Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Five: Officers Chief Cook S. D. Letton, Royal Navy

Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no clasp (S. D. Letton, Dom. H.M.S. Rambler); 1914-15 Star (168491 S. D. Letton. O. Ch. Ck. R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (168491 S. D. Letton. O.C. 1 R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., E.VII.R. (168491 S. D. Letton, Off. Cook 1Cl., H.M.S. Agamemnon) light contact marks, otherwise good very fine, the first scarce (5) £380-£420

110 Queen’s South Africa Medals, all without clasp, were awarded to the ship’s company of H.M.S. Rambler, employed on survey work in South Africa.

Sidney David Letton was born at Fratton, Hampshire in November 1873 and entered the Royal Navy as a Domestic 3rd Class in June 1892. He subsequently served in the surveying vessel H.M.S. Rambler from November 1897 to March 1901, in which period he was advanced to Domestic 1st Class - the Rambler arrived at Simonstown in November 1899, fresh from survey work off the River Congo, where 40% of her crew became ill with fever. She carried out similar duties off South Africa ‘for the benefit of the navigation of transports close to the coast’, and with the support of the Chief Hydrographer, Rear-Admiral Sir W. H. J. Wharton, her captain, Commander H. E. P. Cust, successfully applied for the award of the Queen’s South Africa Medal to his crew.

Advanced to Officer’s Chief Cook in October 1907, Letton was awarded his L.S. & G.C. Medal in May 1909 and appointed Captain’s and Cabin Cook aboard the royal yacht Victoria & Albert in February 1911, in which post he excelled until recalled to regular duty on the advent of hostilities in August 1914. The royal yacht’s loss became the captain of the battleship Agincourt’s gain, for he subsequently served as the latter’s cook from August 1914 to October 1917, a period that undoubtedly witnessed his plates being severely rattled at Jutland - if only because of the Agincourt’s expenditure of 144 12-inch shells and 111 6-inch shells, in addition to some frantic zigzagging. Fawcett and Hooper take up the story in The Fighting at Jutland:

‘As far as Agincourt was concerned, our excitement started at 7.08 p.m., when with a sharp turn of the ship a torpedo passed just under our stern, and later on another broke surface about 150 yards short on our starboard beam. At 7.35 p.m. the tracks of two more torpedoes were reported approaching on the starboard side, but by good co-operation between the fore-top and the conning tower they were both avoided. Aloft the tracks were clearly visible, and acting on the reports from there the ship was gradually turned away, so that by perfect timing one torpedo passed up the port side and one the starboard side; after which we resumed our place in the line. A fifth torpedo was successfully dodged by zigzagging at 7.47 p.m., but after this we had no further excitements. We ourselves had no opportunity to fire torpedoes at the enemy, but fired 144 shells from our 12-inch turrets and from our secondary armament (6-inch guns) 111 shells.’

Letton’s final wartime appointment, following a period of leave, was at the submarine base Maidstone, and he was demobilised in March 1920.