Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Captain T. Fairfield, Mercantile Marine, who was the skipper of the S.S. Aspenleaf which was mined in the English Channel, 30 December 1916

British War Medal 1914-20 (Thomas Fairfield); Mercantile Marine War Medal 1914-18 (Thomas Fairfield); Lloyd’s Medal for Meritorious Services, 3rd type, silver (Captain Thomas Fairfield, S.S. “Aspenleaf” 30th. December 1916.) toned, extremely fine (3) £300-400

Provenance: Captain J. Hartford Collection, Glendining’s, September 1992.

Thomas Fairfield was the skipper of the S.S. Aspenleaf which was mined in the English Channel off the Sussex coast whilst on passage from Sabine, Texas, to the United Kingdom with a cargo of oil. The mine had been laid by the German U-Boat UC16. There were no fatalities, and by dint of Fairfield’s good seamanship she was successfully towed into port without loss of either the vessel or her cargo. Fairfield was awarded his Lloyd’s Medal for Meritorious Service on 11 June 1919.