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Captain Arthur Jermyn LANDON Croix de Guerre RN
HMS Greenwich, Royal Navy Date of birth: 4th August 1883 Date of death: 17th April 1931 Died aged 47 Unknown
Arthur Jermyn Landon was born at Brentwood in Essex on the 4th of August 1883 the son of Edward Palmer Landon, a solicitor, and Mary Rosamond (nee Magrath) Landon of "Shenfield", The Drive, Wimbledon. He was educated at Lancing College where he was in School House from September 1895 to April 1898. He entered the Royal Naval College, HMS Britannia as a Naval Cadet on the 15th of September 1898 and left on the 14th of January 1900 when he was posted to HMS Duke of Wellington. He served with her until the 31st of January 1900 when he was posted to the battleship HMS Majestic until the 14th of January 1901, during which time he was appointed as a Midshipman on the 15th of May 1900. He was posted to the battleship HMS Royal Sovereign on the 15th of January 1901 and served with her in the Mediterranean before transferring for service on the battleship HMS Formidable from the 1st of June 1902 to the 14th of May 1903. He was promoted to Sub Lieutenant in 1903 and from September 1903 to May 1904 he attended the Staff College. He served with the armoured cruiser HMS Leviathan from the 1st of June 1904 to the 5th of December 1905 and was promoted to Lieutenant on the 31st of December 1905. He served as the Captain of HM Torpedo Boat 16 from the 12th of January 1906 to the 4th of January 1907. He then served in a number of destroyers before joining the armoured cruiser Antrim in 1912 and 1913. He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on the 31st of December 1913. He was married at St Nicholas' Church, Pyrford, Surrey to Eily Emily "Molly" (nee Evans) on the 26th of January 1915. They had a son, Martyn Arthur Jermyn, born on the 29th of March 1930. During the Great War he served on the China Station, in the Red Sea and on the Dover Patrol. He was appointed as Captain of the gunboat HMS Widgeon, serving on the China Station in the Yangtze River from the 15th of January to the 16th of November 1914 when he received orders to return home. He received orders to join the battleship HMS Conqueror on the 3rd of February 1915 but the orders were cancelled and he waited at Portsmouth for a month until he was posted to the battleship HMS Swiftsure for special service. From the 11th of January 1916 he commanded the patrol boat HMS P11 until the 14th of January 1917 when he was posted to the command of the destroyer HMS Mentor. On the night of the 20th /21st of April 1917, two Royal Navy destroyers HMS Swift and HMS Broke, engaged a force of six enemy destroyers in the Channel. In the ensuing battle two enemy destroyers were sunk with the others feeling. HMS Swift followed them but took several hits and was forced to withdraw. Arthur Landon led his sub division towards the fighting where he found HMS Broke drifting helplessly with a blazing German destroyer nearby. He took HMS Broke in tow and helped in picking up survivors. For his part in an action he was mentioned in despatches, which was announced by the Admiralty on the 10th of May 1917, and was awarded the Croix de Geurre. He was promoted to Commander on the 31st of December 1917. He commanded the destroyer HMS Trident from the 29th of May 1918 to the 20th of March 1919 when he took command of the destroyer HMS Sybille until the 26th of May 1920. He was posted to the shore station HMS Pembroke from the 28th of May 1920 to the 2nd of November 1920 when he was posted to the destroyer HMS Vanquisher, serving with her until the 22nd of August 1922. On the 24th of August 1922 he was posted to the training establishment HMS President for training on destroyers and was there until the 25th of October 1924. From the 28th of October 1924 he served at the shore establishment HMS Victory until the 4th of January 1925, but returned there on the 7th of March 1925 to attend a senior officers course. He was promoted to Captain on the 30th of June 1925. He was appointed to the command of the light cruiser HMS Castor from the 8th of September 1926 to the 19th of March 1927 and to the command of the light cruiser HMS Ceres from the 19th of March 1927 to January 1929. He was appointed as the commanding officer of the destroyer depot ship HMS Greenwich based at Rosyth from the 15th of October 1929 until his death on the 17th of April 1931. He was Assistant Captain (D) of the Reserve Fleet and served as the King's Harbour Master at Rosyth. He died from septicaemia at Garthdee Nursing Home, Buchanan Street, Dunfermline in Fifeshire.

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