In a last-minute development just days prior to over 10,000 militaria pieces going to auction, the Australian Government have declared items within the collection, including a 2 Pounder Anti-Tank Gun built by General Motors Holden as now ‘Australian Protected Objects’ meaning that some items could be banned from leaving Australian soil due to their significance.
“We received an email from the Federal Government stating that the collection has come to their attention, which they are flagging that some items may come under the ‘Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986’,” said Mr. Lee Hames, Chief Operations Officer for Lloyds Auctions.
Under the act items are subject to export control outlined in the ‘³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Cultural Heritage Control List, Schedule 1’ and a valid permit must be granted by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications for items to be permitted to leave the country, if at all.
“One of the items that the government specifically flagged was an Australian 2 Pounder Anti-Tank Gun built by General Motors Holden in 1942 in South Australia, where only 892 were manufactured locally and used by Australian Forces during World War II,” stated Mr. Hames.
“The bid on this piece alone is already over $25,000 so who knows what it could sell for come auction day, it could be set to fetch 6 figures as we are still a couple days out from it going under the hammer,” continued Mr. Hames.
“We commend the government for preserving and keeping history within Australia and we really hope that Australian museums and libraries perhaps purchase some of these items to display and preserve these significant pieces of history and honour them with educational purposes for many years to come,” said Mr. Hames.
“Perhaps Holden might even purchase the 2 Pounder Anti-Tank Gun to preserve and put on display at their head office,” said Mr. Hames.
Lloyds have already had thousands of enquires from all around the world as this is one of the biggest collections of militaria which has generated worldwide interest featuring some of the rarest items ever to be offered in a single collection.
“We have had enquiry from all over Europe and Asia and from passionate collectors and militaria enthusiasts, so we are sure that there will be many custodians that will treasure these collectables just as previous custodian Rod Bellars did throughout his lifetime,” said Mr. Hames.
The series of 14 auctions are set to begin from this Saturday, after the items discovered in Australia were curated over an entire lifetime by a passionate militaria collector by the name of Rod Bellars.
The “Rod Bellars Collection” was built by Rod over 60 years, accumulating items from all around the world. Sadly, his recent passing has meant these amazing icons of history have to find new custodians.
Items featured across the collection will be sold through online auctions which are live now and include tanks, artillery, swords, firearms, helmets, radios, boots, parachutes, military uniforms and much more.
The auctions start closing from this Saturday the 19th of February, if you would like to take a journey back in time and own some significant pieces of military history then head to www.lloydsauctions.com.au where bidding is open online now.
If you would like to see some footage on the collection, then please click here.
