Italian order awarded to Admiral of the Fleet, Earl David Beatty, G C B (1871-1936) in 1917. Badge: A gold cross-urde enamelled white, resting on a wreath of laurel and oak. Obverse: centre, the arms of Savoy (a white cross on a red background) surrounded by a red band with the legend 'AL MERITO MILITARE' in gold. Reverse: centre two swords saltire points upwards and above them the date '1855', the initials 'V' (left) and 'E' (right) all on a red ground encircled gold. A crown above the badge. Worn from a blue ribbon with a central red stripe. Star: A rayed eight-pointed facetted silver star with the reverse of the badge in the centre.

Beatty entered the navy in 1884 at the age of 13, training in ‘Britannia.’ He commanded a gunboat on the Nile during Kitchener's re-conquest of the Sudan, gaining the D.S.O. and early promotion to commander. He served in ‘Barfleur’ during the Boxer Rebellion, leading reinforcements to Tientsin and Hsiku. He was wounded during this operation. In 1910 he was promoted Rear-Admiral at an exceptionally early age. In 1912 Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, appointed him his naval secretary. During the First World War he commanded the battle-cruiser fleet based on Rosyth in HMS ‘Lion’ He achieved a decisive victory at Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914. During an action in the area of Dogger Bank, 24 January 1915, the ‘Blucher’ was sunk but the remaining German ships escaped. Beatty led the battle-cruiser fleet at Jutland 31 May 1916 - the only major naval action of the war. In 1916 he succeeded Jellicoe as Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet and after the war, was First Sea Lord from 1919-1927.