Sask. soldier's Victoria Cross medal could leave Canada for U.K.

A Victoria Cross and eight other medals awarded to a Saskatchewan soldier in the Second World War couldbe leaving the country after a private buyer from the U.K. was the highest bidder in an auction Wednesday.

• Saskatchewan soldier's Victoria Cross sold for $550K at auction

But the Department of Canadian Heritage could deny the British buyer an export permit if it's decided that the Victoria Cross is cultural property of outstanding significance and national importance.

"Everybody's wish, of course, would be that the medal remains in Canada," said Anthony Wilson-Smith, president and CEO of Historica Canada.

"If we cannot find a way or the resources to keep it in Canada, the outcome is it's going to go somewhere else."

The medals were awarded to Lt.-Col. David Currie and they were sold for $550,000 Cdn. The buyer will pay $660,000 Cdn when the auction house's commission is added.

The Canadian War Museum in Ottawa confirmed that it participated in the auction, but was outbid.

The Victoria Cross is the highest military award of the United Kingdom. During the Second World War, only 16 were awarded to Canadians.

Could a Canadian buyer match the offer?

Wilson-Smith noted the original buyer's relationship with Currie's family, and that it would be unfair to penalize that person, making them unable to recoup the money they paid for the medals years ago.

"A six-month period, which has been talked about, to say 'can a buyer step forward in Canada?' would be fair, provided that the situation is that they then be obliged to match the other offer," said Wilson-Smith.

"We have to remember that a medal is a commemoration of a remarkable act. Nothing changes the fact that this remarkable act of heroism occurred. I'd say it's really up to schools, to historians to make sure that the memory of those actions lives on regardless of whether the medal lives here or not."