Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria 8 A Well Documented and Unusual Great War C.B.E., D.S.O. Group of Seven to Captain J.A. Leighton, Royal Naval Reserve, Naval Transport Officer, St. Petersburg, Russia, 1915-19, and Commercial Attaché, British Legation, Stockholm a) The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, 1st type, Military Division, Commander’s (C.B.E.) neck Badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with neck riband b) Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., with integral top riband bar c) British War Medal (Commr. J.A. Leighton. R.N.R.) d) Mercantile Marine War Medal (John A. Leighton) e) Victory Medal (Commr J.A. Leighton. R.N.R.) f) Russia, Imperial, Order of St. Anne, Second Class neck Badge, with Swords, 50mm, bronze-gilt and enamel, with neck riband g) Belgium, Kingdom, Order of the Crown, Officer’s breast Badge, 63mm including wreath suspension x 44mm, silver-gilt and enamel, with rosette on riband, traces of brooch mounting to the top riband bar of the D.S.O., very fine or better, together with the recipient’s miniature awards for the four Orders; and the following related documents &c.: - Bestowal Document for the C.B.E., named to Commander John Albert Leighton, D.S.O., R.N.R., and dated 4.7.1919 - Letter to the recipient from the Minister of Shipping, Sir Joseph Maclay, Bt., congratulating him on the award of the C.B.E., dated 10.7.1919, and signed ‘J. Maclay’ - War Office enclosure for the D.S.O., dated 16.7.1918 - Ministry of Shipping letter to the recipient congratulating him on the award of the D.S.O., dated 6.5.1918 - Bestowal Document for the Officer of the Order of the Crown, named to Monsieur le Commandant J.A. Leighton, and dated 30.8.1919 - Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs letter regarding the award of the Order of the Crown, dated 31.10.1919 - Letter to the recipient from the Belgian Minister of Shipping congratulating him on the award of the Order of the Crown, dated 3.10.1919 - Permission to wear letter for the Order of the Crown, dated 29.10.1919 - Letter to the recipient from the Imperial Merchant Service Guild congratulating him on the award of the Order of the Crown, dated 12.11.1919 - Authority to wear letter for the British War Medal and Mercantile Marine War Medal, dated 29.9.1919 - Admiralty letter appointing John A. Leighton Temporary Commander, R.N.R., of H.M.S. Vindictive, dated 2.4.1917 - Admiralty letter appointing John A. Leighton, D.S.O., Commander, R.N.R., of H.M.S. President VI, dated 8.4.1919 - Certificate of Demobilisation, named to Temporary Commander John A. Leighton, C.B.E., D.S.O., R.N.R., and dated 21.5.1920
www.spink.com
- City of London Copy of Freedom document admitting John Albert Leighton, Citizen and Master Mariner of London, as a Freeman of the City, dated 20.1.1933, together with original envelope - Three of the recipient’s Passports, dated 1.2.1915, 24.3.1917, and 12.6.1918, all containing a large number of Foreign visas - Various identity cards and letters - A large file containing a vast quantity of correspondence, both official and personal, including telegrams, Naval Signals &c., covering the period 1914-20 - Portrait photograph of the recipient (lot) £2,400-2,800 C.B.E. London Gazette 4.7.1919 Commander John Albert Leighton D.S.O., R.N.R. ‘For valuable services as Commercial Attaché at the British Legation, Stockholm, and in connection with Shipping in the Baltic.’ D.S.O. London Gazette 7.6.1918 Cdr. John Albert Leighton, R.N.R. ‘In recognition of his services in connection with the transfer of British ships from the Baltic. He displayed the greatest tact and determination in carrying out this task in the face of great difficulties and opposition.’ Russia, Order of St. Anne, Second Class with Swords, by Order of the Day of the Commander in Chief, North Russian Armies, 15.1.1920 Leighton, J.A., Capt., C.B.E., D.S.O., R.N.R. (Accepted 9.2.1920). Belgium, Order of the Crown, Officer London Gazette 11.11.1919 Cdr. John A. Leighton, C.B.E., D.S.O., R.N.R. ‘For distinguished service during the War.’ Captain John Albert Leighton, C.B.E., D.S.O., was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in January 1881, and first went to sea aged 14, serving before the mast in small coastal sailing vessels known as collier brigs. In 1897 he joined the Merchant Navy firm J.T. Lunn & Co., serving in the ‘Dene’ ships, first as an Ordinary Seaman in the Myrtledene, before a number of rapid promotions brought him his first command, that of the Heathdene, in 1907. When War broke out in August 1914 he was in St. Petersburg in command of the Ivydene. Immobilised, first by the outbreak of hostilities, and then by the onset of the arctic winter, he returned to Britain overland via Sweden. His first hand knowledge of Russia was of considerable value to the Royal Navy and the Government, and he was Commissioned Temporary Commander, Royal Naval Reserve, returning to St. Petersburg as Naval Transport Officer in April 1915, charged with the special duty of obtaining the release of the many British merchant ships still held there, an assignment that lasted for the entire War. Appointed also Commercial Attaché, British Legation, Stockholm, following the defeat of Germany he served on the Allied Naval Armistice Commission and the Shipping Liquidation Committee of the Reparation Commission in Hamburg and The Hague. Leighton retired from the Royal Naval Reserve in May 1920, and founded in partnership with Alexander Stelp the shipping and insurance business of Stelp and Leighton Ltd. On the outbreak of War in 1939 he volunteered to work for the United Kingdom Commercial Corporation, and served as a full-time Director without remuneration throughout the War. He died in London in October 1945.