The unique N.G.S. and Army of India pair awarded to Commander J. W. Guy, Bombay Marine

Naval General Service 1793-1840, 1 clasp, Java (J. W. Guy, Midshipman. H.E.I.C.S.); Army of India 1799-1826, 1 clasp, Ava (Jas. Willm. Guy, Junior Captain, Bombay Marine) short hyphen reverse, officially impressed naming, good very fine (2) £3500-4500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Naval and Indian Marine Medals from the Collection of John Tamplin.

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Ex Lawson Whalley 1877, Payne 1910, and Gascoigne collections. Only 21 N.G.S. and Army of India pairs awarded, this pair being unique to the Bombay Marine and with a unique combination of clasps.

James William Guy was born in about 1790, son of John Guy, of the H.E.I.C. home service, of Bathwick, Somerset. He was educated at the Merchant Taylors’ School, which he attended in 1799. He was the younger brother of John Michael Guy, also an officer in the Bombay Marine, who retired as a Captain in 1829, and died the same year in St Helena.

Guy was appointed Midshipman in the Bombay Marine on 11 June 1807. Serving with that rank in the H.E.I.C. ship Ternate, he took part in the expedition to the Persian Gulf in 1809-10, under Commodore John Wainwright, for the relief of the Imaum of Muscat and the suppression of the Joasmi pirates. He was wounded on 26 November 1809 at the capture of the town and fortress of Luft, a Joasmi port on the north side of the island of Kishm.

He served with the Naval Brigade under Captain William Eatwell, of the Benares, attached to the force under Major D. H. Dalton, the Political Resident and Commandant at Macassar, the capital of the island of Celebes in the East Indies, at the taking of a position eight miles from Macassar, held by a force under the Raja of Boni, on 8 June 1816. In this affair the Commandant, Major Dalton, particularly acknowledged the services of Captain Eatwell and Lieutenant Guy, who, he said, showed “their usual zeal and alacrity and ably assisted on the occasion.” Whilst hostilities were in progress against the Raja of Boni, Lieutenant Guy was placed in command of the boats from Benares, Teignmouth, and Ternate; and Midshipmen Dent and Duff were in charge of two gun-boats to cruise in the track of the proas from the Straits of Malacca, and so prevent supplies of military stores from Penang and Malacca reaching the enemy. Many deeds of daring were achieved by these ship’s boats whilst on this service.

Guy was promoted to First Lieutenant on 12 September 1818, and from 1818 to 1820 he was on sick certificate to England. Returning to India in 1821, Guy commanded the H.E.I.C. ship Aurora, and, from 1823, the brig Vestal. He continued in command of this 10-gun brig during the Burmese war of 1824-26. On 3 June 1824, as that ship was under weigh near the island of Shahporee at the mouth of the river Naaf, accompanied by two gunboats under Midshipmen Laughton and Boye, both of the Bombay Marine, a fleet of 100 Burmese war-boats, all armed with guns and filled with men, came into sight. The enemy’s boats owing to their overwhelming force were so confident of success that they hailed the Vestal and demanded her surrender and that of her gun-boats. The reply to this request was volleys of grape and canister, and, after a sharp action, the Burmese were glad to make their escape, having sustained a loss of fourteen war-boats and 150 men. Guy’s despatch on these operations, dated Chittagong River, 6th June 1824, was published in the London Gazette in 1825.

Of this affair the Governor-General said in his despatch of 14 July 1824 to the Secret Committee: ‘The enemy were completely foiled, and received a severe and memorable chastisement from the Vestal and her gun-boats, whose fire destroyed several of their war-boats in the Naaf, and committed terrible havoc among the crews and the troops who lined either shore, expecting to find the vessels an easy prey. The cruizer and gun-boats immediately after made sail for Chittagong, where they arrived in safety on the 7th ultimo.’

The Vestal also took part in the operations in the Arracan river from February to April 1825, ending with the capture of Arracan, and was engaged with the squadron, under Commodore John Hayes, in the attack on the enemy’s works at Chamballa, on 23 February 1825. Guy was promoted to Junior Captain on 24 April 1826, and shortly afterwards had command of the H.E.I.C. ship Elphinstone.

In 1827 the rank of Commander was restored, and Guy became a Commander, Bombay Marine, with seniority as for as for his appointment as a Junior Captain. On 23 March 1829 he was invalided, and on 1 June 1835 he was placed on the Retired List, returning shortly afterwards to England. Commander J. W. Guy died at his residence in Markham Square, Chelsea, on 29 September 1857, age 67.