Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A rare Edward VII S.G.M. pair to Aberdeen Fisherman Thomas Gray for the rescue of the crew of the Danish steamship Xenia on 1 February 1903

Board of Trade Medal for Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea, E.VII.R., large, bronze (Thomas Gray, Wreck of the “Xenia” on the 1st February 1903), in its gold embossed case of issue; Denmark, Kingdom, Medal for Saving Life from Drowning, Christian IX, 2nd type, 47mm, silver (Thomas Gray) with fixed oval suspension, in original fitted case, extremely fine (2) £1,200-£1,600

Only 23 large bronze 'Sea Gallantry Medals' of Edward VII were issued.

For service in saving life from the Xenia on 1 February 1903, 10 Board of Trade Medals for Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea were awarded in bronze to Aberdeen fishermen: W. Cay, A. Cay, C. Cay, A. Hay, J. Hay Jr., G. Hay, J. R. Hay, T. Gray, A. Morgan and A. J. Freeland.

The cargo steamship Xenia, 1646 tons, was built by Lobnitz & Co. at Renfrew for the United Danish Steamship Company in 1895. During the period 1897-1903 the ship was in service between Copenhagen and North America. On 1st February 1903, on a voyage between Newcastle and Boston with a cargo of coal, the ship ran aground during a gale with snow on the Scars of Cruden, one of the most dangerous parts of the Aberdeenshire coastline. In the heavy seas the decision to abandon ship was soon made. Two men were drowned in lowering the ship's life boats but 20 men made it to shore with the aid of local fishermen, landing at Broadhaven Creek. However, Captain John Kruse and four men remained on board the stricken vessel. The lifeboat from Port Erroll was unable to get to the ship because of the state of the tide but the fishermen from Whinnyfold again sallied forth, this time in one of the steamer’s own lifeboats and after much difficulty succeeded in rescuing the five men. The captain and crew were then cared for by the families of the fishermen.

In the words of Captain Kruse, reported in the Aberdeen Daily Record of 3 February 1903, ‘... When we left Newcastle the weather was fine, but about five o’clock on Sunday morning the wind suddenly veered from a southerly direction to the north-west. The sea became rough and heavy showers of sleet began to fall. We were then off Girdleness, and it was supposed that we were at least twenty miles from land. ... The storm increased in violence, and the showers of snow became so thick that we experienced great difficulty in locating our whereabouts. About seven o’clock our vessel bumped against the rocks. The water broke into the holds fore and aft, and in less than ten minutes she went down with all our belongings on board. We at once realised that our position was hopeless, and no time was lost in getting the steamer’s boats in readiness for being lowered. We had three lifeboats in all. The first boat we launched swamped, and John Johansson, a fireman, who had jumped into it, perished before our eyes. Ernest Raff, the third engineer, was in the act of lowering himself into another lifeboat by a rope, when he lost his hold, and shared a similar fate to that of his mate. By this time some stranger fishermen came to our assistance, and piloted our two remaining lifeboats ashore. Along with four of the crew I remained on the bridge of the steamer till the last, and we had to be taken off one by one by means of a line thrown from one of our lifeboats by the fishermen. ... During my thirty-five years’ experience at sea this is my first serious mishap, but I could not have fallen into the hands of a more hospitable people and I will never forget their kindness although I live to be a hundred years old’.

The Journal further records, ‘It appears that the people in the little fishing village of Whinnyfold were apprised of the disaster a few minutes after the steamer went ashore, ... The fishing boat Vine immediately put out, ... The waves threatened every moment to engulf their tiny boat and they had to exercise the most careful seamanship to keep her from being swamped. After much battling with the waves, they got alongside the steamer’s lifeboats. Thomas Gray boarded one boat and William Cay another, and succeeded in landing twenty of the crew at Broadhaven Creek. ... The skipper and four of the crew still remained on the vessel, but the brave fishermen of Whinnyfold determined that their lives must be saved at whatever risk, and out they went again, this time in one of the steamer’s lifeboats. The crew were John Hay, George Hay, Charles Cay, Thomas Gray, Alexander Hay, Alexander Cay, William Cay, Alexander John Freeland, Alexander Morgan, and John Robert Hay. After much combating with the waves the fishermen got the boat hauled up into a sheltered creek, and from here they threw a line to the shipwrecked mariners. One by one the survivors were dragged through the surf, and got on board the boat. ... The fishermen again piloted the boat safely ashore, and the five survivors were taken to Whinnyfold, where, along with the other members of the crew, they were most kindly treated by the fishermen. ....’

Sold with the recipient’s Royal National Life-Boat Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck Certificate, resolved that ‘The best thanks of the Royal National Life-Boat Institution and £2 be presented to Mr. Thomas Gray, for gallantly putting off in a boat, and, at great risk of his own life, assisting to rescue part of the crew of the S.S. “Xenia” of Copenhagen, in a whole gale of wind and a very heavy sea, on the 1st February 1903.’, dated London, 12 February 1903, and signed by the Prince of Wales in his capacity of President, and housed in a glazed display frame; and a painting of the Wresk of the Xenia on Cruden Scars, by A. Harwood, 1906, showing the Aberdeen fishermen gallantly rescuing the crew.