First World War Navy VC sells for £240,000

A Victoria Cross awarded to a sailor in the First World War has sold for £240,000 at auction.

It was handed to Captain Henry Peel Ritchie, of the Royal Navy – who was born in Edinburgh, for his gallant command of HMS Goliath’s steam pinnace at Dar-es-Salaam in east Africa on November 28 1914.

Capt Ritchie, then 38, was wounded eight times in 20 minutes as he steered the pinnace to safety from the port, which was then under German rule.

His medal was one of 250 being sold at Noonans Mayfair during an auction on Tuesday, with the collection fetching in the region of £1.8 million.

The medals were collected by Jason Pilalas, from Connecticut, who died last year, and served as an officer in the United States Navy, completing three tours of Vietnam.

Christopher Mellor-Hill, from Noonans, said: “The price achieved in the sale reflects the bravery and gallantry of Ritchie and the importance of the Victoria Cross.

“It was also the first Naval VC of World War One when the Navy was very busy blockading German East Africa and hunting the German battleship SS Konigsberg.

“It was active competition between a bidder on the phone and a commission bidder, the medal was purchased by a private collector.”

Mr Ritchie, who was promoted to captain on the retired list in January 1924, lived at Craig Royston in Edinburgh and died there aged 83 on December 9 1958.

The medal collection, which covers 200 years of naval history, also included 10 medals awarded to Lieutenant Commander William Ewart Hiscock, of the Royal Navy, who was born in Dorchester, Dorset, in 1886.

His medals were bought by a private collector for £140,000.

Mr Mellor-Hill added: “In his capacity as controlled mining officer at HMS St Angelo, Malta, Hiscock dealt with no fewer than 125 ‘incidents’ at the height of the island’s siege, among them an ‘Italian torpedo machine’ and other unknown types of ordnance.

“In dismantling the former, which contained a 650lb high explosive charge fitted with four firing devices and a time fuse, the clock mechanism whirred into action, but he calmly neutralised the device nonetheless.

“Tragically, he and his wife were killed in a bombing raid on Valetta in February 1942, just a few days after the announcement of his award of the George Cross, so it was presented to one of his daughters by King George VI at Buckingham Palace on June 23 1942.”