Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Five: Chief Officer G. P. Bates, H.M. Coast Guard, late Royal Navy

South Africa 1834-53 (G. P. Bates, 2nd Class Ordy.); Baltic 1854-55, unnamed as issued; Egypt & Sudan 1882-89, 1 clasp, Alexandria 11th July (G. E. Bates, Chf. Offr. H.M.S. “Penelope”) note incorrect second initial; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., V.R., narrow suspension (Geo. P. Bates, Comd. Boatmn. H.M. Coast Gd.) engraved naming; Khedive’s Star 1882, light contact wear, otherwise very fine or better (5) £600-800

George P. Bates was born at Harwich, Essex, on 11 August 1836, and joined the Navy as a Boy 2nd Class, aged 13 years. He obtained the South Africa medal whilst serving aboard H.M.S. Castor as a 2nd Class Ordinary Seaman, and the Baltic medal as an Ordinary Seaman aboard the Duke of Wellington. In November 1858 he was accepted into the Coast Guard Service and held, for the purposes of pay, on the books of H.M.S. Penelope. He became a Commissioned Boatman in April 1875 and rose to be a Chief Officer on December 1877, after which date his name is included in the Navy list. His Service Sheet gives no indication that he went to sea in Penelope out to Alexandria, but his medal and clasp are both fully confirmed on the roll, the only known instance of an Egypy medal to an officer of the Coast Guard. Bates was pensioned off on 21 June 1891, after 42 years service, having received his L.S. & G.C. medal without Gratuity in August 1875. Sold with full research.