1942, Petty Officer Gould and Lieutenant Peter Scawen Watkinson Roberts performed an extraordinary act of bravery on board HM Submarine Thrasher in the Mediterranean north of Crete. Within a confined space, they removed two bombs from the gun casing after the submarine received a three-hour bombardment following the sinking of an enemy supply ship. After the War, Tom / Tommy Gould went on to be one of the founders of the 43 Group, Jewish ex-servicemen who continued the opposition to fascism. His medals were sold at Sotheby’s in October 1987 and are held by the the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women, in the Jewish Museum London in Camden. For further information see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_William_Gould http://theyweresoldiers.com/index.php/2018/05/15/after-valour-petty-officer-william-gould-v-c/