Naval Medals from the Collection of the Late Jason Pilalas (Part I)

An outstanding Great War Civil C.B. and Boer War Albert Medal life saving group of ten awarded to Captain Halton S. Lecky, Royal Navy

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, C.B. (Civil) Companion’s neck badge, silver-gilt, with Garrard, London case of issue; Albert Medal, 2nd Class, for Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea, bronze and enamel, the reverse inscribed (Awarded by His Majesty to Lieutenant Halton Stirling Lecky, R.N., in recognition of his gallantry in rescuing two soldiers from drowning at Kosi Bay on the 25th of August 1900) the reverse of the crown with maker's cartouche 'Phillips, Cockspur St.', together with its original Phillips Bros. & Son presentation case, the lid embossed in gilt letters 'Presented in the name of His Majesty to Lieutenant Halton Stirling Lecky, R.N., for Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea'; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 1 clasp, Natal (Sub-Lieut: H. S. Lecky, R.N. H.M.S. Doris); 1914-15 Star (Commr. H. S. Lecky, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Capt. H. S. Lecky. R.N.); Greece, Kingdom, Order of the Redeemer, 5th Class breast badge, silver, gold and enamels; France, Third Republic, Legion of Honour, 5th Class breast badge, silver, gold and enamels, these last seven mounted court-style as worn; Royal Humane Society, small silver medal (Successful), (Sub Lieut: H. S. Lecky. R.N. Aug: 25 1900) in its Elkington case of issue; Lloyds medal for Saving Life at Sea, silver (Lieut. H. S. Lecky. R.N. - 25th August 1900.) in its original presentation case, the lid embossed in gilt letters with relevant details; Granton Naval Base, silver medal for Zeal (Comdr. H. S. Lecky. R.N. 2.9.16, C.E. Granton Naval Base) generally very fine or better (11) £6,000-£8,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Naval Medals from the Collection of the Late Jason Pilalas.

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Collection

Buckland Dix & Wood, June 1994.

Only 7 Albert Medals awarded to Royal Navy officers prior to the Great War.

Halton Stirling Lecky was Sub-Lieutenant of Thrush and Widgeon during the Boer War, and served on both vessels on the Delagoa Bay Blockade. He was awarded the Albert Medal (2nd class) on 28 June 1901; the silver medal of the Royal Humane Society on 15 July 1901; and Lloyds Silver Medal on 10 August 1901, all awarded for his bravery as described in the following extract from the London Gazette:

‘On August 25th, 1900, H.M.S. Widgeon was anchored in Kosi Bay, fifty miles south of Delagoa Bay, in order to land stores and troops. The work of disembarkation was carried out by four boats manned by Malays under the superintendence of Sub Lieutenant Lecky, who had been sent onshore for the purpose.

Heavy breakers in lines of three to five, according to the tide rolling in about fifty yards apart, made the work very risky.

One boat loaded with stores and with Second Lieutenant Arnold Gray, Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, Trooper Frederick Trethowen, Steinacker's Horse, and Private J. H. Forbes, Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, on board, capsized about three hundred yards from the shore. The five Malays forming the boat's crew, and Private Forbes by dint of hard swimming, with the assistance of the boat's oars, managed to reach the land after severe buffeting from the heavy seas. Lieutenant Gray was unable to swim, but with Trooper Trethowen, clung to the boat, which drifted slowly keel upwards in a northerly direction almost parallel with the shore, carried by the set of a strong current. Huge breakers continually swept over the boat, and the men had great difficulty in retaining their hold. Sharks were observed near the boat before and after the accident. The boat was now about one hundred and fifty yards from the shore. Sub Lieutenant Lecky, seeing the critical position the two men were in, tore off his clothes and, plunging into the surf, endeavoured to swim to their assistance. He was twice thrown back on the beach by the heavy seas, but afterwards succeeded in bringing first Lieutenant Gray and then the other safe to shore. The rescued men were quite unconscious, having been nearly thirty minutes in the water. Sub Lieutenant Lecky and his servant, Private Borting, R.M.L.I. then applied the usual methods for restoring animation, and both men eventually recovered consciousness - Lieutenant Gray after a lapse of two and a half hours.’

Lecky was subsequently Sub Lieutenant of Doris (medal and clasp); was in command of torpedo-boat No. 29 on the occasion of the burial at sea, by her own request, of Miss Mary Kingsley. He was responsible for the organisation of the Shetland Islands for war, 1913-14; Minesweeping on the East Coast, 1914. Lecky created the Auxiliary Patrol Service of 3000 vessels and necessary personnel against enemy submarines, 1914-16 (awarded C.B.); Naval Assistant to the Fourth Sea Lord, 1915-16; commanded the light cruisers Southampton and Birmingham in the North Sea, 1916-17; Assistant to Naval Secretary to First Lord of the Admiralty, 1917-18; engaged on miscellaneous service in the Aegean blockade of the Dardanelles, occupation of Constantinople etc., 1918; mentioned in despatches and awarded the Order of the Redeemer (Greece) and Legion of Honour (France) for duties in connection with the war operations of these navies in the Aegean. In 1919 he organised the Mine Clearance Service and received the high appreciation of the Board of Admiralty; Commanded the R.N. Detention Barracks at Chatham, 1920-24, and was placed on the retired list with the rank of Captain in 1925. Captain Lecky died on 2 June 1940, aged 71 years.

Lecky was author of the well known work 'The Kings Ships' , 3 volumes 1913 and 1914, the final 3 volumes of which were suspended and never published owing to the outbreak of the War.

The group is also accompanied by a 'pencilled' portrait photograph of Captain Lecky and original Royal Humane Society parchment certificate, this a little damaged by damp.