Postcard sent by Norfolk war heroine Edith Cavell up for auction
A rare postcard written and sent by the nurse Edith Cavell to her mother is to be sold at auction. The postcard is addressed to Mrs Cavell at 24 College Rd, Norwich, and reads in pencil: "Mundesley much changed & much grown."Cavell is celebrated for her compassion during World War One, treating soldiers from both sides without discrimination and helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape German-occupied Belgium. She was executed in 1915.The postcard is due to go under the hammer on 18 June and is expected to exceed an opening bid set at 1,000 euros.
The auctioneers, International Autograph Auctions Europe S.L in Malaga, Spain, say the postcard most likely dates from around the time of the outbreak of World War One.The note has "some extremely minor, light age wear" and the image is of the chapel on Mundesley High Street.
Cavell was born in Swardeston, near Norwich, Norfolk, where her father was the local reverend. She returned to Norfolk when her father became unwell and helped nurse him back to health, which is what inspired her to become a nurse. In 1907, she travelled to Brussels to help run a new nursing school. She helped hundreds of soldiers escape as part of the Belgian underground resistance.Cavell was executed by a German firing squad for treason on 12 October 1915 at the age of 49, and her body was later returned to her home county.She is buried within the grounds of Norwich Cathedral at Life's Green, next to the cathedral's St Saviour's Chapel, built as a memorial to Norfolk's fallen in World War One.Featuring in the autograph letters, manuscripts and historical documents auction, the postcard has been listed alongside autographs by Gingers Rogers and Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Laurence Olivier.The most expensive item in the auction is a Radisson Pierre-Esprit manuscript, dating back to the 17th Century, which is estimated to sell for up to 90,000 euros.
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