Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 206:
Description
WWI – WWII Cuba Red Cross Honor Star, Navy Cross & LoM – Capt. C.E. Battle, Jr., USN. Documented grouping to Captain (temporary Commodore) Charlton Eugene Battle, Jr., USNA 1910-White House aide, Navy Cross for Armistice Day 1918, two-time Legion of Merit as Chief of Staff, Service Force Atlantic, and Commander of the Naval Operating Base at Guantanamo.
Born Oglethorpe, Georgia, 15 June 1887, Battle served in *North Carolina*, *Montgomery*, *North Dakota* and *Kansas*, then the presidential yacht *Mayflower* with additional duty as Naval Aide at the White House, 1915-16. In September 1918 he became executive officer of Naval Air Station Pauillac, France. On 11 November 1918-the day the guns stopped-he organized the parties that fought a dangerous fire on the Portuguese ship *Paniche*. He then manned, organized and provisioned the former German liner *Kaiserin Auguste Victoria*. The Navy Cross citation covers both acts. The cross in this lot is the regulation piece: dark bronze, sailing ship in a wreath, navy-and-white ribbon.
Between the wars he commanded *Claxton*, *Chase* and *Selfridge*, was gunnery officer of *Florida*, exec of the new heavy cruiser *Quincy* (including the 1936 evacuation of Americans from Spain), and taught NROTC at UCLA. On 28 June 1941 he took command of *Quincy* with the Iceland Defense Force-service that earned the American Defense Medal with bronze "A." From May 1942 to December 1945 he was Chief of Staff, Service Force, Atlantic Fleet, the logistics command that kept the Battle of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean landings supplied. He received the Legion of Merit for May 1942-October 1944 and a Gold Star in lieu of a second award for October 1944-December 1945, three times assuming command of the Service Force when flag officers changed. The Legion of Merit here is the officer’s badge, white-enamel cross with 13 stars, green wreath, magenta ribbon; reverse **UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / ANNUIT COEPTIS / MDCCLXXXII**.
On 1 January 1946 he reported as Commander, Naval Operating Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, remaining until April 1948. That tour accounts for the centerpiece of the lot: the breast star of the Cuban Red Cross **Orden de Honor y Merito** (instituted 1909), motto **INTER INIMICOS CHARITAS**-charity among enemies-around a painted Cuban shield, red-enamel cross on a faceted silver star with four applied stars. Reverse stamped **N. TARDERO & HIEBRA / FABRICADO EN CUBA / HABANA**. Also present: Mexican Service Medal, 1911-1917 (yellow-blue ribbon, fort reverse **MEXICO 1911-1917**), and World War I Victory Medal. Ribbons worn; enamel on the Cuban star largely intact; Navy Cross and campaign medals with honest bronze tone. Official Navy biography (Naval History Division, 20 April 1948) and Hall of Valor citations travel with the group. A named flag-rank lot that runs from the Wilson White House through Pauillac on Armistice Day, the Atlantic logistics war, and the postwar command at Guantanamo.
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