Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Four: Chief Stoker J. Wilkinson, Royal Navy, who fought at the Battle of Jutland aboard H.M.S. Princess Royal

1914-15 Star (301404, J. Wilkinson. S.P.O., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (301404 J. Wilkinson. Ch. Sto. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (301404. John Wilkinson, Ch. Sto. H.M.S. Princess Royal.) mounted as worn, better than very fine (4) £120-£160

John Wilkinson, a plumber’s mate, was born in Gosport on 6 May 1884 and joined the Royal Navy as Stoker 2nd Class on 19 August 1902. Advanced Stoker Petty Officer aboard H.M.S. Prince of Wales 2 October 1909, he served during the Great War in H.M.S. Princess Royal from 14 November 1912 to 15 May 1919, latterly as Chief Stoker. Present at the Battles of Heligoland Bight and Dogger Bank as part of Admiral Beatty’s battlecruiser force, H.M.S. Princess Royal later served as the flagship of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron at Jutland on 31 May 1916. She was struck during the engagement by two heavy calibre 12-inch shells fired by the German battleship Markgraf, one of which disabled ‘X’ turret with the other penetrating the ship’s side armour. Hit nine times in total, her crew suffered 22 killed and 81 injured.

Awarded the Royal Navy L.S. & G.C. Medal in 1917, Wilkinson later witnessed the surrender of the High Seas Fleet as part of the guard force at Scapa Flow. He further survived the flu pandemic of late 1918 which left H.M.S. Princess Royal at one point without sufficient healthy crewmen to leave port. Transferred home to Portsmouth, Wilkinson was discharged on 18 August 1924.

Sold with copied record of service.