Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The Sir Gilbert Blane, Bt., Gold Medal awarded to Fleet Surgeon O. Rees, Royal Navy

The Sir Gilbert Blane, Bt., Gold Medal (Surgeon Owswald Rees, M.D., H.M.S. “Jackdaw” 1897-98) gold (22ct., 53.60g), fitted with a contemporary claw and small ring suspension, housed in its original presentation case, extremely fine, rare £2,000-£2,400

In 1830 Sir Gilbert Blane, Bt., established a fund, vested in the Corporation of the Royal College of Surgeons of London, in trust, for the purpose of conferring a gold medal once in every two years on each of the two Medical Officers (Fleet, or Staff Surgeons, or Surgeons) who shall produce the most approved journals of their practice ‘in the form in which they have been kept from day to day’ while in Medical charge of a ship of war in the Royal Navy.

Oswald Rees received his medical training in Glasgow, and joined the Royal Navy as a Surgeon on 15 May 1895. He served in H.M.S. Jackdaw from 1 October 1897 to 14 February 1899, for which work he was awarded the Gilbert Blane Medal. He was subsequently stationed at the Royal Marine Depot at Deal from 1 April 1900 to 4 March 1901, before joining H.M.S. Gibraltar, and proceeded in her to South Africa (Queen’s South Africa Medal, no clasp). Employed at the Royal Naval Hospital Simonstown, he was promoted Staff Surgeon on 9 October 1903, before returning to the U.K. and serving in H.M.S. Mercury from 24 April 1906 to 18 May 1908, where he was one of the first doctors to look at diving medicine, and during this period worked on submarine escape apparatus. The Hall-Rees submarine breathing apparatus with built-in sodium peroxide oxygen generation was partially developed and named after him.

Rees was appointed to H.M.S. Fox on 19 May 1908, and served in her for the next two years (Africa General Service Medal with clasp Somaliland 1908-10, and Naval General Service Medal with clasp Persian Gulf 1909-14). He saw further service as a Fleet Surgeon during the Great War, initially in H.M.S. Aboukir, and survived the loss of the ship on 22 September 1914; he later served in H.M. Ships Powerful and Dominion (1914-15 Star trio). His final appointment was Fleet Surgeon at Sheerness Dockyard, from 5 April 1918 until his retirement on 11 April 1920.

Sold with copied record of service.