Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Crimea 1854-56, 1 clasp, Sebastopol (Chas. Campbell. Boy 1 C.) officially impressed naming, fitted with an attractive and contemporary decorated rectangular silver riband buckle, good very fine £200-£260

Charles Campbell was born in London on 6 March 1839. He entered the navy as a 16 year old in August 1855 intending to serve 10 years and was rated Boy 1st Class. His service record indicates that he was discharged as a result of the repurchase of his bounty. Thus his time at sea was deliberately cut short. He served at Sebastopol in H.M.S. Wasp, one of only four Royal Navy ship’s to receive officially impressed medals. 

Most Crimea medals were issued unnamed to the Royal Navy. The rule with respect to naming employed by the Admiralty followed that in place for the War Office which was to send unnamed medals to be distributed in the Crimea, and have the medals to be distributed at home, named.

The naming on Campbell's medal is impressed which resulted from the Accountant General learning that 5 ships would have left the war zone before any of the bulk supplies of medals would arrive and arrangements were therefore made for the medals to be named. Due to time constraints and estimates of arrival dates, Albion's medals were to be engraved by Hunt & Roskell, while the medals for the crews of Niger, Rodney, Wasp and London were to be impressed by the Royal Mint in advance of the ships’ arrival to home ports.

Wasp was the first of the 4 to arrive home, anchoring off Sheerness on 29 December 1855.

While serving in Wasp Campbell would no doubt have encountered Lieutenant Henry James Raby, who won the V.C. while serving ashore in the Crimea and later achieved the rank of Rear Admiral. He was the first person, ever, to receive the Victoria Cross at an Investiture on Hyde Park on 26 June 1856 from the hands of Her Majesty Queen Victoria.