Exceptional Naval and Polar Awards from the Collection of RC Witte

A Great War campaign group of three awarded to Engineer Commander P. C. A. Hillier, Royal Navy, who witnessed extensive action in the East Africa operations of 1915-16

1914-15 Star (Eng. Cr. P. C. A. Hillier, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (Eng. Commr. P. C. A. Hillier, R.N.), in their card boxes of issue, extremely fine (3) £180-220

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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Percy Charles Albert Hillier was born at Marlborough, Wiltshire, in August 1875, and entered the Royal Navy as Probationary Assistant Engineer in June 1896.

Subsequently enjoying a succession of seagoing appointments, he was advanced to Engineer Lieutenant in June 1902 and to Engineer Lieutenant-Commander in June 1910, and was serving in the latter rank in the cruiser H.M.S. Challenger on the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914.

He consequently shared in her honours off the East and West coasts of Africa, most notably the Cameroons campaign in 1914, the “rounding-up” of the Konigsberg in 1915, in close liaison with our monitors the Severn and Mersey, and the bombardments of Tanga and Dar-es-Salaam in June-July 1916; so, too, in the capture of Bagamoyo in August 1916, Challenger coming under fire from the shore-based guns removed from the Konigsberg on at least two occasions; see www.naval-history.net for Challenger’s daily ship’s log entries covering the East Africa campaign.

Hillier finally left the Challenger in May 1918, when he was appointed to the cruiser Colombo, then commissioning, but died of pneumonia on 30 October 1918. He is buried in Marlborough Old Cemetery, Wiltshire.