Churchill's VE Day microphone heads to auction

A microphone used by Winston Churchill to deliver a VE Day speech on 8 May 1945 is being sold at auction, with an expected price of up to £12,000. The Grampian radio microphone was reportedly used during one of four speeches Churchill gave that day, marking the surrender of Nazi Germany. Auctioneer Liz Poole stated the item comes from a "passionate collector" named Gerry O'Brien, a former landlord of The Churchill Arms in Kensington. The microphone previously served as a showpiece at a restaurant in New Mexico before being acquired by Gloucestershire collector George Ridgeon, who later sold it to O'Brien. Its base plaque reads "The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance," and it includes a typed label confirming its use at Westminster Chapel. The sale, held by Cotswold Auction Company in Cheltenham on 22 September, also includes prints of Churchill delivering his VE Day broadcast.