NavList:

I tend to disagree with David Pike: the table top models were used in EVERY RAF airplane carrying a dedicated navigator, including the Lancaster which was the most widely used British bomber during WWII. The Mk. IIIH was the last of the line, meaning it would not have been used in the medium bombers (Hampden, Wellington) that were in use at the start of WWII. Therefore, I think there is a real chance that this one was used on board  a Lancaster. If nothing else, at least these were standard on all operational Lancaster flights. Of course, this particular specimen could have been used in aircraft like the Liberator or Sunderland, but there were much fewer of these than there were Lancasters. Ronald van Riet

Ronald. The first point I was trying to make was the wooliness of the description.  The advert says “Fitted to bombers in WWII”.  It wasn’t; it was carried by the aircrew.  The same site advertises a “Post War German Helmet”  http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/-1-c-FA441DCB1F  , except it probably isn’t.  The stripes on the flag are vertical (Belgian), not horizontal (German).  The other point I was making was that nostalgia sells.  The same site offers a pair of “Rare WWII Spitfire Wheels” http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/rare-wwii-spitfire-wheels-200-c-6a142ad87f  , but really, without provenance, they could have come from any comparable aircraft.  At a reported 95cm high, that’s up to my hip joint, I suspect they’re rather large, but we are getting a long way from celestial.  DaveP