Pair: Signal Boy A. W. Blackham, Royal Navy, who was killed in action when H.M.S. Queen Mary was sunk during the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916

British War and Victory Medals (J.38161 A. W. Blackham. Sig. Boy. R.N.); Memorial Plaque (Arthur William Blackham) in card envelope of issue, contact marks, nearly very fine (3) £120-£160

Arthur William Blackham was born in West Ham, London, on 18 March 1899 and joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Second Class on 4 May 1915. Rated Signal Boy from 3 September 1915, he served during the Great War in H.M.S. Queen Mary from 1 January 1916, and was present at the Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916, when, under the command of Captain C. I. Prowse, Queen Mary engaged the German ships SMS Seydlitz and SMS Derfflinger during the opening phase of the Battle. One of Derfflinger’s shells scored a direct hit on Queen Mary’s ‘Q’ turret detonating the magazines and breaking the ship in two. She was sunk with the loss of 1,266 crew and only 18 survivors.

Blackham was amongst those killed, and he is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial.