Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An Anglo-French group of three awarded to Swedish recipient Olaf A. Benson, Merchant Navy, killed in action when serving aboard the S.S. Royal Edward, 13 August 1915
France, Third Republic, Medal of Honour, Ministere de la Marine, silver (Olaf Benson, 1909); Colonial Medal, 1 clasp, Maroc, unnamed; G.B., British War Medal 1914-20 (Olaf A. Benson) good very fine and better (3) £80-100 £120-160

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, An Old Collection of Medals Relating to The Great War.

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Ex D.N.W. 13 December 2007.

Olaf A. Benson was born in Sweden. Prior to the Great War he may well have served with the French Navy during operations on and off the coast of Morocco in 1909, for which he was awarded the Colonial Medal and Medal of Honour. In the Great War he served as an Able Seaman aboard the Canadian Northern Steamship Company’s liner, the S.S. Royal Edward. In 1915 the ship was being employed in carrying troops to Gallipoli. On 13 August 1915 she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-15 (some sources quote UB-14), six miles west of Kandeliusa Island in the Aegean Sea. The ship sank in a very short time with heavy loss of life. Of the 1,366 troops and 220 crew aboard, only 500 were saved. Amongst those killed was Able Seaman Benson, aged 55 years. Olaf Benson’s name is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial. Sold with some copied research.