A scarce Medal of the Order of the British Empire group of ten awarded to Paymaster Commander Stanley Leyh, Royal Naval Reserve, whose service in H.M.S. Iron Duke at Jutland under the eye of Sir John Jellicoe led to duty with the Allied Naval Council; in the Second World War he escaped the fall of Singapore to serve attached to the Royal Australian Navy

Medal of the Order of the British Empire, (Military), unnamed as issued; 1914-15 Star (M.6121. S. G. H. Leyh. 2. Wtr. R.N. ); British War and Victory Medals (M.6121 S.G.H. Leyh. 2 Wtr. R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Pacific Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Coronation 1937; Royal Naval Reserve Decoration, G.VI.R., 1st issue, the reverse officially dated ‘1938’, the Great War awards official replacements issued to the recipient in 1948 after his originals were lost during the Fall of Singapore, though unmarked as such, good very fine (10) £600-£800

Medal of the Order of the British Empire London Gazette 1 January 1919:
‘For services in connection with the War.’

Stanley George Hoare Leyh was born at Forest Hill, London, in 1893. He joined the Royal Navy as Third Writer in June 1913 and in November 1914 was appointed to H.M.S. Iron Duke, flagship of the Grand Fleet. In this ship, flying the flag of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, he was present at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May - 1 June 1916. Between February and November 1917 he served aboard H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth, flagship of Admiral Sir David Beatty.

It seems reasonable to suppose that Leyh’s talents were noticed by these two great Admirals and led to his next appointment, on the staff of the Allied Naval Council. This body was formed in January 1918 ‘in order to watch over the general conduct of the war at sea’ and assist in co-ordination of the naval operations of France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and the United States of America. Consisting of the Ministers of Marine and Chiefs of the Naval General Staffs of these countries, its secretariat was provided by the British Admiralty and based in London. As First Sea Lord at the time of its institution, Sir John Jellicoe was a founding member.

Leyh remained in the service of the Allied Naval Council until August 1919, bringing him promotion to Acting Chief Writer and his Medal of the Order of the British Empire. He then returned to general service with an appointment to the newly-launched cruiser H.M.S. Hawkins, which shortly departed for the Far East as flagship of the China Station. These new horizons evidently opened up fresh opportunities for Stanley Leyh, and little more than a year later he purchased his discharge from the Royal Navy in order to take up a well-remunerated position in Singapore as Librarian of the Colonial Secretary’s Office. During the following years his career progressed and by the eve of the Second World War he was Assistant Comptroller of Customs in Singapore, and Deputy Superintendent, Rubber Control.

Alongside his civil duties Leyh also renewed his Naval ties with a Paymaster’s commission in the Royal Naval Reserve; intriguingly his service record indicates he was periodically granted the status of a qualified officer ‘as a special case’. By 1939 he held the rank of Paymaster Commander and had been awarded the Royal Naval Reserve Officer’s Decoration (London Gazette 4 October 1938).

Mobilised at the outbreak of hostilities, Commander Leyh was fortunate to escape Singapore at its fall, arriving in Fremantle, Western Australia on 7 March 1942 aboard the ship Zeebdon. He was then attached to the Royal Australian Navy and served variously as secretary to the Naval Officers in Charge of Brisbane and Fremantle until released on medical grounds in April 1944.

Leyh returned to Singapore after the War and at the time of his death in September 1949 was Principal Deputy in the Financial Secretary’s office. For reasons that remain obscure he had recently chosen to change his name by deed poll to George Stevens.

Note: The medal of the Order of the British Empire was very sparingly awarded to Naval forces in the short period of its existence (1917 to 1922), only 26 medals being distributed among the R.N., R.M., R.N.R., R.N.V.R. and R.N.A.S., with a further 22 to members of the Women’s Royal Naval Service. The riband of the Medal changed alongside with the riband of the Order of the British Empire in 1937, and recipients were required to henceforth wear it from the 2nd type riband.

Sold with corresponding uniform riband bars, for day and evening wear.