Commemorative medal, 1948 London Olympics, awarded to Bevis Reid by Pope Pius XII, at his summer residence at Frascati

Circular medal with the head of Pope Pius XII.

Bevis Anael Shergold (nee Reid) was born in 1919 and was an accomplished track and field athlete by the time World War Two (1939-1945) broke out. She was a national champion in javelin and discus and participated in the 1938 European Athletics Championships in Vienna.

Reid joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1940. Her fluency in Italian was put to good use, and she served with the Intelligence Corps, working in Combined Detailed Interrogation Centres across Egypt, Algeria and Italy, translating prisoner of war interrogations.

After the War, Reid continued to compete in international athletics and represented Great Britain in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, throwing the discus and javelin. During her sporting career she won 20 Women's British Amateur Athletics Championship medals between 1938 and 1952, 14 of which were gold. She won the British Women's Championship for the shot put on eight occasions and the discus on five.

From a collection of badges and medals awarded to Bevis Shergold, Auxiliary Territorial Service.