Three: Midshipman G. G. Gore-Browne, Royal Navy, who was aged just 15 at the time of his...

Three: Midshipman G. G. Gore-Browne, Royal Navy, who was aged just 15 at the time of his loss in the cruiser H.M.S. Aboukir when she was torpedoed and sunk by the U-9 off in the North Sea on 22 September 1914, a fate shared by her consorts Cressy and Hogue on the same occasion 1914-15 Star (Mid. G. G. Gore-Brownr, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (Mid. G. G. Gore-Browne. R.N.) mounted court-style for display, good very fine (3) £700-£900 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Geoffrey George Gore-Browne was born in Godalming, Surrey on 26 August 1899 and was appointed a Midshipman in May 1912. Of subsequent events, the following report appeared in the Isle of Wight County Press on 26 September 1914: ‘The tragic news of the naval disaster was received with poignant sorrow at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, where the cadets serving on the three ill-fated cruisers received their early naval training. They only passed out of Osborne College to the senior College at Dartmouth either early in the present year or last year. Of 29 of these young midshipmen who were serving on the sunken cruisers, 13 are officially reported missing and are presumed to have perished. This list of 13 lost alas! includes two members of well known Island families. Midshipman Geoffrey G. Gore-Browne, only grandson of the late Col. H. Gore-Browne V.C., J.P., and Midshipman Alan Diarmid Campbell Robertson, youngest son of Dr. Robertson, J.P., of Ventnor. Both were serving on H.M.S. Aboukir. Deep regret has been occasioned in the Island at the loss of these gallant young midshipmen, and the sincerest sympathy is felt for their esteemed relatives. Midshipman Gore-Browne, who was the only surviving male member of that distinguished soldier, the late Col. Gore-Browne, V.C., gave promise of a most successful career in the Service, as did Midshipman Robertson. Both were just over 15 years of age and they left Osborne Naval College early this year for Dartmouth. Midshipman Gore-Browne was a cadet captain at Osborne in 1913, and during the latter part of his training there he proved his merit by reaching the position of chief cadet captain. How little was it realised that these brave lads would so soon be called upon to sacrifice their lives for their country. What a noble and inspiring example they have left for those who succeed them at Osborne.’ H.M.S. Aboukir joined the 7th Cruiser Squadron on the outbreak of war and was torpedoed off the ‘Broad Fourteens’ in the North Sea on 22 September 1914, in company with her consorts Cressy and Hogue. The Aboukir was the first to be hit at 0620 hours and quickly capsized, sinking inside 10 minutes. Owing to their being obsolete - poorly armed and armoured – the ships of the 7th Cruiser Squadron were nicknamed ‘The Live Bait Squadron’: it was a prescient accolade, for 62 officers and 1,397 men were killed on that fateful day in September 1914, one of the greatest disasters to befall the Royal Navy in the Great War. The son of C. H. Arthur and Daisy Gore-Browne, of ‘Combe Edge’, Meads, Eastbourne, young Geoffrey’s name is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial and elsewhere, including a sculptured memorial stone in St. Mary the Virgin churchyard, Brook, on the Isle of Wight.