Churchill's D-Day cigar is 'priceless'

A student from Lincolnshire who owns a cigar half smoked by Winston Churchill said he would be prepared to sell the artifact - but only to a member of the wartime Prime Minister's family.

Christian Williams, 33, briefly told the story of the cigar that Churchill smoked in 1943 while planning the D-Day landings on BBC's the Antiques Roadshow.

Lincoln College student Mr Williams was given the half-smoked cigar when he was 12 by his grandad, the late Ronald Williams of Horncastle.

His grandfather, who served in the 8th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, kept the remainder of the former Prime Minister's trademark cigar when he was asked to serve world leaders as a butler at the 1943 Casablanca conference.

And it is the placecards that Mr Williams's granddad gave Mr Williams along with the cigar that provide the evidence to authenticate the artefact.

Bearing names including General Alexander - commander of the allied forces - the ranks of the army chiefs at the time all point to the landmark Casablanca conference where a decision was made to invade Germany.

"It's a pretty amazing victory cigar as he smoked it when he thought of D-day," said Mr Williams, who lives in Horncastle.

"And although the Antiques Roadshow valued it at £600 to £800, I don't think you can put a price on it.

"I always had the feeling that I had something unique."

But despite needing the cash to help fund student life, Mr Williams said the only person he would sell the cigar to would be a member of Churchill's family.

The episode of the Antiques Roadshow featuring the cigar was broadcast last Sunday. It was filmed at Lincoln Cathedral in March.