War medals of Chichester hero buried alive in Blitz to be auctioned

Second World War hero Sub-Lieutenant was buried under an East London house when a mine he was trying to defuse exploded in 1940.

Now, the Chichester war hero’s medals, including the George Cross, will go up for auction and are expected to fetch thousands at auction.

Sub Lt Jack Easton (Image: PA)

Sub Lt Easton was given the George Cross, the highest honour given to civilians, after suffering a fractured skull, broken back and broken legs in the incident.

He was bestowed the honour by King George VI at Buckingham Palace in September 1941.

He wrote in a book, Wavy Navy: By Some Who Served, that the explosion was being buried alive was like a “living hell”.

He was called to dismantle the parachute mine after it crashed through a roof in Hoxton, East London, but realised it was about to explode.

He added: “Unless I got clear, I had exactly 12 seconds to live”.

Sub Lt Jack Easton's war medals (Image: PA)

Sub Lt Easton ran out of the house and flung himself “face down to the ground” behind an air raid shelter opposite the building he had been working in as the mine exploded.

He served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and was trained in dismantling unexploded mines.

Sub Lt Easton died in Chichester in 1994, aged 88, and was described as a “witty extrovert” in his obituary.

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His seven war medals, including the George Cross, will go on auction in London on April 10 and is expected to fetch from £80-120,000.

Nimrod Dix, head of medal department and deputy chairman of auction house Noonans, said: “Easton was no stranger to the nerve-wracking business of mine disposal, having earlier made safe 16 such devices, including one which had crashed through the roof of the Russell Hotel in Bloomsbury and ended up hanging from the chandelier in the main dining room.

“Easton displayed pre-meditated gallantry of a very high order, and this is reflected in the estimated price for his George Cross and other medals.”