Wartime 'Keep Calm' posters sell for more than £9k

Three original World War Two posters proclaiming "keep calm and carry on" have raised more than £9,000 at auction, well above their top estimates.

The poster was created by the British government to be used in the event of a successful invasion by the Germans.

The three examples in different sizes were formerly the property of a police officer who was based in Suffolk just after the war ended.

Fred Wyrley-Birch, director at Newcastle-based auctioneer Anderson and Garland, said "they stand as an inspiring message from the past".

The posters were one of three motivational designs created by the British government's Ministry of Information before the war began in September 1939.

The other two posters, which state "your courage, your cheerfulness, your resolution will bring us victory" and "freedom is in peril", were widely distributed during the early months of the conflict.

But the "keep calm" posters were held in reserve "to be used during severe crises" so the design was "never publicly displayed during the war", director Mr Wryley-Birch said.

"The three posters, to the best of our knowledge have never before appeared as a complete set at auction, so we are so pleased to have been able to sell them," he added.

The smaller poster sold for £2,210, the mid-sized poster for £3,250 and the largest of the three for £3,640 on Thursday.

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