Commander of the British Empire (C.B.E.) 2nd Type with Neck Ribbon; British War Medal (JAMES A. SMITH); Mercantile Marine Medal (JAMES A. SMITH); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star clasp North Africa 1942-43; Pacific Star; Italy Star; War Medal 1939-45 - unnamed as awarded in an attractive recessed wooden frame.
James Alder Smith was born in Liverpool in 1886. He joined the Merchant Navy, where he was to spend his entire career, as a 15 year old Cadet at HMS Conway in 1901. He was certified as a First Mate in and served in WWI in the Merchant Navy.
With the outbreak of WWII Smith found himself an officer aboard the P & O liner, SS Majola. She was requisitioned by the Admiralty and converted into an Armed Merchant Cruiser in Bombay whereafter she joined the Northern Patrol between Shetland and Iceland. In November 1941 she was converted to troopship duty sailing for Calcutta in July 1942, via Sierra Leone and Cape Town. She also took Allied troops to North Africa, anchoring off Algiers.
Smith, as Captain, was awarded the C.B.E in His Majesty's Birthday Honours List 1946 - published in the LG on 13 June 1946.
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