13cm (5.1in) x 8cm (3.2in)
Attributed to Maj-Gen H.D.W. Sitwell, Keeper of the Jewels at the Tower of London
Silver. Rectangular case with engine turned decorantion and gold edging, the top left corner with rectangular panel engraved with a fleur-de-lis and three arrows. Gilt interior. Maker’s mark of Garrard & Co Ltd, Albemarle Street, London. Hallmarked London 1937.
Major-General Hervey Degge Wilmot Sitwell, CB, CVO, MC, FSA, (1896-1973) was educated at Wellington and the RMA Woolwich. Commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1914, he served in France and Flanders and won the Military Cross in 1917- ‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in bringing his gun into action in a very forward position under most difficult conditions. On one occasion, he engaged over sixty hostile aeroplanes and forced two to land. Besides his ordinary duties he also engaged and dispersed a party of about 200 of the enemy advancing in close formation.’ During the Second World War he was General Officer Commanding British Troops in Java when forced to surrender to overwhelming Japanese forces. He endured three years of barbarous cruelty at the hands of his captors while refusing to divulge information useful to the enemy. He was appointed Keeper of the Jewel House at Her Majesty’s Tower of London in 1952.