Rare George Medal to Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve awardee breaks the £3k mark

George Medal awarded to Leading Aircraftman James McKay McCabe of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

This medal was consigned from a local vendor who brought items into our auction room on a walk in valuation day. The medals were held together in a typical WWII cardboard issue box which would usually only hold the standard World War Two medals, these having a fairly modest auction value. It was a great surprise and excitement at the point of cataloging these medals to find the rare George Medal within the box. After research, the story behind the award of this George Medal was uncovered and can be read in the link in the catalogue description below:

"Medals of 991199 Leading Aircraftman James McKay McCabe of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve to include a George Medal [991199 LAC JAMES MCKAY MCCABE RAFVR], WWII war medal, defence medal, 1939-1945 star, Africa star and Italy star held in cardboard issue box address to '991199 CPL Mc  ... Royal Air Force Innsworth...'
McCabe was awarded the George Medal for 'attempting to rescue the crew of a burning aircraft in Italy in 1944'. An image of McCabe receiving his medal can be seen on the ambaile website: https://www.ambaile.org.uk/asset/29447/1/ "