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I have just posted this group under HMS Doris but it is worth repeating it here:


Picture courtesy of DNW

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Civil Division, silver-gilt, with gold suspension bar and buckle;
Albert Medal, for Saving Life at Sea, 2nd Class, bronze and enamel;
Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 1 clasp, Natal;
1914-15 Star;
British War Medal 1914-20, 2 clasps, Narrow Seas 1914, Mediterranean 1918;
Victory Medal 1914-19, with M.I.D. oak leaf;
Lloyd’s Medal for Saving Life at Sea, silver;
Greece, Kingdom, Royal Order of the Redeemer, Fourth Class, silver and enamel, rosette on ribbon, slight enamel damage;
France, Third Republic, Legion of Honour, Fifth Class, silver and enamel, these mounted court style as worn, with the last three on detachable bars;
Royal Humane Society Medal, silver (successful), with integral silver buckle bar

Halton Stirling Lecky was born in Portrush, Ireland on 15 December 1878, the only son of Commander Squire T. S. Lecky, R.N.R. and Elizabeth Susan Henderson. Educated at Eastman’s Royal Naval Academy, Stubbington, he joined H.M.S. Britannia in 1892. Appointed a Midshipman in 1895, he was commissioned a Sub-Lieutenant in 1898, and served during the Boer War as a Sub-Lieutenant in H.M.S. Doris and in H.M.S. Widgeon, taking part in the Delagoa Bay blockade. Whilst serving on the latter vessel his bravery in saving life at sea earned him the Albert Medal 2nd Class (London Gazette 28 June 1901), the Lloyd’s Medal for Saving Life at Sea and the Royal Humane Society Silver Medal.

The citation states: ‘On the 25th August 1900, H.M.S. Widgeon anchored in Kosi Bay, 50 miles south of Delagoa Bay, in order to land stores and troops. The work of disembarkation was carried out, through heavy breakers, by surf-boats manned by Malays under the superintendence of Sub-Lt. Lecky, who had been sent on shore for the purpose. One boat, loaded with stores and with Second Lt. Arnold Gray, Thorneycroft’s Mounted Infantry, Trooper Frederick Trethowen, Steinacker’s Horse, and Private J. H. Forbes, Thorneycroft’s Mounted Infantry, on board, capsized about 300 yards from the shore. The five Malays forming the boat’s crew, and Pte. Forbes, by dint of hard swimming, with the assistance of the boat’s oars, managed to reach the land after severe buffeting from the heavy seas. Lt. Gray was unable to swim, but with Trooper Trethowen, clung to the boat, which drifted slowly keel upwards in a northerly direction almost parallel with the shore, carried by the set of a strong current. Huge breakers continually swept over the boat, and the men had great difficulty in retaining their hold. Sharks were observed near the boat both before and after the accident. Lecky plunged into the surf, and endeavoured to swim to their assistance. He was twice thrown back on the beach by the heavy seas but succeeded in bringing first Gray and then the other, safe but unconscious, to the shore. Sub-Lt. Lecky and his servant, Pte. Botting, Royal Marine Light Infantry, then applied the usual methods for restoring animation, and both men eventually recovered.’

Promoted to Lieutenant in 1900, Lecky commanded H.M.S. Peterel in 1902 and qualified as a Gunnery Lieutenant in 1903. In 1913 he was promoted to Commander and served as an Acting-Captain during 1916-20. He was responsible for the organisation of the Shetland Islands for war, 1913-14, and served on minesweeping operations on the East Coast during 1914. He was responsible for creating the Auxiliary Patrol Service of 3,000 vessels and necessary personnel for service against enemy submarines. Lecky then served as Naval Assistant to the Fourth Sea Lord, 1915-16, before commanding the light cruisers Southampton and Birmingham in the North Sea, 1916-17. He served as Assistant to the Naval Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty, 1917-18 and in the latter part of the war was on service in the Aegean and the blockade of the Dardanelles. For his wartime services he was Mentioned in Despatches, awarded the C.B. (1919), the Greek Order of the Redeemer, and the French Legion of Honour. In 1919 he organised the Mine Clearance Service - earning the appreciation of the Board of Admiralty; and commanded the R.N. Detention Barracks at Chatham, 1920-24, before retiring in 1925.

In later life Lecky was a Vice-President of the National Rose Society and ex-Councillor of the Society for Nautical Research and Councillor of the Sailors’ Home, London East, and Beresford Rest for Distressed Sailors. He was an author of several books, including a Memoir of his father in 1925. Captain Lecky latterly lived at 7 Tudor Road, Upper Norwood, London, and died on 2 June 1940.

His full size medals sold at DNW in June 1994:

CB (c), Albert Medal For Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea (2nd class), bronze and enamel, the reverse inscribed (Awarded by His Majesty to Lieutenant Halton Stirling Lecky, RN, in recognition of his gallantry in rescuing two soldiers from drowning at Kosi Bay on the 25th of August 1900), QSA (1) Natal (Sub-Lieut. RN, HMS Doris), 1914-15 Star (Commr, RN), BWM, VM with MID (Capt RN), Greece Order of the Redeemer 5th class breast badge, France Legion d'Honneur 5th class breast badge, Italy, Order of the Crown 4th class breast badge, Messina Earthquake 1908, Royal Humane Society silver medal (successful), (Sub Lieut RN, Aug. 25. 1900), Lloyds Medal for Saving Life at Sea (Lieut, RN. 25th August 1900), Mine Clearance Service badge and silver medal 'For Zeal' named (Comdr, RN, 2 9 16, CE, Granton Naval Base). £3,800.

David
Thanks for posting the miniature group containing AM for the Kosi Bay incident . Nice to see Pte. Forbes (TMI, his QSA in my collection) mentioned again.
The next comment is off-topic; however, IL likes to see a BWM miniature with clasps attached. What a field of medal collecting would have been opened had HMG seen fit to issue clasps for the full-size BWM.
Best regards
IL.

Clasps on the BWM would have been amazing. Can you imagine the complexity of the medals rolls?

From the next Bonhams sale:

QSA (1) Natal (Orderly E. P. Harrison. Imp: Hosp: Corps)

LinneyI wrote: David
The next comment is off-topic; however, IL likes to see a BWM miniature with clasps attached.
Best regards
IL.

A present for IL...… Could not attach to a PM..... Mike

Mike
Thanks for that; off topic, but an interesting might-have-been. And, yes, the complexities of the medal rolls would have been great. HOWEVER, I understand that the Admiralty did actually approve a series of clasps for the BWM on 7/7/1920 - and that contemporary miniature medal manufacturers did anticipate the awarding of them.
Thanks again, Mike.
Best Regards
IL.