This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
A Collection of Medals The Property of a Gentleman
Finally the last of the officers left the floundering ship, Woodhall bringing up the rear to the spontaneous cheers of his devoted crew.
The Prunella's end was now very near and she had become so greatly down by the bows that her propeller was clear of the water. Even
as the last boat rowed away she dipped under, rearing up almost on end for her final plunge. In addition to the two lifeboats which had
contained the panic party, it had also been possible to launch the undamaged starboard jolly boat, a large wooden raft and two Carley
floats. The sea was calm, though with a four-foot swell running, the sun shining, there was plenty of food and water in the boats, and
everyone was cheerful and in good spirits. Within a few hours, however, all this was to change.
The weather freshened from the north-west and a heavy sea quickly arose. Gradually the boats lost touch with one another. For a time
the raft, a weighty contraption of planks and barrels with fourteen men on board,was towed by one of the lifeboats. The latter was
under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Pottinger, R.N.R., whose role it had been to accompany the panic party as fake Master
of the Prunella after she was attacked. But as conditions worsened the raft finally broke away despite all efforts to secure it and
disappeared. The Carley floats, with six men in each, were being towed by the other two boats, in the smallest of which was
Commander Woodhall. None of these was ever seen again.
Crowded into Pottinger's lifeboat were thirty officers and men, some hands having been taken aboard from the raft before it broke
away. Wind and sea continued to increase with frequent violent hailstorms. Since many of the survivors were insufficiently clad they
were soon suffering from cold and exhaustion, and some of the weaker spirits reached a state bordering on delirium. One man, the
Fourth Radio Officer, actually went out of his mind and threw himself overboard. At dusk on the 22 June they sighted a warship several
miles off, which may have been one of the searching corvettes despatched to the aid of the Prunella. But their signal flares were damp
and would not ignite, and their frantic efforts to attract attention by waving and firing their revolvers brought no response. Luckily,
however, late in the afternoon of the following day, the boat was spotted by a patrolling aircraft which guided a French steamer to its
position. With great difficulty because of the mountainous seas running, the weak and exhausted men were hauled on board and taken
to Falmouth.
The ordeal of the men on the raft was far worse and more prolonged. Lacking oars or sail and with little food and water, they drifted
helplessly for nearly a week. On the fifth day after the sinking a U-boat surfaced and circled around them. When they shouted and
waved, the Germans merely waved back before the submarine made off. Finally they were sighted by a passing British destroyer, which
picked them up and landed them at Devonport. Five months later all those who had been listed as missing from the Prunella were
officially presumed dead. They totalled well over half her company.’
The U-28 was commanded by Kapitanleutnant Gunter Kuhnke, who was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross in September
1940; sold with a file of research.
261
The remarkable Great War period O.B.E. group of eight awarded to Major S. K. Flint, Royal Fusiliers, late Royal Irish
Rifles, whose attachment to the Egyptian Army 1895-1906 resulted in him being awarded a unique Khedive’s Sudan
Medal with 10 clasps - and four “mentions”
THE MOST EXCELLENT ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 1st type breast badge, hallmarks for London 1919,
with its Garrard & Co. case of issue; QUEEN’S SUDAN 1896-98 (2/Lt. S. K. Flint, A Tpt.); 1914-15 STAR (Major S. K. Flint, R.
Fus.); BRITISH WAR AND VICTORY MEDALS (Major S. K. Flint); TURKEY, ORDER OF OSMANIA, 4th class breast badge, silver, silver-gilt
and enamel; TURKEY, ORDER OF THE MEDJIDIE, 5th class breast badge, silver, gold and enamel; KHEDIVE’S SUDAN 1896-1908, 10
clasps, Firket, Hafir, Sudan 1897, Abu Hamed, The Atabara, Khartoum, Gedaref, Sudan 1899, Gedid, Nyam Nyam,
unnamed, generally good very fine (8) £5000-6000
www.dnw.co.uk
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220  |  Page 221  |  Page 222  |  Page 223  |  Page 224  |  Page 225  |  Page 226  |  Page 227  |  Page 228  |  Page 229  |  Page 230  |  Page 231  |  Page 232  |  Page 233  |  Page 234  |  Page 235  |  Page 236  |  Page 237  |  Page 238  |  Page 239  |  Page 240  |  Page 241  |  Page 242  |  Page 243  |  Page 244  |  Page 245  |  Page 246  |  Page 247  |  Page 248  |  Page 249  |  Page 250  |  Page 251  |  Page 252  |  Page 253  |  Page 254  |  Page 255  |  Page 256  |  Page 257  |  Page 258  |  Page 259  |  Page 260  |  Page 261  |  Page 262  |  Page 263  |  Page 264  |  Page 265  |  Page 266  |  Page 267  |  Page 268  |  Page 269  |  Page 270  |  Page 271  |  Page 272  |  Page 273  |  Page 274  |  Page 275  |  Page 276  |  Page 277  |  Page 278  |  Page 279  |  Page 280  |  Page 281  |  Page 282  |  Page 283  |  Page 284  |  Page 285
Produced with Yudu - www.yudu.com