“If I do nothing else with my life I will make it solo, with no re-supplies, to the North Pole.” These are the last words my father heard as he died in my arms. The words had just welled up unexpectedly from a place deep inside, but my father and I both knew this is was the sort of thing he had been working towards. I needed him to know he had successfully handed me the baton, and that I was not going to stop until it was done, whatever the cost. If ever there was an unbreakable commitment, a vow even, it seemed to me that this was one.

At Spink we are used to hearing incredible stories of bravery and heroism, often in battle, which lie behind many of the medals sold at auction here, but what of the living men and women who have served their country selflessly during both war and peacetime – the unsung heroes, if you like?