Large Named WWI and WWII Navy Cross Recipient’s Group with Medals, Photograph Album, Documents, and Memorabilia

The large group is comprised of the medals, photographs, documents, and memorabilia of Captain Xavier Martin Smith, who served as a United States Navy officer in both World War I and World War II, being decorated with the Navy Cross for his service as a junior officer commanding a mine sweeper in the North Sea in World War I (It should be noted here that, at various times during his life and military service, Smith went by the name of “Martin X. Smith” rather than by his given name of “Xavier M. Smith”). The group contains the following items:

-Smith’s medals for his service in World War I and World War II. His Navy Cross was awarded to him for his service, while an Ensign, as the Commanding Officer of the Submarine Chaser U.S.S.C. 206. The decoration was awarded with the following citation: “The Navy Cross is awarded to Ensign Martin X. Smith, U.S. Navy (Reserve Forces), for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service while in command of the U.S.S. C-206, engaged in the important and hazardous work of clearing the North Sea of mines”. The medals are the Navy Cross; the World War I Victory Medal with “Mine Laying” bar; the U.S. Navy Expert Rifleman Medal; and the U.S. Navy Expert Pistol Shot Medal, with these four medals being mounted on a pin back medal bar. Also present are the U.S. Naval Reserve “Faithful Service” Medal on a full wrap brooch suspension; the local World War I service medal for Norfolk, Virginia, which is named to “M.X. Smith”; the boxed American Defense Medal on a slot brooch suspension; the American Campaign Medal, crimp brooch suspension, in the United States Mint box of issue for the U.S. Navy; the European Campaign Medal, crimp brooch suspension, in the United States Mint box of issue for the U.S. Navy; the the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, crimp brooch suspension, in the United States Mint box of issue for the U.S. Navy; and the World War II Victory Medal in the Medallic Art Company contract box.

-A large photograph album which depicts Smith’s service in Scotland and in France and Germany in World War I. Many of the photographs bear captions, and the photographs illustrate service life in Scotland; ships and naval operations at sea; scenes from the battlefields, including disabled tanks and an American Army Chaplain (identified as a “Sky Pilot”); and scenes of captured German ships in port, including the U-Boat U-62, which sunk 46 allied ships and 2 allied warships during the war. The album also contains a photograph of Smith’s ship, the U.S.S.C. 206, a uniquely framed enlargement of which is a part of this large grouping. The photograph album pages are loose,with the string binding having been lost and with the covers showing wear. The album is approximately 9 inches by 16 inches in size and it contains approximately 614 photographs. Also included in this group are 42 loose photographs that Smith did not place in the album, showing the same types of scenes as those the photos in the album and some of which have handwritten captions on the reverse.

-The group includes a large copper “bowl” on a separate wooden stand. This bowl was in fact made from a North Sea mine antennae. The set has an height of approximately 8-1/4 inches, with the “bowl” having a diameter of approximately 11-12 inches. The interior upper edge of the bow is engraved ” ‘D-5’ An Upper Level Antennae Float For The Mark VI Mine From The North Sea Barrage. Laid Summer of 1918 By U.S. Mine Squadron, Inverness. Swept Summer Of 1919 By U.S. Minesweeping Detachment, Kirkwall. The exterior of the “bowl” has a dark, uncleaned, patina.

-The group contains an enlarged photograph of Smith’s ship in World War I, the U.S.S.C. 206. This is approximately 18-1/4 inches by 22-1/4 inches. The corners of the frames are adorned with wrought iron straps. Beneath the glass are the ribbons for the Navy Cross and the World War I Victory Medal with a single star. A handwritten annotation on the back of the frame states that the wood and wrought iron of the frame were originally components of the American Revolution warship the “U.S.S. Constitution”.  Also in the group are a special envelope from 1931, addressed to Smith’s wife, commemorating the visit to Norfolk, Virginia, of the U.S.S. Constitution. There is also a small iron and wooden anchor, approximately 4 inches long, which indicates through integral raised lettering that the anchor was constructed of material from the U.S.S. Constitution.

-The group includes a wooden desk name plate for “X. Martin Smith” as “Commander-USNR”.; a World War I Carlisle Bandage in the 1918 dated web pouch; Smith’s World War I bell crown visor cap of a U.S. Naval officer, which shows age, significant wear to the interior, and some loss of surface material on the visor; and Smith’s named World War II wool watch cap, which has several holes.

-A copy of the book “Sweeping the North Sea Mine Barrage 1919”. The book is hardcover, 159 pages, and published in 1919. The book contains a photograph of Smith and the crew of U.S.S.C. 206.

-Other items in the group include documents of various types, most of them related to Smith’s service in World War I and World War II, including a large newsprint roll of Army & Navy Journals, circa 1930; a Letter to Smith from Hollywood producer Myron Selznick & Company, returning to Smith a treatment that he had written for a film about John Paul Jones entitled “Knights of the Sea”. This movie treatment is also in the group, as is a revised version that Smith wrote entitled “John Paul Jones”; and invitation to a dance at American Headquarters in Darwin, Australia, on 15 July, 1944, where Smith was serving at a U.S. Navy base; a printed “Programme” from the Melville Theater Darwin, in 1944; a World War II period U.S. Navy officer’s cap band; a Thanksgiving Menu , US Naval Torpedo Testing Range, Piney Point, Maryland, in 1945 (pinned to the menu is a mimeographed invitation to a party for Commander and Mrs. Smith; a booklet of Regulations for the US Naval Mine Depot, Yorktown, Virginia, in 1939; a rough log book, Special Naval Detail, in Boca Grande, Florida, 7th Naval District, handwritten, 1942; a small three ring binder with notes from a visit to Navy Base San Diego, in 1941, with technical content; and multiple copies of a letter that Smith sent to the Secretary of the Navy in 1940 in which he sought reinstatement to the Navy, a request which was obviously granted.

Finally, the group includes a letter from the collector who originally acquired the items from Captain Smith in 1971. The letter is written to a second collector who was acquiring the group.