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Auction: 4020 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 41

A Souvenir of the Crossing of the Alps 1910, A bronze medallion, 11/2 in. (40mm) in diameter, the obverse depicting a Blériot aircraft in flight against a background of mountains, the reverse showing an eagle above a mountainous landscape and inscribed LE 23 SEPTEMBRE 1910 / CHAVEZ FRANCHIT LES ALPES EN AEROPLANE Estimate £ 80-120 In the summer of 1910, a prize of $14,000 was offered for the first man to fly over the Alps via the 6600 ft Simplon Pass. From an initial list of 13 hopefuls, the only eventual starter was the Peruvian Jorge Chavez Dartnell, known in France as Georges Chavez. On the 23rd September he successfully negotiated the pass in his Blériot XI, but, as he was about to land at Domodossola, the wings of his aircraft folded up and he plummeted to his death from about 40 feet.

Sold for
£60