The Great War C.B.E. group of five awarded to Rear-Admiral E. Lees, Royal Navy, a pioneer...

The Great War C.B.E. group of five awarded to Rear-Admiral E. Lees, Royal Navy, a pioneer of advancements in submarine design and navigation who had earlier served with distinction in the Boer War as A.D.C. to General Sir Redvers Buller in 1899-1900, where he gained a brace of ‘mentions’ and received a unique 6-clasp Queen’s South Africa Medal from the hands of King Edward VII

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, C.B.E. (Military) Commander’s 1st type neck badge, silver-gilt and enamels, in its Garrard & Co. fitted case of issue; Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, dated reverse, no clasp (“E. Lees” Midn. R.N., H.M.S. “Northumberland”) name re-engraved; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 6 clasps, Cape Colony, Tugela Heights, Orange Free State, Relief of Ladysmith, Laing’s Nek, Belfast (Commander E. Lees, R.N.) officially engraved naming; Khedive’s Star, dated 1882; Japan, Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class breast star, silver-gilt and enamels, nearly extremely fine (5) £2,200-£2,600
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Importation Duty
This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK
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Provenance: Alan Hall Collection, June 2000.

Although there were 63 Medals with 6 clasps issued to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, just four of which were to officers, this is the only medal with this combination of clasps.
C.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1919: 'In recognition of valuable services rendered in connection with the war.’
Edgar Lees was born on 11 May 1866, and entered the Royal Navy as a Cadet in July 1879. His first seagoing appointment was as a Midshipman in the old ironclad H.M.S. Northumberland in the Channel Squadron. Advanced to Sub-Lieutenant in the corvette Sapphire on the China station in October 1885, and to Lieutenant in the gunboat Orwell in home waters in August 1888, Lees next came ashore to qualify in torpedo duties at Vernon. Duly qualified, he was appointed Torpedo Lieutenant in the cruiser Immortalité in the Channel Squadron, but he returned to Vernon as a senior staff officer in 1895.
Then in 1897, he was appointed First Lieutenant of the Doris, flagship of Admiral Sir Robert Harris at the Cape, and it was in that capacity that he was landed for service as an A.D.C. to Sir Redvers Buller in the period November 1899 to October 1900. Present at the relief of Ladysmith, and in the actions at Tugela Heights, Laing’s Nek and Belfast, he was promoted to Commander in June 1900 and twice mentioned in despatches. Firstly, in Buller’s despatch of March 1900, for being ‘a thoroughly capable and deserving officer, who rendered me great assistance’, and, secondly, in his despatch of June 1900, as being ‘strongly recommended for consideration’. Moreover, his Queen’s South Africa Medal, which he received from the hands of the King, was a unique naval award on account of its clasp combination.
In January 1903, Lees took command of the gunboat Hazard, then employed as a tender to submarines and, on being advanced to Captain in June 1904, he succeeded Admiral Bacon in command of the depot ship Thames, then the Headquarters of the ‘underwater craft’. In the latter appointment, in addition to his executive and administrative work, he superintended the designs of the early submarine boats.
In November 1906, on being placed on the Retired List as a Rear-Admiral, he became Managing Director of the Whitehead Torpedo Works at Weymouth. And it was in that capacity that he was awarded the C.B.E. for his work during the war, in addition to the Japanese Sacred Treasure in April 1921. He died Harrogate, Yorkshire in September 1925, aged 60.