Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker in 1945

Two Iron Cross medals taken from Hitler's Berlin bunker at the end of World War II are to be auctioned in Swindon.

An unissued certificate for the Order of the German Eagle with Hitler's printed signature - and a sheet of Hitler's own letterhead on which broadcaster Richard Dimbleby has written - will also go under the hammer.

Mr Dimbleby, then a reporter, wrote: "Don't lose the paper. It is quite precious.

"You will see that the old man (Hitler) had his name printed in gold on the top, but it did not get him very far!"

Front lines

Chris Albury of auction house Dominic Winter, said the medals - in their original packaging - and the papers had "a fantastic and interesting provenance."

"We fully expect the lot to make at least �500," he said.

Mr Dimbleby reported from the front lines throughout World War II, and was the first journalist to enter the Belsen concentration camp before going on to Berlin.

The seller of the memorabilia is believed to be anonymous.