Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Five: Chief Stoker S. S. Spooner, Royal Navy

Africa General Service 1902-56, 1 clasp, Somaliland 1908-10 (304806 S. S. Spooner, Sto. 1Cl. H.M.S. Diana.); 1914-15 Star (304806 S. S. Spooner, S.P.O. R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (304806 S. S. Spooner, S.P.O. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (304806 S.S. Spooner, S.P.O. H.M.S. Apollo.) contact marks and edge bruising, nearly very fine (5) £200-£240

Septimus Samson Spooner, a Smith’s Striker, was born in Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire, on 20 April 1884. Enlisting in the Royal Navy on 12 August 1903, he saw service in H.M.S. Diana during the naval blockade between British Somaliland and Aden during the third campaign against the “Mad Mullah”, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan. His Great War service included service in a number of ships including H.M.S. Blenheim in support of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, at Gallipoli. Awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal on 28 August 1918, he was advanced Chief Stoker on 1 January 1922, and was shore pensioned 11 August 1925.