An unusual Great War lifesaving group of five awarded to Lieutenant-Commander W. B. Stantan, a Civilian Naval Stores Officer who was granted a temporary commission in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve

British War and Victory Medals (Lt. Commr. W. B. Stantan, R.N.V.R.); Greece, Order of the Redeemer, 4th class breast badge, gold and enamel, with rosette on riband; Greece, Medal for Saving Life at Sea, silver, the reverse with official Greek inscription and ‘W. B. Stantan’; Royal Humane Society, small bronze medal (William B. Stantan, 2nd Mch. 1915), the first two official but later issues of the 1930s, with occasional official corrections, the third with one or two hairline cracks to enamel work, otherwise generally good very fine (5) £600-800

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals The Property of a Gentleman.

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William Benkinson Stantan, in his capacity as a Civilian Naval Stores Officer, was among those selected by the Admiralty for service in the Naval Mission to Greece in 1913, and in that capacity was awarded the Greek Order of the Redeemer, 4th class in August 1914 for services as a Fleet Paymaster in the Royal Hellenic Navy (Foreign Office letter dated 28 August 1914 refers). So, too, his Royal Humane Society and Greek lifesaving awards, both in respect of the following deeds:

‘At 11.30 a.m. on 2 March 1915, a pinnace was run down by a torpedo boat in the Gulf of Salamis, throwing all on board into the water. W. B. Stantan, Deputy Store Officer, supported one man until they were picked up by the boats from some ships nearby’ (R.H.S. Case No. 41,402 refers).

Records from the Ministry of Marine Office at Athens reveal that Stantan saved Paymaster Karkas of the Royal Hellenic Navy, and his resultant Greek award was approved by George V in December 1915. Appointed a Lieutenant-Commander in the R.N.V.R. in February 1916, he was next employed on the Staff of the Vice-Admiral commanding Eastern Mediterranean Squadron; sold with copied research, particularly in respect of his two Greek awards.