WITH Britain gearing up for the 80th anniversary of VE Day this May, Antiques Roadshow medals expert Mark Smith will be lifting the lid on its highest military honour – the Victoria Cross – at a special talk next month.

Mark Smith: For Valour – The Story of the Victoria Cross at Monmouth's Savoy Theatre on Wednesday, April 16, will reveal the story behind the instigation of the VC, expel some of the myths and present some of the breath-taking stories of those awarded the country’s highest award for bravery in "an unforgettable journey through courage, sacrifice, and history".

He started collecting British medals in 1969 and began dealing in Militaria in 1983 in Islington, London – a hobby which has become a life-long passion.

A worldwide expert on the Victoria Cross, he is also a specilist in flying clothing and RAF log books, a Member of the Western Front Association and the Orders and Medals Research Society, plus a Battlefield Tour Guide.

Mark’s most memorable discovery on Antiques Roadshow came in 2015 when John Henderson brought in his grandfather John Cargill's medals in a tin box at Balmoral Castle.

The author of five books on the Great War opened it to find a Distinguished Service Medal and Military Medal from two world wars alongside the Carpathia bravery medal awarded to those who helped rescue survivors from the Titanic.

The box holding the medals was a 1914 Christmas tin presented to soldiers and sailors, and Mark described the unique collection as "one of the most amazing group of medals I've ever seen".

A fisherman, John Cargill was 'making some money" sailing on the Carpathia when it picked up the Titanic's SoS and rushed to the scene.

And Mark, who admitted to shaking as he held the first Carpathia medal he’d ever seen, valued them at £10,000.

Tickets for his talk on the VC are available from the Savoy box office or via https://monmouth-savoy.co.uk