Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Midshipman W. S. Burt, Royal Navy, who was killed in action in H.M.S. Queen Mary at the battle of Jutland

1914-15 Star (Mid. W. S. Burt, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (Mid. W. S. Burt, R.N.), extremely fine (3) £400-500

William Burt, who was born in 1897, attended Dartmouth College 1910-14, in which latter year he was appointed a Midshipman and joined the battle cruiser H.M.S. Queen Mary.

As part of Vice-Admiral Beatty’s 1st Battle Cruiser Squadron, the Queen Mary was famously lost at the battle of Jutland when struck by a plunging salvo on her foredeck - the initial explosion was followed by a far heavier and deeper one from within the ship and she blew up, sending up a thick column of smoke 600 feet high.

Only three officers and six men survived, the total loss of life amounting to 57 officers and 1,209 ratings. Burt has no known grave and is commemorated on the Naval Memorial at Portsmouth, in addition to a plaque in All Saints Church, Upper Norwood.