AN extremely rare gold medal awarded to famous Felixstowe figure, Viscount Allenby is expected to fetch up to �7,000 when it goes under the hammer on Thursday.

AN extremely rare gold medal awarded to famous Felixstowe figure, Viscount Allenby is expected to fetch up to �7,000 when it goes under the hammer on Thursday.

The 22 carat gold Livingstone Medal - presented in 1926 - will be auctioned at Spink in London.

It is so rare that only 64 Livingstone Medals have been awarded since it was introduced 108 years ago by Mrs Bruce in memory of her father, the legendary Scottish explorer, Dr David Livingstone.

Other recipients of the medal include Scott of the Antarctic, Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon and Sir David Attenborough.

The medal is awarded periodically, by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, for outstanding public service in which geography has played an important part and where its principles have been applied to the benefit of the human race.

Viscount Allenby played a key role in 20th Century Middle East history and was later featured in the 1962 Oscar-winning film, Lawrence of Arabia.

Viscount Allenby and his parents, Hynman and Catherine Allenby, lived at the now demolished Felixstowe House.

Allenby Park in Felixstowe is named after them and so too was Allenby Lane, which has been re-named Brook Lane.

When he was awarded a Viscountcy in 1919 for his exploits in the Middle East during the First World War, Allenby chose to include his beloved Felixstowe in the title, making him Viscount Allenby of Megiddo and of Felixstowe.

From Felixstowe, Allenby went on to command the Egyptian Expeditionary Force during the First World War, in the highly successful Sinai and Palestine campaigns of 1917 to 1918.

Allenby was 75 years old when he died on May 14, 1936. He was cremated and buried at St George's Chapel in Westminster Abbey.