Lot Essay
Ex N.I. Brooks Collection.
Sold with the recipient's original Certificate of Service and Coronation Medal 1937 Certificate of Award.
Able Seaman Alfred James Seward was born in Basingstoke in January 1898 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class aboard H.M.S. Impregnable in January 1914. Following further training in Victory, he was advanced to Boy 1st Class and joined the Ship's Company of the Cruiser Minotaur in January 1915, in which ship he served until July 1918 and was present at the Battle of Jutland. Serving as an Able Seaman between the Wars, he was awarded the L.S. and G.C. Medal in March 1931, the R.V.M. in February 1936 and the Coronation Medal in 1937, his ship appointments including the Carriers Hermes and Furious. His R.V.M. was awarded in respect of services in the Gun Carriage Party from Excellent at the funeral of King George V.
The renewal of hostilities found him serving aboard the Cruiser Dauntless, with whom he remained until March 1941, a period that encompassed the award of a Battle Honour for services in the South Atlantic. Seward would afterwards have sailed in her for the Indian Ocean, where she formed part of the British Malaya Force charged with watching the movements of German Merchantmen based in harbours of the Dutch East Indies. His subsequent wartime appointments included a stint with the Combined Operations Base at Largs prior to his release in December 1944 on the grounds of being 'Unfit for Naval Service'.
Sold with the recipient's original Certificate of Service and Coronation Medal 1937 Certificate of Award.
Able Seaman Alfred James Seward was born in Basingstoke in January 1898 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class aboard H.M.S. Impregnable in January 1914. Following further training in Victory, he was advanced to Boy 1st Class and joined the Ship's Company of the Cruiser Minotaur in January 1915, in which ship he served until July 1918 and was present at the Battle of Jutland. Serving as an Able Seaman between the Wars, he was awarded the L.S. and G.C. Medal in March 1931, the R.V.M. in February 1936 and the Coronation Medal in 1937, his ship appointments including the Carriers Hermes and Furious. His R.V.M. was awarded in respect of services in the Gun Carriage Party from Excellent at the funeral of King George V.
The renewal of hostilities found him serving aboard the Cruiser Dauntless, with whom he remained until March 1941, a period that encompassed the award of a Battle Honour for services in the South Atlantic. Seward would afterwards have sailed in her for the Indian Ocean, where she formed part of the British Malaya Force charged with watching the movements of German Merchantmen based in harbours of the Dutch East Indies. His subsequent wartime appointments included a stint with the Combined Operations Base at Largs prior to his release in December 1944 on the grounds of being 'Unfit for Naval Service'.