Three: Officer’s Steward 2nd Class C. J. Crawley, Royal Navy and Mercantile Marine, who survived the sinking of H.M.S. Surprise in the North Sea on 23 December 1917

British War Medal 1914-20 (L.9068 C. J. Crawley. O.S.2 R.N); Mercantile Marine War Medal 1914-18 (Charles J. Crawley); Victory Medal 1914-19 (L.9068 C. J. Crawley. O.S.2. R.N.) good very fine £120-£160

Charles James Crawley was born in Stepney, London, on 22 September 1897. He served as Assistant Steward in the Merchant Navy before transferring to the Royal Navy on 3 July 1916 as Officer’s Steward 3rd Class. Posted to H.M.S. Wildfire and H.M.S. Lance, he was advanced Officer’s Steward 2nd class aboard the destroyer H.M.S. Surprise on 27 October 1917, and had a particularly fortunate escape on 23 December 1917 when the latter struck a mine and sank in the North Sea whilst escorting a convoy back from Holland to Harwich on the so-called ‘beef run’. Of four destroyers engaged in convoy escort that night, only H.M.S. Radiant was left undamaged to pluck the survivors from the water; 48 crew from the Surprise died in the explosion of drowned in the darkness, the German minefield having wrought havoc amongst the Royal Navy and Merchant Fleet.

Crawley ended his war aboard the ageing destroyer H.M.S. Osprey which was transferred to Londonderry in 1918 and paid off the following year. He left the Royal Navy at around this time and died on 17 October 1927.