Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A group of three Prize Medals awarded to Petty Officer 2nd Class E. Bowman, Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers

Prize Medal, silver straight-armed patty cross, 39 x 39mm., with engraved arms and an oval gold centre upon which is engraved a crowned anchor and the letters, ‘R.N.A.V.’; reverse inscribed, ‘Holyhead Regatta, Cutter Race, won by E, Bowman, 1879’, with silver brooch bar, in case; R.N.A.V. Cross (2), struck silver maltese cross, 36 x 36mm., obverse centre with crowned anchor; the arms bearing the letters, ‘R.N.A.V.’; reverse inscribed, ‘Gig Race, 3rd July 1880, 2nd Cl. P.O. E. Bowman’; another, reverse inscribed, ‘Lambert Hy. Gun Comptn., 5th October 1880, 2nd Cl. P.O. E. Bowman’, extremely fine, scarce (3) £300-350

The Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers (R.N.A.V.) were in existence from 1873 to 1892. The brainchild of Thomas C. Brassey, M.P. (later Earl Brassey), it was formed of civilian sailing enthusiasts who were not professional seafarers, whose services could be called upon in times of emergency for service in defence of the coasts of the United Kingdom and the adjacent seas. This narrow restriction to local defence at a time when British naval commitments were increasingly world-wide, ultimately led to its disbandment. Its successor, in 1903, was the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, whose members were not required to have sea or gunnery experience but who were expected to serve anywhere in the world in times of war.