Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Royal Benevolent Society, Silver Medal (M. Wenneberg, (Bos’n), S.S. “Dalton, January 12, 1922), 6th type suspension, with ‘double-dolphin’ slip bar, but lacking riband buckle for wear, extremely fine £180-220

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Awards to Merchant Seamen and D.E.M.S. Gunners.

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Martin Wenneberg, who was born in Denmark in 1857, was serving as a Boatswain aboard the S.S. Dalton at the time of being awarded the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Benevolent Society’s Medal, in silver. One of five volunteers, he manned a boat that took off 15 people, including two women, from the stricken steamer Tidal in the North Sea on 12 January 1912, gallantry that would also result in him being awarded the Sea Gallantry Medal, in bronze, and the Shipping Federation Medal for Meritorious Service, in silver. He does not, however, appear to have received his subsequent awards of the British War and Mercantile Marine Medals, for the ribands were returned from an address in South Shields in April 1921, the recipient being ‘unknown’ - though a second attempt via the National Sailors’ Mission may have yielded results.