Beschreibung:

(x) Five: Colour-Sergeant J. Sturgess, Royal Marine Artillery British War and Victory Medals (R.M.A. 8590 Sjt. J. Sturgess.); Royal Fleet Reserve L.S. & G.C., G.V.R. (R.M.A. 8590 Ply.A. 1581 J. Sturgess. Cr. Sgt. R.F.R.); Italy, Kingdom, Messina Earthquake 1908; Royal Marine Artillery Silver Medal, the reverse engraved 'Trained Soldiers', mounted for wear, good very fine (5) James Sturgess was born at Witchbury, Fordingbridge, Hampshire on 7 June 1881. As a youth, he was employed as a footman. On 29 December 1899 he enlisted in the Royal Marine Artillery in London. As an adult he was just over six feet tall, with dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion. He trained at Eastney Barracks, Portsmouth. In August 1900, on completion of his training, he was rated Gunner and, in June 1901, drafted to the Albion at the beginning of her maiden commission. She was a battleship of the Canopus class, built at the Thames Iron Works and launched in 1898, when the waves thrown up from her launching wrecked stands along the slipway, drowning thirty-four spectators. She was deployed with the China Fleet. In August 1904 he embarked in a troopship for passage back to England and served ashore until August 1905, when he joined Centurion. She was a battleship first commissioned in 1894, and was in the commissioned reserve in Portsmouth. In May 1907 Sturgess was drafted to Exmouth, a Duncan class battleship launched in 1901. When he joined her she was flagship of the Atlantic Fleet; she had a refit over 1907-08 and, in November 1908, became the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet. On 28 December 1908, at about 05.20hrs, southern Italy was shaken by the most powerful earthquake recorded in Europe's history. Centred in the Messina Strait which separates Sicily from Calabria, it measured 7.5 on the Richter Scale. Moments after the quake's first jolt, a devastating tsunami formed with forty foot waves crashing down on dozens of coastal towns and villages. Estimates of the number of casualties vary widely but the figure of 85,000 is commonly accepted. Many of those who survived the earthquake and its aftermath of tsunami and fires were left destitute. Several ships of the Mediterranean Fleet, including Exmouth, came to their relief. In gratitude, the Italian Government presented medals to members of the ships' companies involved. Sturgess returned to England in May 1909 and was married on 7 June 1909. Ten days later he embarked in the cruiser Diadem but returned ashore the following month, and did not take up another sea-going post until June 1910, when he was drafted to the battleship Bellerophon. She was one of the early dreadnoughts, first commissioned in February 1909, with a displacement of 18,600 tons, a main armament of ten 12 inch guns and a complement of 733. She was deployed with the Home Fleet, and he served in her until March 1913. Sturgess joined the battleship Orion in February 1914 and served in her until February 1920. She was ordered under the 1909 Programme at the height of the naval arms race with Germany; she was built at Portsmouth, launched on 20 August 1910 and completed in January 1912. With a displacement of 22,500 tons, main armament of ten 13.5 inch guns and 12 inch armour, she and the others of her class were so superior to the original Dreadnought that they were designated "super-dreadnoughts". On the outbreak of the Great War Orion was flagship of the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet, flying the flag of Admiral Sir George Warrender. An experienced and respected officer, he had made his squadron the fleet's most efficient in gunnery. He was praised for his calm temperament although younger officers attributed this to his deafness and a failure to understand what was going on! The Scarborough Raid The main German strategy in the early years of the war was to isolate a detachment of the Grand Fleet and overwhelm it. They nearly achieved this on the 16 December 1914 when Warrender's six battleships and Beatty's f