Beschreibung:

(x) A fine Great War D.S.M. group of seven awarded to Major, late Colour Sergeant T. Boffey, Royal Marines Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (Ply. 9579. Col. Sergt. T. Boffey. R.M.L.I., H.M.S. Eskimo); 1914-15 Star (Ply. 9579 Sgt. T. Boffey. R.M.L.I.); British War and Victory Medals (R.M. Gnr. T. Boffey. R.M.), the BWM without unit; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Hong Kong Coronation 1902, sometime silvered (Ply. 9579 Cpl. T. Boffey. H.M.S. Tamar 1902), this last fitted with straight-bar suspension and with engraved naming, mounted court-style as worn, very fine (7) D.S.M. London Gazette 6 August 1915. 'For service on Eskimo with the 10th Cruiser Squadron, 1914-15. Served since the outbreak of the war and carried out most valuable work and whose services are deserving of recognition.' (ADM137/185/487 refers) Thomas Boffey was born on 27 March 1879 at Knutsford, Cheshire, the second of the five children of Philip and Emma Boffey. In the 1881 census his father's trade is recorded as hay and straw dealer; ten years later, he was a greengrocer. His religion was Wesleyan, and he was originally a painter by trade. In February 1899 Boffey enlisted as a Private in the Royal Marine Light Infantry (Plymouth Division) at Liverpool. For some reason he took a year off his age, giving his date of birth as 22 April 1880. After training at the RM Depot at Deal, he was posted to Vivid, the Plymouth Depot, where he quickly obtained promotion to Lance Corporal and then Corporal in July 1901. In November 1901 he began a two year tour of duty in Tamar, the depot ship in Hong Kong. During this period he participated in the ceremonies to mark the Coronation of King Edward VII in 1902, and was promoted to Lance-Sergeant. On his return from the Far East he returned to Plymouth, where he served as a Drill Instructor. In 1902 and 1904 his character was rated only "Good" and this was sufficient to render him ineligible for the L.S. & G.C. Medal. In January 1905 he married his wife Edith at the Wesleyan Chapel, Saltash. In October 1905 he was awarded the Bronze Medallion of the Royal Life Saving Society for demonstrating proficiency in life-saving techniques and artificial respiration. He was promoted to Sergeant in 1906, and from then until the outbreak of the Great War he saw service in Blake, Arrogant, Hannibal and Gloucester. In December 1914 Boffey was posted to Eskimo, attached to the 10th Cruiser Squadron. Eskimo was built in 1910 as a small passenger ship of 3,326 tons and was operated by the Wilson line between the British and Scandinavian ports. This was not her first service with the Royal Navy; in 1911 she had been chartered by the Admiralty for carrying official guests at the Coronation Naval Review at Spithead. In November 1914 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty, fitted out as an Armed Merchant Cruiser at Liverpool and allocated to the 10th Cruiser Squadron. The Squadron was engaged in enforcing the blockade of Germany in the seas between Scotland and Norway. The primary duty of the ships was to intercept ships and examine their passengers and cargo, to prevent Germans of military age returning to Germany, and to confiscate contraband. The officers and ratings of the ships in the squadron came from a variety of sources; for this reason the squadron was often referred to as 'Fred Karno's Navy.' The Captain, Executive Officer and Gunner were officers on the Active or Retired lists of the Royal Navy; the remainder of the ship's company were from the Royal Fleet Reserve (former members of the regular Navy, often pensioners), the Royal Naval Reserve (merchant marine), Royal Marines, members of the Newfoundland Division of the R.N.R. and merchant navy volunteers. Depending on size each ship carried between twenty-five and forty-five Marines, who were often used as boarding crew and the Newfoundlanders, famed for their skills at small boat handling in heavy seas, manned the boats carrying the boarding crews to the ships they had intercepted.