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Auction: 26001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 130

The campaign group of three awarded to Ordinary Seaman V. W. H. Slinn, Royal Navy, who became a Prisoner of War after the sinking of H.M.S. Nestor at the Battle of Jutland - an action which saw his skipper, the gallant Commander the Hon. Edward Bingham, earn a Victoria Cross; Slinn had only just turned 18 a few months before the epic action, he was to die prematurely in 1933, his death being noted as a result of the tuberculosis he contracted whilst 'behind the wire'

1914-15 Star (J. 23750, V. W. H. Slinn, Boy. 1., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (J. 23750 V. W. H. Slinn, Ord. R.N.), good very fine (3)

Just 177 British Seamen became Prisoners of War following the Battle of Jutland.

Victor William Henry Slinn was born at Enfield on New Years's Eve 1897 and was an attendant upon his joining the Royal Navy as Boy 2nd Class in March 1913. Posted to H.M.S. Nestor on 30 April 1916, it would be a baptism of fire for Slinn.

He was present at the Battle of Jutland, 31 May to 1 June 1916, when the Nestor, together with H.M.S. Nomad and Nicatar, launched an attack on the German Battle Cruisers; both Nestor and Nomad were sunk in the ensuing action, with the captain of the former, Commander the Hon. Edward Bingham, being awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry in leading the attack. Unleashed by Beatty at around 4 p.m. on 31 May, the destroyers of the 13th Flotilla made headlong for the enemy at a rate of 30 knots, those of the 2nd Division - under Bingham, V.C. in Nestor - bearing the brunt of 'an extremely warm welcome' from the German battlecruiser line.

The surviving crews of both ships were picked up by German Torpedo Boats, Slinn being lucky to come away from the ordeal with his life and eventually be repatriated, despite suffering for the remainder of his life from the tuberculosis which he contracted whilst a captive. He was invalided with neurasthenia in July 1919. Married in 1926, Slinn moved to Malling, Kent but died in November 1933. His family noted the death was as a result of the effects of the tuberculosis; sold together with several copied photographs of the recipient.

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Estimate
£240 to £280

Starting price
£190