'˜An unreal find': Up for auction Mansfield-made tin given to WWI hero still has chocolate bars left inside

Nine 103-year-old chocolate bars are set to go under the hammer next week after being discovered in a Mansfield-made gift tin that a First World War hero treasured all his life.
Paul Cooper pictured with the tin and chocolate.Paul Cooper pictured with the tin and chocolate.
Paul Cooper pictured with the tin and chocolate.

Jaws dropped when a well-coveted Colonies Gift Tin, sent to troops serving in the trenches in France during the first Christmas of the First World War, was found to have almost all of its chocolate still inside- just one bar had been eaten.

The tin, manufactured by Barringer Wallis & Manners of Mansfield, who were one of the world’s leading manufacturers of decorative tinware at the time, is among a collection of items relating to a soldier called Richard Bullimore.

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Paul Cooper of auctioneers Eddisons CJM said: “Even the tin is rare but to find the chocolate still inside is just unreal.”

The tin belonged to WWI hero Richard Bullimore.The tin belonged to WWI hero Richard Bullimore.
The tin belonged to WWI hero Richard Bullimore.

“The chocolate actually looks in surprisingly good shape, although I have to admit that I wouldn’t be tempted to give it a go, even if the experts say that chocolate seldom becomes dangerous over time – it just loses its flavor and texture.

“That said, they probably did not have century-old bars of the stuff in mind.”

Paul added: “Richard also received a Princess Mary Tobacco Gift Box containing cigarettes, tobacco and matches and almost all of the contents of that are still there too. Just three cigarettes are missing.”

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The seemingly chocophobic, non-smoking Richard Bullimore received a Distinguished Conduct Medal for conspicuous gallantry during a clash in no-man’s land between the trenches in the Ypres salient in July 1915.

By then a corporal, he was leading a nighttime reconnaissance patrol of five men that surprised a larger enemy force.

Richard’s DCM was gazetted in January 1916 and in October of that year he was also awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, by which time he had been invalided home because of shrapnel head wounds. He died in 1967.

The entire Bullimore collection, including chocolate, cigarettes, medals, letters and other material is expected to make in excess of £2,000 when it goes up for auction on Tuesday.

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