The outstanding Baltic 1918-19 operations C.M.G., Great War D.S.O. group of nine awarded to...

The outstanding Baltic 1918-19 operations C.M.G., Great War D.S.O. group of nine awarded to Captain J. A. Moreton, Royal Navy, who had earlier won a ‘mention’ for his leadership of a boarding party in a famous action off the Taku Forts, when cutlass wielding Jack Tars from Whiting and Fame stormed and captured four Chinese destroyers; he was, moreover, among the ‘first 100’ volunteers of the submarine service and commanded Holland class boats in the Edwardian period, Admiral Bacon describing him as ‘by far the best captain of a submarine boat we have had, approaching very closely to the ideal’ The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, C.M.G., Companion’s, neck badge, silver-gilt and enamels, complete with full neck cravat in its Garrard & Co case of issue; Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamels, with integral top ribbon bar; China 1900, 1 clasp, Taku Forts (Lieut. J. A. Moreton, R.N., H.M.S. Whiting.); 1914-15 Star (Capt. J. A. Moreton, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Capt. J. A. Moreton. R.N.) the BWM officially re-impressed; Belgium, Kingdom, Order of Leopold I, Officer’s breast badge with swords and rosette, gold and enamels; France, 3rd Empire, Legion of Honour, Officer’s breast badge with rosette, gold and enamels, a superior quality badge with three dimensional suspension wreath; Croix de Guerre 1914 1917, with Palme, the last eight mounted for display, minor glue deposits to reverse of D.S.O. and minor enamel chips elsewhere, otherwise good very fine (9) £4,000-£5,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Alan Hall Collection, June 2000. C.M.G. London Gazette 8 March 1920: ‘For valuable services in command of H.M.S. Erebus in the Baltic.’ The original recommendation states: ‘With regard to the Libau operations which lasted from 30 October to 14 November 1918, the S.N.O. in the first phase to whom my orders were sent to prepare for and organise effective support to the Lettish troops should that place be attacked was Captain L. L. Dundas of H.M.S. Phaeton. He performed these duties most efficiently in conjunction with our and the Lettish military authorities. When it was evident that a determined attack was imminent, I detached Dauntless (Captain C. H. Pilcher) and Erebus (Captain J. A. Moreton) from my forces in the Gulf of Finland and sent them down there, Captain Moreton then assuming the duties of S.N.O. there. It was under his directions that the determined attack by the Russo-German Force on 14 November was repulsed. Captain Moreton’s great knowledge of war chiefly gained whilst in command of a monitor on the Belgium coast was demonstrated to the full, both here and in the Gulf of Finland whilst bombarding forts Krasnaya Gorka and Saria Lotchard in support of the left flank to the Russo-Estonian attempt to recapture Petrograd and his guns were used to the very best advantage. He showed also an exceptional confidence and power of command in both operations.’ D.S.O. London Gazette 26 April 1918: ‘In recognition of services performed on the Belgian coast during 1917.’ Belgian Order of Leopold, Officer London Gazette 17 January 1919. French Croix de Guerre London Gazette 24 March 1919. John Alfred Moreton was born in Bushbury, Hertfordshire on 21 May 1876, and entered the Royal Navy as a Cadet in Britannia in December 1891, direct from the training ship Worcester. Appointed a Midshipman in August 1892 and confirmed in the rank of Sub Lieutenant in May 1896, he joined H.M.S. Centurion on the China station in December 1898, where he transferred to the torpedo boat destroyer Whiting at the time of the Boxer Rebellion. The Whiting, under the command of Lieutenant Colin MacKenzie, R.N., and the Fame, under Lieutenant Roger Keyes, R.N., afterwards Admiral of the Fleet, participated in a spectacular cutting-out operation on 17 June 1900, when both ships were ordered to capture four Chinese destroyers lying between Taku and Tongku. Each ship towed into action a whaler manned by a dozen bluejackets, all of them volunteers, on one of the last occasions boarding parties went into action with the cutlass. And command of the Whiting’s bluejackets fell to Moreton. In his subsequent report to the Rear-Admiral, China Station, dated 27 June 1900, Keyes stated: ‘After a slight resistance and the exchange of a few shots, the crews were driven overboard or below hatches; there were a few killed and wounded; our casualties were nil. No damage was done to the prizes, but the Fame’s bow was slightly bent when we closed to board, and the Whiting was struck by a projectile about 4 or 5 inches abreast a coal bunker. This was evidently fired from a mud battery on the bend between Taku and Tongku, which fired in all about 30 shots at us, none of the others striking, though several coming very close ... There was a good deal of sniping from the dockyard so I directed all cables of the prizes to be slipped and proceeded to tow them up to Tongku.’ Moreton was mentioned in despatches: ‘I beg to recommend to your notice Lieutenant J. A. Moreton of this ship who carried out the operation of boarding the first destroyer in a very able manner.’ He also became one of just 16 Royal Navy officers awarded the ‘Taku Forts’ clasp. On arriving back in the U.K. in September 1901, he volunteered for services in submarines, one of the ‘first 100’ to do so, and he remained similarly employed for the next four years, commanding Holland Boat No. 3 and gaining - in October 1902 - the Admiralty’s approval for the manner in which a number of submarines under his command were navigated from Barrow to Devonport. In the opinion of his senior officer, Captain Reginald Bacon, R.N., he was ‘by far the best captain of a submarine boat we have had, approaching very closely to the ideal. Besides which he is the best officer of Lieutenant’s rank I have ever known.’ In fact, so impressed was Bacon with his protégé that he enlisted his services in his next seagoing command. Moreton was advanced to Commander and, on returning to submarine duties, lent valuable advice to a special committee charged with assessing the capabilities of hostile submarines. In August 1910, he was appointed Executive Officer of the battleship Duncan in the Mediterranean Fleet, but he was serving in the battle cruiser Indomitable on the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914. Subsequently present at the battle of Dogger Bank, he was advanced to Captain in December 1915, the same month in which he took command of the 12-inch monitor General Wolfe. Attached to the Dover Patrol under his old friend Reginald Bacon, General Wolfe was heavily involved in long range bombardments of German positions whilst anchored off the Belgium coast. In his history The Dover Patrol, Bacon refers to the General Wolfe and her sister monitors as having ‘formed the backbone of the Fleet for bombardments during 1915 and for the patrol off Ostend and Zeebrugge during 1916 and part of 1917. They took day and day about in patrolling the coast. Every night one of them anchored in the open off La Panne, 14 miles from Ostend.’ Moreton was awarded the D.S.O., in addition to being appointed an Officer of the Belgium Order of Leopold I and awarded the French Croix de Guerre, and he received the former distinction at a Buckingham Palace investiture in March 1919; no reference has yet been found in respect of...