Orders, Decorations and Medals

Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 2nd issue, fixed suspension (237075 W. J. Hurding, P.O., H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth) edge nicks, contact marks and polished, good fine £30-50

William John Hurding was born in Gibraltar in October 1890 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in July 1906. An Able Seaman aboard the battleship H.M.S. Hercules at the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, he went on to serve in another battleship, the Canada, from August 1915 until the end of the War, in which capacity he was present at the battle of Jutland. A component of Vice-Admiral F. C. D. Sturdee’s Fourth Battle Squadron, the Canada engaged a number of enemy cruisers and destroyers, claiming 14-inch hits on one of the latter. Hurding was awarded his L.S. & G.C. Medal in October and was still serving as a Chief Petty Officer in the late 1920s.