Mystery over Evelyn Waugh’s medals

The disappearance of a number of war medals belonging to the novelist Evelyn Waugh (pictured) has prompted a row among his family. The medals have not been seen since the sale of the family's manor house, Combe Florey in Somerset, a couple of years ago, and Waugh's grandson, the opera critic Alexander Waugh, who has long regarded himself as the custodian of the family's heritage, is furious about their apparent loss.

The Evening Standard suggests that his mother, Teresa, the wife of the late Auberon Waugh, Evelyn's son, might have thrown out the gongs when she left Combe Florey. But when this theory was put to Alexander, he refused to comment. However, a close family friend quoted in the paper endorses the idea that they may have ended up in a skip: "I think Teresa was fed up with all that clobber."

While Waugh only achieved the rank of captain, he was known to be a fearless soldier. He saw action on several occasions, notably in Crete in 1941 where he supervised the evacuation of soldiers under attack by Stuka dive-bombers.