Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The post-war C.B. and Second World War O.B.E. group of eight attributed to Chaplain of the Fleet, the Rt. Rev. J. Armstrong, Royal Navy - latterly Honorary Chaplain to The Queen and Bishop of Bermuda

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, C.B. (Military) Companion’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with neck cravat, in Garrard, London case of issue; The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 2nd type breast badge, silver-gilt; 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, clasp, France and Germany; Defence and War Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf; Coronation 1953, these six mounted court style as worn; together with Honorary Chaplain to the Queen Badge, E.II.R., gilt and enamel, pin-backed, all unnamed, some contact marks, very fine and better (8) £900-1200

Ex Spink, 23 April 2015.

C.B. London Gazette 1 January 1962. ‘The Venerable Archdeacon John Armstrong, O.B.E., Q.H.C., Chaplain of the Fleet.’

O.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1942. ‘The Reverend John Armstrong, Chaplain, Royal Navy.’

M.I.D. London Gazette 28 June 1940. ‘For daring, resource, and devotion to duty in the Second Battle of Narvik.’ ‘The Reverend John Armstrong, Chaplain, Royal Navy, H.M.S. Punjabi.’

John Armstrong was born on 4 October 1905. He was educated at Durham School and trained for the Church at St. Francis College, Queensland and completed a Licentiate in Theology at the Australian College of Theology. Armstrong was ordained a Deacon in 1932 and a Priest in 1933. Commissioned a Chaplain in the Royal Navy in 1935. Appointed Chaplain, H.M.S. Somali, October 1939. Served during the Second World War. Mentioned in despatches as Chaplain aboard H.M.S. Punjabi during the Second Battle of Narvik. Awarded the military O.B.E. in 1942. Appointed Honorary Chaplain to the Queen in June 1958. Promoted to Chaplain of the Fleet in March 1960. He retired from the Royal Navy in March 1963 and on 25 March 1963 he was consecrated Bishop of Bermuda by Michael Ramsey, the Archbishop of Canterbury. He retired in 1970 and died on 30 December 1992.

With riband bar; original bestowal document for the Coronation Medal 1953; original letter of appointment as Honorary Chaplain to the Queen, 3 July 1958; letter of appointment to Chaplain of the Fleet, 2 December 1959; Central Chancery document to accompany the C.B.; slip to accompany the M.I.D. emblem; together with copied gazette extracts and other research.