Oxford man's toy soldiers could raise thousands at auction

Clive Smithers dedicated decades of his life to amassing, assembling and painting tens of thousands of miniature war gaming soldiers at his home in County Durham.

The sprawling collection took up 40 per cent of his living space and included incredible detailed depictions of the Roman, Napoleonic and Israeli-Arab wars.

Mr Smithers passed away in July last year, aged 51, and his brother Gavin is now selling the massive hoard via Hansons Auctioneers.

Experts believe that the auction of the unique life-time collection will be the largest war-gaming sale ever held in the UK.

Hansons' valuer Mark Holder said he couldn’t believe his eyes when he took in the sheer volume after being asked to assess its worth.

He added: “It was so impressive. Clive’s collection includes more than 50,000 figures, paints, books, scenic items and more.

"As far as I am aware, this is the largest war-gaming sale ever held in the UK.

"Other auction houses will have seen small collections but one as vast and comprehensive as this has never been brought to market before."

The collection will be sold between May 27 and June 3 at the Bishton Hall salesroom in Staffordshire.

Paying tribute to his brother, Gavin said: “Clive was born in 1962, the third of four children.

"Our father was an academic at Oxford University and then professor of English Language at Durham. We all did our degrees at Oxford.

“Clive read history at Merton College, Oxford, after getting straight As in A-level Latin, Greek and history in 1980.

"He was president of the Junior Common Room (students' society) in his college.

"He worked in Cardiff first, in tourism, and then in Durham and Newcastle, as a specialist in obtaining funding for charities and not-for-profit organisations, and in local economic regeneration.

“The people who worked for him liked him, admired his attention to detail, and were empowered to do more than they thought possible because he trusted them.

"Since 2013 his main focus was as the clerk to the trustees of the Lord Crewe Charity, a large charity founded by an Anglican Bishop to help impoverished clergy.

"He had completed a postgraduate certificate in Theology at Durham University
in 2003.

“From childhood, he had been fascinated by the more expensive models - not Airfix plastic planes - and his history degree, combined with the fact that he never married or had children, focused his energy on wargaming and its interface with history.

“His other great obsession was crime novels, but a trip to his house would award the gold medal to wargaming, which took up perhaps 40 per cent of his living space.

“From the Napoleonic Wars he moved in both directions, as far back as the Romans and as far forward as the Israeli-Arab war of 1967.

"The library which goes with all of this is equally detailed and thorough.

“He was a great collector - of his siblings' school prize books, as well as his own - but he also sought to use his knowledge to help others to identify the provenance in particular of 28mm metal soldier figures, especially Hinton Hunt, Lamming and other aesthetically pleasing brands.

"Fellow collectors appreciated this, and observed his quest to make metal soldiers perceived as objects of beauty as well as desire.

“He wrote three blogs - the Hinton Hunter, the Lone S Ranger and Vintage Wargaming.

"His contributions were self-effacing, empathetic and extremely well written, with an elegance which wears its knowledge lightly.

“Clive had been diabetic for many years.

"A recent diagnosis of bowel cancer led to surgery and chemotherapy, which were expected to be curative, but he died suddenly on July 15, 2021 aged only 59 from a bleed on the brain.”

The Wargaming Timed Auction will be open to bids from 10am on May 27 to 10am on June 3 at www.the-saleroom.com.