Great War 1914-1915 Star trio and Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct group awarded to R.N. Walters, Chief Stoker, Royal Navy who saw Great War service aboard H.M.S. Venerable taking part in the bombardment of the Belgian coastline during October 1914 before taking part in patrols of the East Coast the following month. Early in 1915 he would once again participate in the bombardment of the German positions on the Belgian coast before transferring to the Mediterranean theatre, where later that year he would be present during the bombardment of the Turkish positions around Suvla Bay from 14th until 21st August 1915, he would then see a short period in the Adriatic supporting the Italian Navy before returning home in December 1916.
Group of 4: 1914-1915 Star; (279502 R.W. WALTERS. CH. STO. R.N.) British War Medal and Victory Medal; (279502 R.N. WALTERS. CH. STO. R.N.) Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, GVR,;(279502 R.N. WALTERS. CH. STO. H.M.S. VENERABLE.) Note different initial on star.
Condition: Note different initial on star, Good Very Fine
Robert Newton Walters was born in St. George’s, Bermuda and giving his trade as a Labourer, joined the Royal Navy for 12 years service on 30th April 1895, initially seeing service as a Stoker 2nd Class, until promoted to Stoker on 26th February 1896 whilst serving aboard H.M.S. Royal Sovereign. He would be promoted Leading Stoker 2nd Class on 1st October 1904 whilst aboard H.M.S. Firequeen, and then Stoker Petty Officer 2nd Class on 1st June 1906 aboard H.M.S. Royal Arthur, then Stoker Petty Officer aboard the same ship on 15th March 1907.
His next promotion would be to Acting Chief Stoker aboard H.M.S. Venus and then Chief Stoker aboard H.M.S. Venerable on 23rd April 1914 just before the Great War, being awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal aboard the same ship during this period.
Serving board Venerable from 23rd April 1914 until 27th December 1916.
When World War I broke out in August 1914, the 5th Battle Squadron of which Venerable was attached to, was assigned to the Channel Fleet, based at Portland. Returning to full commission, Venerable patrolled the English Channel, and on 25 August 1914 covered the movement of the Portsmouth Marine Battalion to Ostend, Belgium, In October 1914, Venerable was attached to the Dover Patrol for bombardment duties in support of Allied troops fighting on the front. She bombarded German positions along the Belgian coast between Westende and Lombardsijde from 26 to 30 October 1914 during a German attack on Belgian defences in the Battle of the Yser; she also served as the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, Dover Patrol, Rear Admiral Sir Horace Hood, from 27 to 29 October. On the 27th, German field guns were moved up close to shore, which forced most of the light vessels to retreat, though the heavily armoured Venerable remained on station until reports of a German U-boat in the area prompted Hood to withdraw to Dunkirk. Venerable was back on station on 28 October, along with the gunboat Bustard and three monitors, to blunt another German attack. Later that day, she ran lightly aground on an uncharted sandbank, but was at that time out of range of German guns and was able to free herself with help from Brilliant at high tide. By the end of the month, the flooding from the opened sluices around Nieuwpoort had blocked the German advance, diverting German attacks further inland, out of range of Venerable's guns. The German guns along the coast had by this time been hidden, which made it far more difficult to engage them with naval gunfire, so Venerable was recalled.
On 3 November, she was detached to support East Coast Patrols during the German raid on Yarmouth, though she did not see action with German warships. The 5th Battle Squadron transferred from Portland to Sheerness on 14 November 1914 to guard against a possible German invasion of the United Kingdom. The squadron returned to Portland on 30 December 1914. Venerable, in company with the tender Excellent and escorting destroyers and minesweepers, again bombarded German positions near Westende on 11 March 1915. The bombardment was meant to divert German attention during the British attack at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. She returned again on 10 May in an attempt to suppress German artillery that had been shelling Dunkirk, but German counter-battery fire prevented Venerable from dropping anchor or achieving any success.
On 12 May 1915, Venerable was ordered to the Dardanelles to replace the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth in the Dardanelles Campaign. She steamed to the Mediterranean with the battleship Exmouth; the British hoped to take advantage of the experience both ships' crews had gained in bombarding coastal positions in Belgium. From 14 August 1915 to 21 August 1915, she supported Allied attacks on Ottoman positions at Suvla Bay. By the 21st, weather conditions worsened significantly, preventing the ships from being able to observe targets. In October, Venerable arrived at Gibraltar for a refit. Emerging from the refit in December 1915, she transferred to the Adriatic Sea to reinforce the Italian Navy against the Austro-Hungarian Navy, serving there until December 1916.
Venerable then returned to the United Kingdom, arriving at Portsmouth Dockyard on 19 December 1916, where she was laid up. Joining the Royal Fleet Reserve on 25th April 1917, he would be demobilised on 26th March 1919.