Rare WWII propaganda posters fetch £15,000 at auction

The 150 posters are all in mint condition

A collection of mint condition rare World War II posters fetched almost £15,000 at an auction in East Sussex.

The 110 propaganda prints featured slogans such as Keep Mum - She's Not Dumb and Keep Calm And Carry On.

Wallis and Wallis Auctioneers in Lewes said the £14,590 sale price was "well in excess of what was expected".

A pair of posters, with the slogans Tell Nobody - Not Even Her, and Careless Talk Costs Lives, attracted the highest single bid of £2,700.

'Beautiful posters'

Sale auctioneer Roy Butler said: "We had a phenomenal response. There were so many people and so many phone calls it was just madness. It was great though.

"The original estimates were quite conservative and we were very pleasantly surprised with the result, but they were beautiful posters."

The prints were taken to the auctioneers by a relative of a worker who saved them from being thrown out by a print firm.

Before the sale auctioneer Mr Butler said there was "no real yardstick" but he expected each lot of about 10 posters to sell for up to £250.

Some of the prints feature extracts from Winston Churchill's speeches, such as "We shall not fail", while others carry warnings such as Don't Be Fuel-ish. Wasted Electricity Means Less Fuel To Make The Weapons We Need For Victory.

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