Uncovered: Australia's largest historic collection of militaria for sale

A collection of some of the rarest items of militaria from all around the world have been found in shipping containers and storage sheds discovered in Australia.

Now being offered to the public at auction, more than 10,000 items across many acres constituted a lifelong military collector's passion.

Lee Hames, Chief Operations Officer for Lloyds Auctioneers and Valuers in Australia, said they "were in complete disbelief when we arrived to inspect the collection".

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Mr Hames added: "These are some of the rarest militaria collectables from WWI and WWII that we have ever seen.

"There is everything from military tanks to firearms, swords, military uniforms, helmets, boots and heavy artillery."

He said they "came across some very rare pieces, many of which are 'one-off' and may be worth significant amounts of money".

Rod Bellars had built his 'Rod Bellars Collection' over 60 years, accumulating items from all around the world.

His recent death has meant these icons of history have to find new custodians.

Mr Hames continued: "We really hope that museums and libraries and passionate collectors from across the world are successful in securing some of these important pieces of history, so they can be preserved and displayed and educate people for many years into the future."

Items featured across the collection will be sold through 14 separate online auctions which are live now and include tanks, artillery, swords, firearms, helmets, radios, boots, parachutes and military uniforms.