Walking cane Churchill gave to Portsmouth labourer to go to auction at Sotheby's
A CANE given to a Portsmouth labourer by Sir Winston Churchill will go up for auction next month.
Sotheby’s in London will sell the Malacca walking cane the British prime minister gifted to worker Arthur Beech, during his visit to Portsmouth in 1941.
Captured on camera, the late hammersmith Mr Beech was handed the item after approaching Mr Churchill in Portsmouth Dockyard.
It is believed he told the politician he had been wounded and captured in the 1915 First World War Mesopotamia campaign, during which Churchill controversially justified the use of non-fatal gases.
Going on to ask the prime minister for the butt of his cigar, Mr Beech was not only handed the prime minister’s stub, but his cane too – with the words ‘that’s for your cheek’.
The silver-mounted 19th century cane, which Sotheby’s estimates has Indian or Chinese colonial origins, will go to auction on July 9 or 10.
Auctioneers estimate it will collect between £1,500 and £2,000.