An H.M.S. Hampshire Great War trio to Leading Stoker Alfred Earnest Read

An H.M.S. Hampshire Great War trio to Leading Stoker Alfred Earnest Read, R.N.: 1914-15 Star (K.15762, A.E. READ, STO. 1., R.N.), British War and Victory Medals (... L. STO..), offered with a small quantity of copy research. Nearly very fine

The story of H.M.S. Hampshire is well know to enthusiasts both of naval and of military history, as the maritime disaster that ended the life of Victorian hero Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener. On June 5th 1916, having been present at the Battle of Jutland, the Devonshire Class armoured cruiser received Kitchener as a passenger for Russia, where he was charged with a diplomatic mission. The same evening, in a force 9 gale, she struck a mine west of Orkney, and sank with the loss of all but twelve hands.

One of the twelve, Alfred Read, was born 23rd October 1891, and enlisted in the navy 13th August 1912. According to a newpaper article written upon his death in 1957, he survived the sinking by clinging to a Carley Float, having lost sight of Lord Kitchener on the boat deck. On reaching the shore, he suffered permanent scarring from having to cling to barbed wire to avoid being swept out to sea again. The sinking of H.M.S. Hampshire provoked a variety of conspiracy theories, but Read himself favoured the simple explanation of a sea mine.