Awarded to Lieutenant Commander Hewitt St John Clay (1892-1960). Obverse: Head of King George V (left). Legend: 'GEORGIVS V BRITT : OMN:REX ET IND : IMP:' Reverse: Within a laurel garland in relief, the bow view of a drifter, a ship in the distance (right).Exergue: 'FOR WAR SERVICE MERCANTILE MARINE 1914-1918'. Inscription on edge: 'H. ST. JOHN CLAY'. Fitted with a bar and light green and scarlet watered silk ribbon divided by a narrow white stripe. [Ribbon Missing].

Hewitt St John Clay was the son of John Clay, chief writer RN and Lucy Henrietta Clay (Coldrey), a dress maker. He left school in 1907 to join an architect’s office in Reading but ultimately chose a different career, being apprenticed into merchant service on 28 May 1909. He was issued a 2nd Mates Certificate on 13 June 1913. In 1918 he was employed as 2nd Mate of ‘Australia’, Cunard Line. He also served with the British India Steam Navigation Company from 1913 to 1920. After the war he joined the Rangoon Pilot Service. He left Burma leaving following the Japanese invasion and joined the Royal Indian Naval Reserve as acting Lieutenant Commander. He was invalided out in March 1945. Clay became a Freeman of the City of London and died in Torquay.

He married Dorothy Irene Whitehead at Haringey on 2 January 1926.