A wartime sketchbook gets £900 at auction in Lincoln.

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

A wartime sketchbook of scenes in a Japanese POW camp drawn by a prisoner and the letters sent to him by his family fetched £900 at auction in Lincoln.

John Picken was a Lance-Corporal in the Royal Mechanical Engineers when he was made a Prisoner of War in the Fukuoka War Prisoners Camp in Java. During his time there he drew sketches of scenes of the camp, the mines in which he worked, guards and elephants, and asked fellow POWs to draw and write poetry in the book as well.

Mr Picken passed away in 1996 and after his death, his son Keith discovered the sketchbook and letters in the garage of his Lincoln home. The items were hotly contested when they went under the hammer at Lincolnshire auctioneers Golding Young & Thos. Mawer in July.

Auctioneer John Leatt said: "There was a lot of interest in this lot before the sale with several commission bids left on the books and interest from overseas. Once bidding began, the lot was contested by bidders in the room and on the Internet and it was finally bought by a collector who was bidding over the Internet."

Before the sale, Mr Picken's son Keith of Sudbrooke Park, Lincoln, said: "My father went to hell and back twice in those camps. It was a subject he didn't talk about much because he had some bitter experiences and lost a lot of comrades.

"He worked down the mines where he caught pneumonia which was left untreated. Once, a Japanese officer hit him in the mouth with a rifle butt and he lost some of his teeth, then they took out the stumps without morphine.

"In later life, if he saw anything relating to the Japanese POW camps, it gave him nightmares." 

He added: "We inherited the house after my father's death and found the sketchbook and letters behind a wine rack in the garage.

"It's not something I want to keep because he didn't want me to know about it. I'd sooner remember the good times and not the bad ones, so I've decided to sell them."

Born in Wolverhampton, Mr Picken joined the Royal Mechanical Engineers and initially serviced gunning placements around the Manchester Ship Canal before being sent abroad. He met his fiancée Iris in the city and they later wed and had a son, Keith.

In 1950, Mr Picken was working for the Manchester-based company Mitchell Shackleton Engineering when he was offered a machine shop managers job in the Lincoln engineering company Clarke's Crank and Forge on Coultham Street, off Canwick Road. The family moved to Lincoln's Boultham Park and Mr Picken was soon promoted to works manager, then works director and then chairman. In 1964, the company merged with Walters Somers of Halesowen and before his retirement aged 66, Mr Picken became chairman of the group.

He died aged 71 in 1996 after a short illness and his wife Iris passed away two years later.

Among the letters found with the sketchbook, Iris writes on June 28, 1943, 'Jack Darling, I can't tell you what a relief it is to hear you are safe. After 16 months of worry, we had word you were missing and last week I got a letter from Florence saying you were safe. This morning I got your address from her. All the letters I wrote before were sent back to me and I still have them. Everyone here is well and Jack Darling be patient as thing are looking very bright here.

'My mother says you will not want any rice pudding when you get home. She thinks you will have had enough for now. All my love, Iris.'

In he same sale, an exhibition quality Victorian burr walnut credenza with ormolu mounts outstripped estimates of between £2,000 and £3,000 to sell for a hammer price of £4,200, whilst a late Victorian rosewood and marquetry standing corner cabinet which featured 'elaborate and wonderful quality marquetry', sold for £950.

A collection of 10 early 20^th century German bisque headed dolls, collected over the last 20 to 30 years by a local lady who is now downsizing, sold for between £80 and £130 each.

An interesting selection of vintage advertising material which was sold in eight lots made in excess of £2,500 with a pair of advertising shop display tins from the Lin-Can Cannery of Boston and Kings Lynn selling for £130 and an early 20^th century advertising tin for Bachelors Bigga Peas selling for £90. 

A sale of vintage clothing and accessories took place 6pm on the same day as the auction. One of the highlights of the sale was a WWI flying jacket which belonged to Squadron Leader George Alfred Hadley. The jacket was expected to sell for between £600 and £800 but sold to a collector for £1,150 after fierce competition in the saleroom.

Mr Leatt said: "World War I aviation memorabilia is extremely popular among collectors and we anticipated a lot of interest in this item. We are delighted with the price it achieved for the vendor."

Born in 1898, Hadley joined the Westminster Rifles and served in France. Aged just 16, he was wounded in the head, arm and legs at the Battle of the Somme in 1914 and was evacuated back to England. In the Spring of 1917, he joined the Royal Flying Corp and became an instructor at Sedgeford and Harling Road Aerodromes in Norfolk. In 1918, he was posted to Germany and then Italy to fly British fighters and he was in Italy at the end of the war.

He was demobilised in 1919 and joined the Indian Service Corp, serving in India and Persia. He returned to England in 1922 where he became an RAF Flight Commander.

Hadley was also known for his sporting prowess, having captained the RAF football team and being RAF long jump and 120 foot hurdles champion between 1922 and 1930. He was also involved at a high level in football, having been elected vice president of the Football Association.

For more information about sales at Golding Young & Thos. Mawer log-on to www.goldingyoung.com or phone the Grantham saleroom on (01476) 565118 or the Lincoln saleroom on (01522) 524984.