The letter of an Englishman who put on sale the helmet of a Malvinese soldier and the hero who recovered it

The controversy was triggered by the helmet of a Malvinas veteran, auctioned on the Internet by an Englishman and who has just reached an agreement.

The helmet that saved his life, Beto Altieri, a soldier who fought at Monte Longdon, was sold online for $ 13,000, triggering a cataract of criticism in the networks, which led to the withdrawal of the 39, object of war of the auction. The notice in one of the most famous online stores in the world said: "Argentine Helmet, Falklands War, Battle of Mount Longdon" and was published by collector and salesman Bruce Wilson, who today explains his reasons and reveals what will happen to the helmet.

The photo of the helmet pierced by the chips of a mortar had a lower price: £ 10,500, just over $ 13,000 or half a million Argentine pesos. The publication encouraged buyers to bid for "A rare opportunity to own an impressive piece of military history," said the eBay user. He specified that the helmet of the soldier it was used during the Battle of Mount Longdon on June 11 and 12, 1982, and belonged to veteran Jorge Beto Altieri, who had received "severe head injuries caused by shrapnel from British mortars" .

The seller specified that the soldier Argentina was alive. But on February 27, the day he closed the offer, the Englishman left the auction 36 minutes before the last hour.
"I have received innumerable intimidation messages, threats and insults that have prompted me to make this decision," explained the Briton.

That morning, sitting in front of the computer, Jorge Beto Altieri had felt a mixture of disappointment and relief when the sale was suspended: "Because of injuries that I suffered to the head during this battle, I lost part of my left eye and my hearing.I can move my arm and my right leg, every day I look at myself in the mirror, I remember Malvinas.These headphones m & # 39; saved my life, allowed me to start a family, allowed me to travel the country, paying tribute to my fellow Falklands, for me, it was and it is very important to have it. "

The reason Bruce Wilson, the collector who offered the Argentinian helmet on eBay has suspended the sale is in a letter that he wrote himself and that Infobae has published:

"Since I remember well, I have always been interested in military history in one way or another.I remember when I was a child playing with helmets and equipment. the second world war that belonged to the father of a friend ".

"With the epic war movies of the time, which increased my interest in uniforms and helmets, I started collecting items from the British airborne forces of the Second World War, # 39; led to write a book titled "DENISON", in reference to the Denison dress worn by airborne forces. "

"Later, I joined the Royal Engineers, but following an injury, I left during my training phase at Combat Engineering (Combat Technique) so I could join him when I was there. was in shape. "

"After leaving the regular army, I joined the Territorial Army for 4 years with a reconnaissance regiment within the Royal Wesbad Yeomanry." "While I was still in the army, I decided that I had to join Her Majesty's forces again, but I thought that if I had to do that, it would be something else." 39, a little more unusual, so I volunteered for the Royal Navy's submarine service. "

"I spent 10 years in the Trafalgar clbad fighter's nuclear submarines, we led the Special Forces, conducted numerous patrols, suffered several incidents in the reactor and, in general, life in the service was harsh and sometimes very stressful when we fought submarine and its elements. "

"I was sad to hear the news of the ARA San Juan and I thought that there would be only one sad and final result, all too familiar for the divers. "

"I've always brought together elements of war, a pbadion that can only be understood by other collectors, and helmets have become my particular pbadion with Denison's dress.I find them very interesting, their various components, their variety, their personal / individual cannibalization … the list is long.

"The collection of British Air Force items from the Second World War can be very costly, which has led me to broaden my interest in these forces in all theaters. especially during the Falklands War, which I remember having continued on television at the age of 12 years.

"I started collecting British and Argentine helmets and it was at that time that I discovered Mr. Altieri's helmet for the first time on eBay." understood that this object of war was not only a damaged combat helmet, but also a historical fact, when I discovered that it was related to the Battle of Mount Longdon.

"The average price of an Argentine helmet at that time was between 150 and 400 pounds.I made an interesting offer with the intention of securing the helmet … To my surprise, I did not offer that!
"From that moment, I started to investigate the helmet and I found a lot of information already available online.I started to gather the story for share this amazing artifact with other collectors on different forums. "

"Very quickly – in fact, just after the end of the auction – I started to receive abusive messages and, unfortunately, this continued throughout my period of wearing the helmet." This violence m & # He certainly made me feel less and less understanding and enthusiastic about repatriating.

"I decided to treat this as a piece of militia of this magnitude, with its history and provenance, and evaluate it accordingly.Some may be surprised by the suggested price, but if you know the militaria, you will see that these prices are not usually unusual, especially among serious collectors. "

"Due to the volume of messages and threats, I finished the auction early and since then I have reached an agreement (apart from the auction and between individuals) to repatriate the helmet and that Mr. Altieri can meet him. "

"Sometimes it can be very difficult to give up your most valuable possessions, the helmet could easily have disappeared into the world of militaria, but I'm delighted that you are returning to Mr. Altieri's home," said L & 39. ;English.

Then, in a final paragraph of the long letter, Bruce Wilson explains his respect for veterans of various wars:

"By doing research in my book" DENISON ", I have spoken and met many WWII veterans, one of whom has become a privileged friend with his lovely wife, who sadly pbaded away aujourd & # 39; hui ".

"I bought a Denison dress from 1943, which was quite unusual with RAF (RAF) .It also had a name and badges that helped me refine my research. met and met this veteran, organized visits to several museums where they treated the couple as a VIP, which was very nice for them.I found out that the veteran had never recovered his medals from the World War II, so I organized his medals for re-issue and mounted them for him.

"I have a lot of respect for veterans of all conflicts, but it is extremely unusual for a collector to be content to deliver these warrior artifacts, which are often worth large sums of money, especially in Mr. Altieri's case The Longdon helmet was one of the most incredible pieces in my collection and to me it was priceless. "

"But now, the helmet can come back with Mr. Altieri and this incredible story has taken a complete turn, I hope that the Argentine veteran will now find a little peace and I wish him the best of success," concludes Wilson.

In Buenos Aires, Beto Altieri could not contain this emotion when he learned that a businessman had bought the object of the war to be able to l ". get. In addition, the Argentine ambbadador to London, Carlos Sersale, had offered his help to get the helmet back to safety.

"I am very moved by everything that happened with this auction," Altieri told Infobae. I feel immense joy and I can not help but thank him so much for this anonymous businessman, for this charitable soul, who will surely have negotiated from the outside so that the helmet is not in the hands of another person ".

"Monday 5 is my birthday and it's the best gift they've given me in my life, so when I put it in my hands, the first thing I'm going to do is kiss it, because helmet saved my life. "

"All of this erases the memories: The fight on Mount Longdon and the English who were launching flares illuminated the sky like it was daylight … At the moment the shooting started, we were thrown against the rocks fighting … ", he recalls.

Assure that never in these three decades has imagined that his helmet could appear. "I imagined it hanging out, in the image of this image where thousands of helmets are scattered on a battlefield," he explains.

Then he broke down when he said, "Now I just want to grab it, share it with my family, because thanks to him, they exist and are with me." Without the headphones, I would have been one of more in the Darwin cemetery. "

Thirteen thousand dollars for the helmet that saved an Argentine soldier from death in the Falklands