Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Five: Rear-Admiral G. C. Harrison, Royal Navy

1914-15 Star (Lt. Commr. G. C. Harrison, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Commr. G. C. Harrison. R.N.); Jubilee 1935, these four mounted as worn; Greece, Kingdom, Order of the Redeemer, Commander’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamels, with full neck cravat, good very fine (5) £500-£600

Gerald Cartmell Harrison was born on 8 October 1883 in Congleton, Cheshire, the son of John Harrison, a merchant, and entered the Navy on 15 May 1898, aged 14. He was made a Midshipman on 15 December 1899, and promoted to acting Sub-Lieutenant on 15 December 1902. On 30 June 1905 he was promoted to Lieutenant, and on 19 July 1911 was appointed to command of the Brazen-class destroyer Kestrel, based at the Nore. From 1 April 1913 he commanded Fawn, part of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla based at Portsmouth. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander on 30 June 1913, and on 29 August 1913 was appointed to command of the 6th Flotilla with Crane as flotilla leader.

On 29 July 1914 he was appointed to command of Cossack, and from 26 August 1915 of the M-class destroyer Manners, which he commissioned, and as part of the 11th Destroyer Flotilla, took part in the Battle of Jutland in May/June 1916. Harrison was promoted to Commander on 1 January 1918, was appointed to command of the Thornycroft type destroyer leader Wallace on 25 January 1919, and on 1 October 1919 was appointed to command of the R-class destroyer Rocket, part of the Portsmouth Local Defence Flotilla.

Harrison was promoted to Captain on 31 December 1924. He was appointed to command of the light cruiser H.M.A.S. Adelaide on 7 October 1926, and of her sister ship Brisbane on 26 June 1928. In November 1927 Adelaide landed 150 bluejackets in the Solomon Islands as part of a punitive expedition against the natives of those islands after the murders of a good number of civilians and police. He served as a Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence from April 1930 to April 1932.

On 22 September 1933, Harrison was granted permission by the King to wear the insignia of Commander of the Order of the Redeemer that he had been awarded by the President of Greece, in recognition of "valuable services rendered [by him] on the occasion of the earthquake in Chalcidice". From April 1934 to September 1936 he served as commander of St Vincent, the Boys' Training Establishment at Gosport. On 4 January 1936 Harrison was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral, and was placed on the Retired List the following day.

Harrison was an English cricketer and played as a right-handed batsman for Devon in the 1905 Minor Counties Championship against Cornwall. He played in 27 Minor Counties matches from 1905 to 1910 for the county. Harrison's last appearance for Devon came against Cornwall in the 1910 Minor Counties Championship. In 1912 Harrison made his first-class debut for the Royal Navy against the Army at Lord's, and played in the same fixture the following year. In 1914 he represented Hampshire in the County Championship and also represented the Navy in a match against the Army. With the conclusion of the First World War, Harrison returned to Hampshire for the 1919 and 1920 County Championships. In his time with the club he played 22 first-class matches, scoring 991 runs, including four half centuries and a single century which yielded his highest score of 111.

Rear-Admiral Harrison died at Spital House, Blyth, Nottinghamshire on 10 August 1943.

Sold with a portrait photograph, original warrant for the Order of the Redeemer and associated grant of permission to wear the same, dated 20 July 1933.