Charge of the Light Brigade bugle stolen in Eastbourne

The stolen bugle came from the Balaclava battlefield in the Crimea

A £2,000 reward is being offered for the return of items stolen from a museum, including a Russian bugle from the Charge of the Light Brigade.

The brass bugle, decorated with a double-headed eagle, was stolen from the Redoubt Fortress and Military Museum in Eastbourne, Sussex.

The borough council and the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars Museum Collection, at the museum, have offered the reward.

World War II hero General Sir John Hackett's medals were also stolen.

The total value of the haul, taken in a break-in on 3 July, is estimated at more than £16,000.

'Memory desecrated'

The council and Queen's Royal Irish Hussars collection are each offering £1,000 of the reward.

"The loss of General Hackett's medal group really feels like the desecration of a great war hero's memory," said Eastbourne council museum officer Jonathan Seaman.

General Sir John Hackett's World War Two medals were among artefacts stolen

"This was a person who went above and beyond the call of duty on numerous occasions during World War II, including being seriously wounded and captured at Arnhem only to escape whilst still swathed in bandages to re-join the war effort later.

"Many people who had served with or knew the general came to the Redoubt to see his medals and share memories.

"Now the link to the great man has been lost."

Mr Seaman said the bugle and other artefacts from the Charge of the Light Brigade, including a Russian cap badge, were virtually worthless without the provenance that placed them on the Balaclava battlefield.

Out of 637 men who took part in the 1854 Charge of the Light Brigade by British forces during the Crimean War, 247 were killed or wounded.