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Auction: 23111 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 617

The campaign group of three awarded to Private M. H. B. Sexton, Royal Marines Light Infantry who was serving on H.M.S. Formidable which was sunk by U-24 on 1 January 1915

1914-15 Star (PLY. 17675, Pte. M. H. B. Sexton, R.M.L.I.); British War and Victory Medals (CH.17675 Pte. M. H. B. Sexton. R.M.L.I.), together with a cap badge second with officially re-impressed naming, good very fine (3)

Maxwell Herbery Buchanan Sexton was born on 25 April 1891 at Brixton, the son of Mr and Mrs T. F. Sexton of 8 Rydon Crescent Crescent, London. He enlisted on 7 November 1912 and was with Formidable at the outbreak of the Great War. Sexton was still with her when she was sunk by U-24 on 1 January 1915. He is commemorated on the Chatham Memorial.

H.M.S. Formidable

After service in the Mediterranean and Channel Fleets, on the outbreak of the war in 1914, Formidable was initially based at Portland to defend the Channel. Transferred to Sheerness in November 1914 she returned to Portland not long after.

It was from Portland that, on 31 December 1914, Formidable was taking part in gunnery exercises alongside several ships, under the overall command of Sir Lewis Bayly, Vice Admiral commanding the Channel Fleet.

After the gunnery exercises, the fleet did not return to Portland. It was a stormy night, with rough seas, and it was not considered likely that a submarine could attempt an attack in such weather. Sir Lewis Bayly would later be criticised for not taking appropriate precautions but was later cleared of any charge of negligence.

The German submarine, U-24, was in the area, however, under the command of Rudolph Schnieder. Formidable was at the rear of the line of Royal Navy ships, in the so called ‘coffin’ position. In the very early hours of New Year’s Day 1915, U-24 fired a torpedo which hit the boiler room of Formidable. The Captain, Arthur Noel Loxley, attempted to make for the shore but the ship soon lost steam and was listing to starboard, although some boats were launched with difficulty. Two cruisers – Topaze and Diamond – managed to rescue some men but were ordered away by Captain Loxley when a submarine was spotted.

Not long after the first torpedo, a second hit the Formidable – within two hours, the ship sank. The Captain, his dog, Bruce, and several officers remained on the bridge and went down with the ship

Formidable carried a crew of around 780 officers and men – around 200 survived.

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