Former coroner's WW1 medals up for auction

World War One medals awarded to a former Hull coroner are being auctioned.

Norman Jennings was a medical student when he was called up to serve as a surgeon probationer on the destroyer HMS Waveney in 1914.

After the war he qualified as a doctor and also studied law, becoming the coroner for Hull in 1935.

The medals are due to be auctioned in Scarborough on Thursday and are expected to fetch up to £250.

Jessica Tarver, of auctioneers David Duggleby, said Mr Jennings spent most of the war based on the Humber Estuary carrying out anti-submarine and counter-mining patrols in the North Sea.

"The medals themselves are not uncommon – the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, plus the St John Service Medal and Star," she said.

"What makes the group rare is the fact that it was awarded to a surgeon probationer."

Ms Tarver said there was ongoing debate about how many of "these extraordinary young men" there were.

"It seems likely that there were no more than 1,000 and the figure could be as low as 500," she added.

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