A medal awarded to an 11-year-old boy who took part in the Battle of Trafalgar is on sale for £15,000.
Lieutenant William Pilch was allowed to join the navy aged 10 as his family were friends with Admiral Lord Nelson.
William served as a first class volunteer aboard HMS Bellerophon, a 74-gun ship nicknamed Billy Ruffian.
It was one of the first vessels to see action against the French and Spanish fleet at the battle in October 1805.
Bellerophon took out the Spanish ship Menorca and then collided with the French vessel Aigle, locking alongside for a one-on-one duel.
The captain of Aigle ordered his men to board Bellerophon and attempt to capture her. But Captain John Cooke rallied his crew, saying: “I see my situation, but I will die like a man.”
He personally led a counter attack and was killed during brutal hand-to-hand fighting on deck.
The crew of Bellerophon stood firm for half an hour before Aigle sheered away and tried to flee.
Twenty-seven of the Bellerophon’s crew were killed and 123 were wounded but young William managed to emerge unscathed.
Nelson, on board HMS Victory, was killed by a French sniper having masterminded Britain’s greatest naval triumph. William, one of the youngest in the battle, went on to see action at the Battle of Les Sables-d’Olonne in 1809.
In later life, he joined the coastguard and was appointed a Naval Knight of Windsor having served 50 years at sea.
He died in Broadstairs, Kent, in 1864.
His medals, including a Naval General Service medal with a Trafalgar clasp, are being sold by a private collector at auction next month.
Robert Wilde-Evans, of London auctioneers Spink & Son, said: “William was surely one of the youngest officers to participate in the Battle of Trafalgar.
“Almost the entirety of Pilch’s life – through both military and civilian service – was inexorably connected with the sea.
“It’s been a real treat to research and attempt to do justice to his story.”
