Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A good Great War Battle of Jutland D.S.M. group of four awarded to Stoker J. Orton, Royal Naval Reserve, whose ship, the cruiser H.M.S. Calliope, found herself in a ‘boil of splashes’, taking five serious hits and casualties of 10 killed and 23 wounded - the latter including Orton

Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (S. 5094 J. Orton, Sto., R.N.R., H.M.S. Calliope, 31 May-1 June 1916); 1914-15 Star (S. 5094 J. Orton, Sto., R.N.R.); British War and Victory Medals (5094S. J. Orton, Sto., R.N.R.), generally good very fine (4) £1000-1200

D.S.M. London Gazette 15 September 1916:

‘The following awards have been approved in connection with the recommendations of the Commander-in-Chief for services rendered by Petty Officers and men of the Grand Fleet in the action in the North Sea on 31 May-1 June 1916.’

James Orton was born in Durham in April 1892, joined the Royal Naval Reserve at West Hartlepool in December 1914 and the ship’s company of the cruiser H.M.S. Calliope in January 1915.

As the flagship of the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron, Calliope was heavily engaged throughout the battle, but it was not until the evening that she started to take her first casualties, the result of a duel with two Kaiser class battleships and one of the Heligoland class:

‘ ... only our speed and zigzagging saved us from annihilation. As it was, we seemed to be in the middle of splashes, and the noise of the bursting shell and flying fragments was absolutely deafening. We were hit five times in all, three of which did serious damage to personnel. One shell, bursting against the breech of the port after 4-inch gun, smashed the fittings and gun shield and killed practically all the gun’s crew, the notable exception being the sight-setter, a Corporal of Marines, who had the gun between him and the burst and only suffered a slight scalp wound.

The second hit on us burst near No. 3 4-inch gun under the bridge, disabled the gun, killing and wounding some of the crew, and fragments of this shell penetrated the deck of the lower bridge and wounded a signalman and a bugler.

The third shell penetrated the upper deck, and burst in the boys’ mess deck, almost in the middle of the after dressing station, killing some and wounding many others, including the Staff Surgeon.

For the last five minutes that we were under fire we were in sight of our own ships, although the two battle fleets were invisible to each other, and we were told afterwards that at times we were hidden in spray from the splashes. Altogether, we had 10 killed and 23 wounded, some seriously. We were ordered to take station on the port beam of the battle fleet for the night, and in the morning resumed our cruising station ahead during the search for disabled enemy ships.

On reaching Scapa afterwards, we were ordered in first, instead of waiting for the battle fleet to enter, to land our wounded. Our dead we buried at sea the morning after the action, the Commodore leaving the bridge for a few minutes to read the burial service, the one time he was ever known to leave the bridge at sea.’

Among those landed at Scapa, having received multiple wounds (’shell wound both feet and right forearm’), Orton was invalided from the Service at the R.N. Hospital, Chatham.