ARMOURER V.S. ARMON, ROYAL NAVY, WHO AFTER SEEING SERVICE ABOARD THE GUNBOAT HMS PARTRIDGE
£350.00
ARMOURER V.S. ARMON, ROYAL NAVY, WHO AFTER SEEING SERVICE ABOARD THE GUNBOAT HMS PARTRIDGE DURING THE BOER WAR, SAW SERVICE ABOARD HMS NEWCASTLE DURING WW1, TAKING PART IN THE BOMBARDMENT AND DESTRUCTION OF THE GERMAN NAVAL COMMUNICATIONS CENTRE ON THE PACIFIC ISLAND OF YAP, 10/8/1914, PRIOR TO THE CAPTURE OF THE ISLAND BY JAPANESE TROOPS, AND THE CAPTURE IN JANUARY 1916 OF THE GERMAN COMMERCE RAIDER “MAZATLAN”, WHICH HAD BEEN OPERATING IN THE PACIFIC DISGUISED AS THE AMERICAN SHIP “EDNA”. Five: Queen’s South Africa Medal, no clasp (re-named, contemporary re-engraved naming, engraved in serifed letters and numbers: O.N. 171621. P.S. Armon Armr, H.M.S. Partridge.) 1914-15 Star (officially impressed: 171621 V.S. ARMON. ARMR. R.N.) British War and Victory Medals (both officially impressed: 171621 V.S. ARMON. ARMR. R.N.) Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, George V, type b, admirals bust, swiveling suspender, issue of 1910-20 (officially impressed: 171621 V.S. ARMON, ARMR. H.M.S. PRESIDENT III.). Group mounted loose style, as worn (QSA in wrong order, mounted after WW1 trio, and engraved with incorrect first initial “P”, should be “V”), silver medals attractively toned, generally Good Very Fine to Almost Extremely Fine.
O.N. prefix to number on QSA indicates junior rank, Able Seaman, Leading Seaman, etc.
Medal accompanied by biographical details, extract 1881 census, and 5 pages copied service papers, along with Boer War and WW1 medal rolls confirming medals.
Victor Samuel Armon was born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, on 18/7/1876, the son of George Samuel and Hannah (Anna) Armon. He is recorded in the 1881 census living at 89 Tonning Street, Lowestoft, with his parents, three brothers and two sisters, his father then being employed as an engineer and machinist. Armon enlisted into the Royal Navy as Boy 2nd Class on 18/1/1893 giving his trade on enlistment as blacksmith. He was promoted Boy 1st Class, 22/2/1895, Ordinary Seaman, 18/7/1894, Able Seaman, 1/9/1896, Armourer’s Crewman, 1/6/1904, Armourer, 11/10/1906 and was demobilised on 4/11/1919. Whilst serving Armon saw service afloat aboard a wide variety of ships and ashore at a number of shore bases, including the gunboat HMS Partridge during the Boer War and during WW1 aboard the light cruiser HMS Newcastle, from 5/12/1912 to 9/7/1916.
HMS Partridge was a 755 ton 6 gun screw gunboat.
When Armon joined the light cruiser HMS Newcastle in December 1912 it was stationed in the Far East, on the China and Pacific station. After joining HMS Newcastle he was involved in operations during the Shanghai Rebellion of 1913 that broke out following the Xinhai revolution of 1911. After the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 the Newcastle bombarded the island of Yap, the base for the German Pacific communications centre, prior to the capture of the island by Japanese troops. After the bombardment of Yap HMS Newcastle was ordered to Valparaiso in Chile in search for the armed German merchant raider, “Prinz Eitel Friedrich” and in January 1916 captured the German armed merchant raider “Mazatlan”, which had been operating in the pacific disguised as the American merchantman “Edna”.
When WW1 broke out in August 1914 the island of Yap, an important international hub for cable telegraphy, was the German Pacific naval communication centre. It was bombarded by HMS Newcastle on 10th August 1914, just six days after the outbreak of WW1, being subsequently occupied by Japanese troops. Yap was incorporated into the Japanese empire under the treaty of Versailles in 1919 as a mandated territory under League of Nations supervision.
HMS President III was an accounting shore base, located at various times in Bristol, Windsor and London.