NEWS

SAIL OF THE CENTURY AT EWBANK AUCTIONEERS

A veritable fleet of model ships – one the aircraft carrier Invincible that is eight feet long and took 2½ years to build – is currently moored at Surrey fine art auctioneers Ewbank awaiting its sale to the highest bidders.

The 1:96 working scale model of the Invincible was a labour of love by Guildford plumber and heating engineer, the late Mr Chris Dennison, which was once on view in the window of the Royal Navy careers office in Chertsey Street, Guildford, to aid recruitment.

Mr Dennison was born in London and moved to Compton, near Guildford, in 1961. In addition to having his own plumbing and heating business, he was also a special constable in the area. Coincidentally, the Ewbank sale takes place on the ninth anniversary of his death.

Said auctioneer Chris Ewbank: “Mr Dennison widow’s told me it was her husband’s wish that the model would not end its days in his attic. Although some pieces are missing and it does require some repair, this major work is a testament to his ability, dedication and attention to detail.”

Authentic in every detail, the hull of the model was specially moulded for him from fibreglass, but the flight deck he made himself from wood. At the time it was built, lining its sides were 42 life rafts each one in minute detail, while the helicopters had rotating blades, the aircraft lifts worked, the rudder turned, the radar scanner revolved and prior to going into storage, the lights worked on a time sequence, the tiny bulbs no bigger than a pinhead, running off a 12-volt battery. The model is estimated at £600-1,000.

Also from Mr Dennison’s collection are scale models of a 40-inch long three-masted sailing ship (estimate £150-250); a 48-inch long motor launch with mast and two funnels (£200-300); an Arrow Models Supermarine S5 Sneider Trophy float plane (£100-150); three remote controlled helicopters (together £120-180) and a submarine (£200-300).

Swelling the Ewbank fleet further are models which were on display at the Mitcham, Morden and Wimbledon branch of the Royal Naval Association, some of them having been built by the late Wally Cox, a long term member and former stoker who saw active service in the Second World War aboard HMS Brixham.

However, declining membership has forced closure of the branch, leaving Wally’s models and the rest of the collection looking for a new berth. They are being sold by the RNA, a registered charity.

Drawing on his wartime experiences, Wally built his models with painstaking attention to detail. Each estimated at £200-300, they include

• HMS Sheffield, a Town Class cruiser which served from 1937-1958. The sister ship to H.M.S Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Gloucester, and Southampton, HMS Sheffield was scrapped in 1967. The four foot long model is being sold with a photograph of the ship, a sailor’s cap band, an engraved mirror and a plaster crest.

• HMS Brixham was a Bangor Class minesweeper of the 13th Minesweeper Flotilla (Med) 1941 -1948 and took part in the Allied Landing in North Africa, Sicily, Salerno and the South of France, sweeping the Straight of Bonifacio and the Gulf of Patras. The model measures almost two feet long and is fitted with an electric motor.
  
• The Nathaniel Green “Liberty Ship”, which was torpedoed in Arzell Bay, Algiers, 1942 whilst being escorted by HMS Brixham. The model, which has a radio controlled motor, is being sold with three photographs of the ship, and a copy of a certificate to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the D- Day Landings with a voyage to Normandy, and a sailor’s cap.

Aside from the nine ship models, the RNA collection of maritime memorabilia also includes two display boards mounted with the ribbons from sailors’ hats embroidered with the names of such ships as Bellerophon, Indomitable, Obdurate and many others (estimate £50-100); several lots of Royal Naval Association painted plaster casts from branches around the South of England, all on mahogany mounts (each £40-60); photographs, including one signed by Admiral of the Fleet Lord Mountbatten (£40-60); and interestingly, a 10-inch square section from a German fighter plane mounted on a plaque inscribed "Piece of the tail of an aircraft brought down by H.M.S Eskimo 17 October 1939. The first to be brought down by Fleet H.A. Fire During The War of 1939." To be sold with a photograph of the crew of the Eskimo and two pictures of the ship, the lot is estimated at £100-200.

The fleet of models join the usual eclectic mix of silver, ceramics, glass, works of art, collectors’ items, clocks and furniture in the first fine art and antiques sale of the year at Ewbank. Viewing at the Burnt Common auction rooms is on Tuesday March 11 from 10am-5pm and Wednesday March 12 from 10am-8pm. The sale catalogue will be available here approximately six days before the sale.