Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Royal Air Force interest: a rare Second World War “Guinea Pig Club” brass table lighter.
The French-made brass lighter, 10cm tall, features the Guinea Pig Club winged emblem on the front and is inscribed ‘”The Sty” / Ward III / Q.V.H. / East Grinstead’, a rare and poignant item, good condition for age £600-£800

The Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH) at East Grinstead dates from 1863 but it became particularly famous during the Second World War for the treatment of burned aircrew when Archibald McIndoe, the Civilian Consultant in Plastic Surgery to the Royal Air Force, established a Maxillo-Facial Unit at the hospital. He pioneered a remarkable treatment regime for severely burned airmen, famously known as his “Guinea Pigs” who in July 1941 formed the Guinea Pig Club as a social support group.

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