The "ultimate" gallantry medal � the only double Victoria Cross from the Great War � has been bought by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft for a world record price of nearly �1.5 million.

The story behind the gallantry medals of Captain Noel Chavasse is deeply moving: he was awarded the second of his VCs after dying from battlefield injuries in 1917. Since then at least 12 memorials have been erected worldwide in his honour � more than for any other recipient of the Commonwealth's most prestigious bravery award.

Captain Chavasse's service and gallantry medals were left by his family decades ago to St Peter's College, Oxford. The college has now sold the medals to Lord Ashcroft, the billionaire Tory peer. According to college sources, the price was "close to �1.5 million", easily topping the previous world record for a medal, rumoured to be a private sale worth �1 million.

The Chavasse medals are now guaranteed place of honour in the new Lord Ashcroft Gallery, which will open at the Imperial War Museum next year and which is being built with a �5 million donation from the Tory peer.

The gallery will house Lord Ashcroft's collection of VCs, which he started to build up in 1986. It is now the largest collection of VCs in the world and is estimated to be worth at least �30 million. VCs and George Crosses already owned by the museum will also go on display in the gallery.

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