Orders, Decorations and Medals

A Great War O.B.E. group of four awarded to Lieutenant-Commander J. B. Newman, Royal Navy

The Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) 1st type; 1914-15 Star (Ch. Offr. R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. R.N.) nearly extremely fine (4) £150-180

O.B.E. London Gazette 30 June 1919: ‘Lieutenant, Royal Navy, for valuable services in command of H.M. Coastguard cruiser Squirrel.’

James Benjamin Newman joined the Navy as a Boy in May 1886. He was commissioned as Chief Officer in 1914 and promoted to Lieutenant in August 1918. He was in command of the Coastguard cruiser Squirrel, based at Penzance, from February 1914 to September 1920. During this period he assisted on many occasions in the rescue of crews from ships that had been torpedoed off the Cornish coast, particularly during 1917. He retired in August 1922 and became Lieutenant-Commander in August 1926. Sold with extensive research.