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Auction: 22002 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 85

(x) Five: Colour-Sergeant J. Sturgess, Royal Marine Artillery

British War and Victory Medals (R.M.A. 8590 Sjt. J. Sturgess.); Royal Fleet Reserve L.S. & G.C., G.V.R. (R.M.A. 8590 Ply.A. 1581 J. Sturgess. Cr. Sgt. R.F.R.); Italy, Kingdom, Messina Earthquake 1908; Royal Marine Artillery Silver Medal, the reverse engraved 'Trained Soldiers', mounted for wear, good very fine (5)

James Sturgess was born at Witchbury, Fordingbridge, Hampshire on 7 June 1881. As a youth, he was employed as a footman. On 29 December 1899 he enlisted in the Royal Marine Artillery in London. As an adult he was just over six feet tall, with dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion.

He trained at Eastney Barracks, Portsmouth. In August 1900, on completion of his training, he was rated Gunner and, in June 1901, drafted to the Albion at the beginning of her maiden commission. She was a battleship of the Canopus class, built at the Thames Iron Works and launched in 1898, when the waves thrown up from her launching wrecked stands along the slipway, drowning thirty-four spectators. She was deployed with the China Fleet.

In August 1904 he embarked in a troopship for passage back to England and served ashore until August 1905, when he joined Centurion. She was a battleship first commissioned in 1894, and was in the commissioned reserve in Portsmouth.

In May 1907 Sturgess was drafted to Exmouth, a Duncan class battleship launched in 1901. When he joined her she was flagship of the Atlantic Fleet; she had a refit over 1907-08 and, in November 1908, became the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet. On 28 December 1908, at about 05.20hrs, southern Italy was shaken by the most powerful earthquake recorded in Europe's history. Centred in the Messina Strait which separates Sicily from Calabria, it measured 7.5 on the Richter Scale. Moments after the quake's first jolt, a devastating tsunami formed with forty foot waves crashing down on dozens of coastal towns and villages. Estimates of the number of casualties vary widely but the figure of 85,000 is commonly accepted. Many of those who survived the earthquake and its aftermath of tsunami and fires were left destitute. Several ships of the Mediterranean Fleet, including Exmouth, came to their relief. In gratitude, the Italian Government presented medals to members of the ships' companies involved.

Sturgess returned to England in May 1909 and was married on 7 June 1909. Ten days later he embarked in the cruiser Diadem but returned ashore the following month, and did not take up another sea-going post until June 1910, when he was drafted to the battleship Bellerophon. She was one of the early dreadnoughts, first commissioned in February 1909, with a displacement of 18,600 tons, a main armament of ten 12 inch guns and a complement of 733. She was deployed with the Home Fleet, and he served in her until March 1913.

Sturgess joined the battleship Orion in February 1914 and served in her until February 1920. She was ordered under the 1909 Programme at the height of the naval arms race with Germany; she was built at Portsmouth, launched on 20 August 1910 and completed in January 1912. With a displacement of 22,500 tons, main armament of ten 13.5 inch guns and 12 inch armour, she and the others of her class were so superior to the original Dreadnought that they were designated "super-dreadnoughts".

On the outbreak of the Great War Orion was flagship of the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet, flying the flag of Admiral Sir George Warrender. An experienced and respected officer, he had made his squadron the fleet's most efficient in gunnery. He was praised for his calm temperament although younger officers attributed this to his deafness and a failure to understand what was going on!

The Scarborough Raid

The main German strategy in the early years of the war was to isolate a detachment of the Grand Fleet and overwhelm it. They nearly achieved this on the 16 December 1914 when Warrender's six battleships and Beatty's four battlecruisers were sent to intercept the German ships which had carried out the Scarborough Raid and nearly encountered the entire German Fleet.

By December 1914 British codebreakers were able to intercept and decipher German naval communications. They received information that the German battlecruisers would conduct an operation against the east coast of England and the Admiralty deployed Beatty's squadron of four battlecruisers and Warrender's 2nd Battle Squadron to intercept them. What the intelligence did not disclose, however, was that Hipper's raiding force would be supported by the entire High Seas Fleet consisting of twenty-two battleships.

Orion and her consorts sailed from Scapa Flow at 05.30hrs on 15 December in high winds and a heavy sea, bound for a rendezvous with Beatty's battlecruisers in the North Sea. At 05.15hrs on 16 December, one of Beatty's destroyers observed a strange destroyer and gave chase. This resulted in a skirmish in which a few British destroyers exchanged fire with a superior force of German destroyers and light cruisers, part of the screening force for the German fleet. Their commander, Admiral von Ingenohl, was seriously alarmed, fearing a night torpedo attack, and ordered his fleet to reverse course. At this time, his fleet was only ten miles from Beatty and Warrender's ships. Never again would the Germans have a better opportunity to annihilate a weaker squadron and wipe out the Royal Navy's margin of superiority. Many years later Tirpitz wrote:

'On December 16th, Ingenohl had the fate of Germany in the palm of his hand. I boil with inward emotion whenever I think of it.'

The retreat of the High Seas Fleet left Hipper in the lurch and the British then had the opportunity to destroy the German battlecruiser squadron. However, due to communication errors, they too lost their chance to win a decisive victory.

Jutland

At the Battle of Jutland Orion was the flagship of Rear Admiral A.C. Leveson. When the Battle Fleet deployed into a single line of battle, she was fifth of the twenty-four battleships in Jellicoe's fleet. The ships of the Second Division had fewer opportunities to fire than those further aft in the line but Orion gave a good account of herself - observers in a German destroyer noted the very small spread of her salvo even when firing at a great range. At 18.32hrs she fired four salvoes at Markgraf at a range of 13,300 yards; the last was seen to hit, then sight of the target was lost in mist and spray. A shell hit the German ship's port No.6 gun, killing the crew and putting it out of action. She was also heavily shaken aft by a near miss which bent the propellor shaft, resulting in the bearings overheating so that the engine had to be stopped. At 19.15hrs she fired six salvoes at Hipper's flagship Lutzow. The latter was repeatedly hit, suffering severe damage and casualties. Orion was not hit throughout the battle.

In the early years of his service, Sturgess's conduct was sometimes rated at less than 'Very Good'; he was awarded, but then lost, Good Conduct badges and did not qualify for a Royal Navy L.S. & G.C. Medal on completion of fifteen years' service. His ability was usually rated 'Very Good' or 'Superior' and, in 1913, he qualified as a Gun Layer 1st Class. After being a Gunner for fifteen years, Sturgess was promoted successively to the ranks of Bombardier (1915), Corporal (1916) and Sergeant (1918). By that time he had also earned four Good Conduct Badges which he managed to retain.

On 5 February 1920 Sturgess went ashore again. He was promoted to Colour-Sergeant in October 1920 and then, on 28 December of that year, he retired, having completed 22 years' service. His address was Bransgate, Christchurch, Hampshire. He was enrolled for the Royal Fleet Reserve and qualified for the Royal Fleet Reserve L.S. & G.C. Medal in 1925.

Although he would have been entitled to a 1914-15 Star for his service, it does not appear that he was ever issued with one.


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Sold for
£650

Starting price
£200