A Great War O.B.E. group of five awarded to Surgeon Captain W. E. Harker, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 1st type, breast badge, hallmarks for London 1919; 1914-15 Star (St. Surg. W. E. Harker. R.N.V.R.); British War and Victory Medals (Surg. Lt. Cr. W. E. Harker. R.N.V.R.); Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Decoration, G.V.R., hallmarks for London 1920, mounted for display, good very fine (5) £460-£550

O.B.E. London Gazette 22 August 1919.
The recommendation states: ‘This officer is one of the senior R.N.V.R. medical officers and has served as Senior Medical Officer, Tyne District, He is a very energetic medical officer and sound medical practitioner and has organised and carried out the duties to my entire satisfaction.’

The following obituary was published in the British Medical Journal:

‘Dr. William Edmund Harker died at his home in Croxdale, Co. Durham, on March 2, 1950. He was in his 80th year. He was a Novocastrian-born and bred at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the eldest son of Alderman W. E. Harker. He was educated at Durham University, where he qualified in 1893, proceeded M.D. in 1895, and D.Hy. in 1899. During the early part of his career he practised at Tynemouth, and was the first medical officer of health appointed to the River Tyne ports. He served 40 years with this authority, during which period the Tyne was never declared an infected port. It is recorded that he was Britain's first port medical officer to fumigate ships as a plague preventive method. A floating hospital at Jarrow was in his charge to facilitate the detection and disposal of imported infectious maladies. In 1908 Harker received the appointment of medical Inspector of Aliens for Tyne Ports.

With the formation of the Tyneside division of the R.N.V.R. he received his commission as naval surgeon to the Tyne, the first appointed-based in H.M.S. Satellite. During the first world war he was largely responsible for the fitting out of the hospital unit, H.M.S. Plassy, a later component of the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow. (H.M.S. Plassy was used as a hospital ship and was present at the Battle of Jutland taking on the wounded from the battle cruisers "Lion" and "Princess Royal”). Later he became senior medical officer to the Tyne Naval Depot, where he elaborated a scheme for the landing of casualties after a fleet action which bore fruit after the Jutland engagement. He retired as Surgeon Captain, R.N.V.R., with Volunteer and British Empire decorations.’