Beschreibung:

A rare Second World War K.C.B., Great War Greek mainland operations D.S.C. group of seventeen awarded to Admiral Sir Arthur Palliser, Royal Navy: having been decorated for his command of a seamen company in a costly action in Athens in December 1916, he rose to senior command in the 1939-45 War - including service as a Chief of Staff to the C.-in-C. Far East at the time of the loss of the Prince of Wales and Repulse The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, K.C.B. (Military) Knight Commander’s set of insignia, comprising neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, and breast star, silver, with gold, gilt and enamel centre, in its Garrard & Co. case of issue; Distinguished Service Cross, G.V.R., hallmarks for London 1918; 1914-15 Star (Lieut. A. F. E. Palliser, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oakleaf (Lieut. A. F. E. Palliser, R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; Pacific Star; Defence Medal 1939-45; War Medal 1939-45, M.I.D. oakleaf; Jubilee 1935; Coronation 1937; The Netherlands, Order of Orange Nassau, Grand Officer’s set of insignia, with swords, comprising neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, and breast star, silver, with gilt and enamel centre, in its case of issue; France, Croix de Guerre 1914-1915, with bronze palm, together with a set of related miniature dress medals, and three sets of mounted tunic ribands, the centre-piece of the Orange Nassau breast star chipped, otherwise generally good very fine or better (Lot) £3500-4000 Footnote K.C.B. London Gazette 1 January 1945. D.S.C. London Gazette 23 March 1917. The original recommendation states: ‘Lieutenant A. F. E. Palliser was in charge of a detachment of Exmouth’s seamen at the Zappeion.’ Arthur Frances Eric Palliser was born in Richmond, London in July 1890 and was educated at Bradfield College, and the R.N.Cs Dartmouth and Greenwich. Appointed Sub. Lieutenant in March 1910, and advanced to Lieutenant one year later, he was commanding the destroyer H.M.S. Albacore on the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914. Shortly thereafter, however, he came ashore to an appointment at the gunnery establishment Excellent, but he returned to sea in the flotilla leader Exmouth in February 1915, and witnessed active service in the Dardanelles. So, too, in the landing at Piraeus, Greece on 1 December 1916, when he had charge of the seaman company which came under fire from Greek troops, an incident described in detail in Blumberg’s Britain’s Sea Soldiers. On that day, an Anglo-French force comprising 3,000 seamen and marines landed at Piraeus in the early morning hours, and proceeded inland to occupy a variety of prominent defensive features - Palliser and his men were charged with taking possession of the Zappeion, about one kilometre east of the Acropolis, a task successfully accomplished in spite of intermittent fire throughout the day. Indeed local opposition proved costly, the Allied force suffering casualties of 60 officers and men killed, and 167 wounded, prior to a negotiated withdrawal back to the harbour at the end of the day. Palliser was awarded the D.S.C. and remained actively employed in the Exmouth until returning to the gunnery establishment Excellent in September 1917. His final wartime appointment was in the cruiser Comus, in which capacity he was employed from February 1918 until the end of hostilities. Gaining steady advancement between the Wars - thus to Commander in December 1924 and to Captain in June 1931 - he served as Chief of Staff to the C.-in-C. China 1936-38, and, on the renewal of hostilities in September 1939, was once more serving at the gunnery establishment Excellent. Then in May 1940, he was appointed to the command of the battleship Malaya, in which capacity he witnessed extensive action in the Mediterranean, up until March of the following year, when his command was seriously damaged by a torpedo strike delivered by the U-106 - due to heavy flooding, the battleship took on a list of 7 degrees, but Palliser managed to nurse her int