Exceptional Naval and Polar Awards from the Collection of RC Witte

A fine Great War C.B., royal visit to Malta M.V.O. group of eight awarded to Vice-Admiral J. E. Cameron, Royal Navy, who commanded the cruiser Phaeton at Jutland, when with her consort Galatea, she was the first to sight and engage the enemy - earlier that month, off the Schleswig coast, her gunners had assisted in the destruction of the zeppelin L. 7: later still, Cameron was onetime S.N.O. Baltic in 1919 and took charge of the famous “Wanhsien incident” in China as S.N.O. Yangtse 1925-27

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, C.B. (Military) Companion’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel; The Royal Victorian Order, M.V.O., Member’s 4th Class breast badge, silver-gilt and enamel, the reverse officially numbered ‘701’; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 2 clasps, Cape Colony, South Africa 1901 (Lieut. J. E. Cameron, H.M.S. Beagle); 1914-15 Star (Capt. J. E. Cameron, M.V.O., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Capt. J. E. Cameron, R.N.); Coronation 1911; France, Legion of Honour, Officer’s breast badge, gold and enamel, with rosette on riband, enamel work slightly chipped in places on the first, otherwise good very fine (8) £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.B. London Gazette 3 June 1918.

M.V.O. London Gazette 4 March 1909.

John Ewen Cameron was born in London in June 1874 and entered the Royal Navy as a cadet in Britannia in July 1887. Advanced to Lieutenant in December 1895, he joined H.M.S. Beagle on the Cape Station in May 1901, and served ashore in Cape Colony and, having received rapid promotion to Commander in December 1905 - on the back of two recommendations from Prince Louis of Battenberg - he was awarded the M.V.O. for his services as C.O. of destroyers in Malta at the time of King Edward VII’s visit in 1909.

The Great War - Gallipoli and Jutland

Advanced to Captain in December 1913, he was serving as C.O. of the destroyer depot ship Hecla on the outbreak of hostilities in the following year, but he returned to sea as C.O. of the cruiser Phaeton in January 1915 and remained similarly employed until the War’s end, onetime as 2nd-in-command of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron.

Phaeton was ordered to the Dardanelles in March 1915, where one of her early duties was to convey Sir Ian Hamilton and his staff on a reconnoitre of the attempted forcing of the Dardanelles on the 18th - rounding Cape Helles they quickly came under fire and saw the mined Inflexible withdrawing with a bevy of destroyers around her, an experience that prompted Sir Ian to write ‘Shells of all sizes hissing through the air ... What an ass I am to be here. If we keep on another thirty seconds we are in for a visit to Davy Jones’ locker’.

Returning to Scapa to take up patrol work in the North Sea, Phaeton was to share in the destruction of the zeppelin L. 7 on 4 May 1916, while covering a seaplane operation off Tondern with her consort Galatea. Pursuing the zeppelin for half an hour, the light cruisers sent up an impressive array of fire and one shell found its mark in the L. 7’s fuel tank - the zeppelin plunged blazing nose first into the sea where, at length, a few survivors were picked up the submarine E. 31.

Back in action at Jutland at the end of the same month, Pheaton and Galatea became the first ships to spot and engage the enemy fleet, having found and chased down a pair of enemy destroyers, the B-109 and B-110 - the latter only escaped serious punishment owing to the arrival of the German cruiser Ebling on the scene: more important, however, was the fact the Ebling broke wireless silence to alert the German high seas fleet, and her report was heard and her position plotted by the listening and wireless-compass stations on the British coast.

Cameron was mentioned in despatches and was appointed an Officer of the French Legion of Honour (London Gazette 15 September 1916 refers).

In August 1917, the Phateon was converted for use on minelaying operations, and duly undertook five trips with a total lay of 358 mines, many of them in the Kattegat, while in March 1918, she was transferred to the 7th Light Cruiser Squadron. Cameron was awarded the C.B.

S.N.O. Baltic and Yangtse

Remaining in command of the Phaeton after the War, he was next actively engaged in the Baltic operations, and, for a month or two in early 1919, in Admiral Cowan’s absence, served as S.N.O. at Libau. It was a difficult period of command, not least in dealing with the Germans, who, in contravention of the Armistice terms ordered its troops to live off the land, thereby causing starvation among the local populace.

In genuine fear of local riots, Cameron felt compelled to contact Lord Curzon, who was acting as Foreign Secretary in London, to warn him that in the absence of further food supplies being embarked for the region, bloodshed was a real possibility, and he was supported in his case by the British Diplomatic Representaive at Libau, though certain senior naval officers felt he should have come down harder on the Germans - but Cameron, and Lord Curzon agreed, felt that it was wiser not to add fuel to the fire. In the event, Admiral Cowan was ordered back to the Baltic in April 1919, thereby freeing Cameron from the poisoned chalice of Allied politics and diplomacy. But his escape from such tribulations was short-lived.

Appointed A.D.C. to the King in August 1923 and advanced to Rear-Admiral in July 1924, Cameron was next ordered to the Far East as S.N.O. Yangtse, and remained similarly employed until the end of 1927, spending much of that time in his flagship Bee, and it was a period that witnessed much hostility with the Chinese, not least the famous “Wanhsien incident” - see Dix Noonan Webb, 13 September 2012 (Lot 1013) for further details; so, too, A. Cecil Hampshire’s Armed with Stings, The Saga of a Gunboat Flotilla.

Following the incident, described by one observer as ‘Zeebrugge on a small scale, a manifestation of the same splendid spirit that animated the greater deed’, Cameron, perhaps still mindful of the criticism he had faced for not having taken direct action against the Germans in the Baltic, slammed down his fist at the negotiating table, telling his adversaries there would be no more talks and no quarter shown by the Royal Navy. It worked, and better relationships prevailed until trouble broke out at Hankow in September 1927, when Cameron refused to open fire on rioters - as with his similar decision in the Baltic, he was criticised for not having taken a tougher stance.

Returning to an appointment as C.O. Coast of Scotland in 1928, Cameron was placed on the Retired List in the rank of Vice-Admiral in 1929 and died in Northumberland in July 1939.