This from today’s Australian. FOUR weeks ago, auction house chairman Tim Goodman received a call from a wealthy client in the US.

The businessman, a passionate military memorabilia collector, had learned that medals and frontline archival material belonging to Australian army Major Peter Badcoe, who was killed in action in Vietnam in 1967, would feature in Bonhams and Goodman’s May auction, to be held in Sydney on Tuesday.

The collector told Mr Goodman he intended to bid for the Badcoe collection, which includes the only Vietnam War VC medal still in private hands and awarded to Major Badcoe posthumously. The estimated price for the collection, which also features the US Silver Star with Oak Leaf and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, Gold Star and Silver Star as well as 37 letters, photographs and audio recordings the major sent to his family, is about $400,000-$600,000.

I’ll watch this one with interest. Will the government help or will private enterprise act to keep the collection in Australia.

Kerry Stokes please note