Ardua, a Chad Valley teddy bear which escaped the invasion of Singapore in 1942, with blonde mohair, dark orange and black glass eyes, clipped muzzle, black stitched nose and mouth, swivel head, jointed limbs, remains of felt pads and Cash’s name tag ‘Felicity Hancock’ on pad —11 ½in. (29cm.) high (damaged pads, bald spots and wear) - the childhood toy of Felicity Ann Hancock, and was purchased from Robinsons toy department in Singapore in the1930s, in 1942 aged 10, they travelled back to England escaping from the Japanese invasion; on the day she was to sail for England, via South Africa, in the decision what to take with her on the boat (in the article) ‘My very large Teddy bear came with me to the ship. I said: “Mummy, they might not let me take him on a lifeboat; I think I’ll leave him with you”. I had a smaller bear to take instead (Ardua)’; when arriving in Liverpool docks, they disembarked the Barneveldt (again in the article) ‘Apparently I was on a newsreel coming off the boat. I was identified because I used to put my Teddy in the belt of my coat’; her elder brother Patrick and father were in the RAF, so perhaps the name came from their motto ‘Per Ardua ad Astra’; Felicity’s toy elephant Johnny was sold in our June 2025 auction and a larger bear, Icey Bear is being kept by the family; sold with photocopies of a three part, six page article written in Wiltshire Life telling Felicity’s story and a print of a photograph of Felicity in 2000