A Distinguished Service Medal and four other medals awarded to one of the first Norfolk men to join the Royal Air Force, sold for £1,920 at auction this afternoon - £800 more than they were expected to fetch.

They were awarded to King's Lynn-born Flying Officer Samuel Edwards, who joined the RAF on April 1, 1918 - the day it was officially founded.

Before the sale, at London-based auctionneers Spink today, the medals had been expected to fetch between £1,000 and £1,200. But they were snapped up by a mystery bidder for £1,920.

Marcus Budgen,a medals specialist at Spink, said: 'Medals such as these to the fledgling

Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force for the Great War are seldom seen on the market. The fact that we are so lucky to have the items with original accompanying ephemera and documents illustrates the excellent work and sacrifice of Flying Officer Edwards. This makes them a very desirable group.'