Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Lloyd’s Medal for Meritorious Services, 2nd type, oval medal, silver, the reverse inscribed ‘Capt. W. J. Sturgess S.S. Warwick 10th. April 1918’, nearly extremely fine £300-£400

Provenance: W. H. Fevyer Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, September 2008.

‘The Warwickshire (8,012) tons was badly damaged by a torpedo, which passed through her bows, on April 10th, but was also brought safely into port under her own steam. Mr W. J. Sturgess, her master, mustered the crew on the deck after the engines had been stopped, and called for volunteers to go below and stoke. A sentence in his report is well worth quoting. “All hands responded immediately, saying they were ready to do anything I ordered provided I gave them a sporting chance to get away. The sporting chance was promised, and the steamer was under way in a few minutes, and headed for Bizerta.” The phrase is amazingly typical: again and again the winning of the war depended just upon that willingness to take big chances under trusted leadership’.

Note: The 2nd type oval medal was officially replaced by the circular 3rd type in 1913.