The rare and impressive Great War C.M.G., inter-war Persian Gulf operations C.I.E. group of fifteen awarded to Rear-Admiral H. Boyes, Royal Navy, whose remarkable career spanned a “mention” won with the Naval Brigade during the Boxer Rebellion through to active service in Norway in 1940, between which he lent valuable services ashore in the wake of the Messina earthquake in 1908, commanded the gunboat Thistle off East Africa 1915-18 and participated in the North Russia operations of 1919 - it was partly his intelligence work in Norway that led to the successful boarding of the Altmark in February 1940

The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, C.M.G., Companion’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel; The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, C.I.E., Companion’s 3rd type neck badge, gold and enamel, in its Garrard & Co. case of issue; China 1900, 1 clasp, Relief of Pekin (Midsn. H. Boyes, R.N., H.M.S. Centaur); 1914-15 Star (Lt. Commr. H. Boyes, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Commr. H. Boyes, R.N.); 1939-45 Star; War Medal 1939-45; Portugal, Military Order of St. Avis, 2nd Class set of insignia, by Da Costa, comprising neck badge, gilt and enamel, and breast star, silver, with gilt and enamel centre; Norway, Order of St. Olaf, Commander’s neck badge, by Spink & Son, gold and enamel; Italy, Order of the Crown, Officer’s breast badge, gold and enamel; Italy, Messina Earthquake 1908, silver; Norway, King Haakon VII’s War Medal, together with Portsmouth Tribute Medal, ‘Naval Brigade, North China 1900’, silver and enamel, hallmarked 1901, in its Pridham & Sons case of issue, the third with one or two edge bruises, otherwise generally very fine and better (15) £3000-3500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Exceptional Naval and Polar Awards from the Collection of RC Witte.

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C.M.G. London Gazette 3 June 1918.

C.I.E. London Gazette 1 January 1931.

Hector Boyes was born in Plymouth in February 1881, the son of Admiral Sir George Boyes, and entered the Royal Navy as a Cadet in Britannia in January 1895.

Distinguished service ashore - China and Messina

Appointed a Midshipman in June 1897, he served in the battleship H.M.S. Centurion from January 1898 until December 1900, in which period he was landed with the Naval Brigade during the Boxer Rebellion and was present at the relief of the Pekin Legations in June 1900, and in the subsequent operations at Tientsin (Medal & clasp), gaining a “mention” and accelerated promotion to Lieutenant in September 1902.

Having then qualified as a French interpreter in 1906, Boyes served in the cruiser Euryalus at the time of the Messina earthquake in December 1908, when he was among those landed during the rescue operations and awarded the Messina Earthquake Medal - so, too, appointment to Officer of the Italian Order of the Crown, one of only three Royal Navy Lieutenants to receive this distinction for Messina (his service record refers).

The Great War - gunboat command - East Africa

By the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, Boyes was serving as Flag Lieutenant-Commander to Vice-Admiral T. H. M. Jerram, Commander-in-Chief, China, in the cruise Minotaur, and he quickly saw action during Jerram’s subsequent search for German warships, armed merchant cruisers and merchantmen, Minotaur bombarding enemy positions in the Tsingtau Yap.

Then in September 1915, he was advanced to Commander and appointed C.O. of the Thistle, a China squadron gunboat of 710 tons, armed with two 4-inch guns and four 12-pounders, and in which he remained actively employed until October 1918, not least in operations off East Africa, for which he was ‘brought to notice by the C.-in-C., Cape, for services in the combined Naval and Military operations leading to the surrender of Dar-es-Salaam on 4 September 1916’, and for Lindi, East Africa on 11 June 1917, where he ‘most ably superintended the disembarkation’, in addition to carrying out shore bombardments and the transportation of troops.

Lindi, a port in German East Africa, was occupied by British Forces in September 1915, but after that they were confined because surrounding country was held by the Germans. Lindi was not on the coast, but on the northern shore of the estuary of the river Lukuledi, which is 70 miles north of the Portuguese border. In the summer of 1917, it was desirable to clear a larger area around Lindi in order to secure a better water supply and to prepare the exits from the town and harbour.

With this objective in mind, the main military force moved out of Lindi on 10 June 1917 and in three days cleared the enemy from the estuary of the river. A surprise landing was carried out at a creek on the south side, where the Germans had a 4.1-inch gun, salvaged from Konisberg, which commanded the estuary and was very troublesome. The Navy, represented by Hyacinth, Severn, Thistle and Echo, had the responsibility to embark some 2,800 troops and 700 porters and convey them to their landing point, under cover of night. To reach the landing place, the heavily laden boats had to pass close to enemy positions beginning at 1800 hours.

A motor boat led the advance and placed lights, invisible to the enemy, on prominent points as leading marks. Although the Germans appeared to know that there was a troop movement, they either reserved their fire or did not observe the tows of boats passing them. The Thistle and Severn, which were following the boats, were sniped at. The main column was successfully landed by 2230 and by 0600 the next morning had occupied the hills covering the landing. It was not until 0300 on the 11th that the Germans opened fire with their 4.1-inch Könisberg gun. Their shooting was wild and caused no damage. The Thistle, which had anchored to superintend and cover the landing, was required, by the low tide, to remain stationary; fortunately she was hidden from the enemy by a thick mist which lasted until 1700.

However, when the mist cleared away, the Germans immediately opened fire on Thistle and after about 20 rounds, scored one hit. This killed an Engine Room Artificer, wounded a Leading Stoker and caused extensive damage. The auxiliary exhaust, fire mains, dynamo pipes, and two bulkheads were pierced. The shell, after passing through the ship's side, struck the after magazine hatch, which it broke up. A fire started in the magazine flat, a small confined space with the magazine below it. After the burst of the shell, the magazine flat was on fire and filled with fumes, smoke and steam from the holed exhaust pipe. Mr. Mark Methuen, Gunner, followed by Leading Stoker George Pascall and Able Seaman Harry Johns went into the flat and succeeded in extinguishing the fire before any further harm resulted.

Meanwhile, the landing was successful, the Königsberg gun being captured and the enemy driven from his positions and forced to retire inland. On Commander Boyes’ recommendation, Mr. Methuen received the Distinguished Service Cross and Leading Stoker Pascall, Able Seaman Johns and Leading Stoker Leach (who was wounded and stood by the engines) were awarded Conspicuous Gallantry Medals for their conduct - Boyes himself was appointed C.M.G. for services in operations on the East Coast of Africa.

Later still, he was brought to notice by Captain R. C. K. Lambert, D.S.O., R.N., in command of Talbot, for the way in which he handled the situation at Quelimane, Portuguese East Africa, from 29 June to 7 July 1918, when the Portuguese were in a very perilous state owing to the close advance of the enemy. The German commander, Von Lettow, was raiding and looting nearby plantations and Royal Marines were landed to guard Quelimane after the Germans had routed Portuguese Askaris and K.A.R. troops. Boyes, ‘The Senior British Officer present, stoutly opposed a proposal to evacuate forces’. He was afterwards awarded the 2nd Class of the Portuguese Military Order of Aviz (London Gazette 24 May 1921 refers).

Further action - Russia 1919 and the Persian Gulf 1930

Boyes next saw active service in North Russia in the period March-October 1919, when he acted as second in command of the Fox, under Captain Edward Altham, C.B., who was C.O. of the Naval Flotilla on the Dvina River, Archangel, from June of that year. Boyes was again mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 19 March 1920 refers), Captain Altham having reported that he was ‘a capable officer who most loyally helped the up-river forces when left as Commander in command of H.M.S. Fox at base’.

A period of attachment to the Royal Australian Navy having followed, Boyes was appointed Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf, in November 1927, with command of Triad, a yacht fitted out as the headquarters ship at Bombay, and remained similarly employed until handing over to Captain C. G. E. Crabbe, D.S.O., R.N., in May 1930. And it was for this period of command that he was awarded the rare distinction of a “Naval C.I.E.”, one of just two such awards to R.N. officers in this period - indeed only three R.N. and eight R.I.M. officers had been similarly decorated in the entire Great War. The background to his award is noted on his service record:

‘Their Lordships expressed appreciation of action taken by Boyes to deal with the situation at Sasidu, Persian Gulf, in August-September 1928’, while in November of the following year ‘the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf expressed appreciation of Boyes’ invaluable work and co-operation to the Government of India’, and, in 1930, the Commander-in-Chief East Indies reported on Boyes his good work while S.N.O. Persian Gulf.

His last senior appointment was as C.O. of the naval establishment at Simonstown, South Africa, and he was placed on the Retired List as a Rear-Admiral in 1934.

Naval Attache - Norway, Tokyo and South America

Recalled on the renewal of hostilities in September 1939, Boyes, who had studied Norwegian back in the 1920s, was appointed Naval Attaché to Norway, Sweden and Denmark, in which capacity he would play an important role in unfolding events in Scandinavia in the following year. Thus his coded message to the Admiralty in February 1940 - 'ALTMARK STEAMING TWO MILES OFF NORWEGIAN COAST NORTH OF BERGEN’ - which led to the celebrated interception of the enemy ship by Captain Philip Vian in the Cossack.

Later, when the Germans invaded Norway, the Lord Cork & Orrey reported that Admiral Boyes and the Military Attaché were of the greatest help to him and Sir Cecil Dormer, H.M. Minister to Norway, and when, in April 1940, Churchill asked Admiral Lord Mountevans, K.C.B., D.S.O., to proceed on a one-man mission to the King of Norway, the latter opted to take Boyes with him. Mountevans’ autobiography states:

‘I flew back to Stockholm and then got in touch with my old friend and term-mate, Rear-Admiral Hector Boyes, our Naval Attaché to King Haakon VII of Norway. I was shadowed by a fat little man, armed with a pair of Zeiss binoculars, throughout my stay in Stockholm. Boyes and I purchased a handy Oldsmobile car, and got hold of a good Swedish chauffeur, driver to the former American Minister to Sweden. Having given the slip to my 'shadow', Boyes and I drove away at 9.30 on that same night, and after a hard drive through the snow we fetched up in the stillness of the night at a little fishing hotel near Femund, where we snatched a few hours' sleep. Then, on the 21st April we drove over snowy ways and indifferent roads to Drevsjö, where Major Hvoslef facilitated our passage to Trysil. The Norwegians were most helpful and gave me a general outline of what was going on locally. When we got to Trysil we met the local Commandment and his Adjutant, and explained that we must get to the Norwegian G.H.Q. at Öyer immediately. The Colonel told us it would take more than two days by car, that the Germans were then burning Rena, through which we must pass, and then, realizing my eagerness and the immediate nature of my new mission, his Adjutant got me a two-seater Fokker biplane with a stout-hearted pilot. I took my place in the rear seat as machine-gunner, leaving Boyes to follow in the taxi.

I went to the Norwegian G.H.Q. at Öyer, contacting British and Norwegian officers. At Otta I told them to stop Admiral Boyes’ car and ask him to await me if he tried to go down to Otta, as I would probably go down the next day via Dombås to Åndalsnes and see what was going on there.

I then made my way back to my mountain hiding-place at the Golå Hotel, from where I telephoned to find that Admiral Boyes had not passed Otta. I sincerely hoped that the Germans had not got him at Rena. Anyway, I managed to communicate with the British and French Legations that I had located at Sjoa, and so got a car driven down.

I found Mrs. Boyes with the Ministers. She, like my wife, is Norwegian. I got her into my car, and took her to Otta, where I found British and Norwegian officers. No one knew anything about Admiral Boyes passing through, so I continued northward, quite certain that my friend would make his way there somehow. When we arrived, Dombås was being bombed and there was no one in sight, so I went on to the only garage that I had seen there, and sure enough found the little white Oldsmobile, and soon after had the pleasure of seeing Boyes and his wife reunited.

Continued my way through Lesjay, I came to the Lesjaskog Hotel, endeavoured to arrange with the hostess to accommodate the British and French Legations Staffs. I found that King Haakon and his Government had already earmarked the hotel, so I moved on to Lesjaverk, where I fixed up accommodation for the lot except for Admiral Boyes, Mrs. Boyes and myself, who returned to Lesjaskog to contact the King as requested.

In the cold, grey dawn I said good-bye to Hector and Eleanor Boyes, and with my Swedish chauffeur and the little Oldsmobile I left for the Swedish frontier by way of Dombås, where I had to revisit the military, but we made a poor journey on account of air attack from single machines which continued to attack us and drop small bombs.’

After the fall of Norway, the King, Mountevans, Boyes and personnel from the legations and missions went to London and in June 1940 Boyes was appointed Naval Attaché to the British Minister to the Norwegian Government in England and as Liaison Officer with Royal Norwegian Navy. He was subsequently awarded the Order of St. Olaf and King Haakon VII’s War Medal.

Next appointed Naval Attaché in Tokyo in May 1941, where the British Ambassador was Sir Robert Leslie Craigie, he was similarly employed at the time of the declaration of war that December, when Sir Robert and his staff were interned in the Embassy compound - his boss later acknowledged Boyes’ good work during this difficult time. The end of July 1942 marked the beginning of the exchange of Allied diplomats in Japan for Japanese diplomats in the United States and Boyes and his companions travelled by train from Tokyo to Yokohama, then boarded S.S. Tatsuta Maru, bound for Laurnco Marques, via Singapore, where they were exchanged for Japanese diplomats before boarding the British ships Narconda and El Nil for England.

In December 1942, after a period of leave, Boyes was appointed Naval Attaché, Columbia and Venezuela. Ecuador was added to his responsibilities in July 1943, and Haiti and the Dominican Republic followed in October 1943. He finally returned home in March 1947, when he was placed back on the Retired List.

The Admiral, who settled in Bognor Regis, Sussex, died in October 1960.

St Olaf is silver-gilt not gold