Lot 338
338
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Five: Leading Stoker B.E. Wiles, Royal Navy, Africa General Service, one clasp, Somaliland 1908-10 (304720 Sto. 1Cl., H.M.S. Hyacinth); Naval General Service 1915-62, one clasp, Persian Gulf 1909-1914 (304720 Sto. 1Cl., H.M.S. Hyacinth); 1914-15 Star (304720 Sto. 1, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (304720 L. Sto., R.N.), good very fine and better (5)

Details
Five: Leading Stoker B.E. Wiles, Royal Navy, Africa General Service, one clasp, Somaliland 1908-10 (304720 Sto. 1Cl., H.M.S. Hyacinth); Naval General Service 1915-62, one clasp, Persian Gulf 1909-1914 (304720 Sto. 1Cl., H.M.S. Hyacinth); 1914-15 Star (304720 Sto. 1, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (304720 L. Sto., R.N.), good very fine and better (5)
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Leading Stoker Benjamin Ernest Wiles was born in Poplar, London in April 1885 and entered the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class in August 1903. Advanced to Stoker 1st Class in July 1906, he joined the Ship's Company of H.M.S. Hyacinth in March 1909 and went on to serve in the Somaliland and Persian Gulf operations. The outbreak of hostilities in August 1914 found him employed aboard the Cruiser Chatham, in which ship he appears to have served for most of the War, including time off the Dardanelles in 1915. Wiles was pensioned ashore as a Leading Stoker in March 1919.