GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY
827
A highly impressive and well-documented Second World War Dunkirk beach party operations D.S.M., post-war B.E.
M. group of ten awarded to Lieutenant F. H. McLaughlin, Royal Naval Reserve (Sea Cadet Corps), late Royal Navy
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL, G.VI.R. (JX. 146012 F. H. McLaughlin, A.B., R.N.), the letters for ‘R.N.’ over-stamped on one
another; BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL, (Military) E.II.R. (C.P.O. (G.A. 1) Francis H. McLaughlin, D.S.M., P/JX. 146012); 1939-45
STAR; ATLANTIC STAR; BURMA STAR, clasp, Pacific; WAR MEDAL 1939-45; KOREA 1950-53 (C/JX. 146012 F. H. McLaughlin, D.S.
M., P.O., R.N.); U.N. KOREA; GENERAL SERVICE 1962, 2 clasps, Borneo, Malay Peninsula (JX. 146012 F. H. McLaughlin, C.P.
O., R.N.); ROYAL NAVY L.S. & G.C., E.II.R. (JX. 146012 F. H. McLaughlin, D.S.M., C.P.O., H.M.S. Ganges), mounted court-
style as worn, the first with edge bruising and polished, thus good fine, the remainder generally very fine (10)
£2000-2500
D.S.M. London Gazette 7 June 1940:
‘For good services in the withdrawal of the Allied Armies from the beaches at
Dunkirk.’
B.E.M. London Gazette 1 January 1966.
Francis Henry McLaughlin was in Curragh, Kildare in June 1920 and volunteered
for the Royal Navy in October 1935, when he entered the training establishment
St. Vincent as a Boy 2nd Class. Advanced to Able Seaman in H.M.S. Shropshire
in March 1939, he joined the destroyer Kelvin shortly after the outbreak of
hostilities later that year, in which capacity he served until early May 1940, when
he was re-mustered at Pembroke, the Chatham naval depot.
Of his subsequent part in the Dunkirk operations, he is confirmed in official
records as having served in an R.N. Shore Party, to which may be added his own
modest summary of events from a later newspaper interview - ‘I was there with a
Naval Beach Party, supervising the collection of personnel for evacuation. We
were there from the beginning to the end. It was pretty hectic.’ By the time
McLaughlin and a colleague of his finally got back to Kent, their uniforms were
in shreds and, lacking formal I.Ds, they were thrown off a bus by the conductor
while endeavouring to get back to Pembroke. He was duly awarded the D.S.M.,
which decoration he received at a Buckingham Palace investiture held on 18
March 1941.
Next appointed to the cruiser Kent, he remained similarly employed until returning to Pembroke in August 1942, in which period he
was advanced to Acting Petty Officer and qualified as a Royal Naval Diver 1st Class. McLaughlin’s final wartime appointment was in
another cruiser, the London, in which he served from April 1943 until the end of hostilities.
Post-war, he served at Ladybird, the Japanese base, from September 1950 until April 1953, and elsewhere in the same region, and was
awarded a C.-in-C’s Commendation for his services in the Korean conflict, the citation, dated 1 October 1951, stating ‘For outstanding
cheerfulness, zeal and devotion to duty while working with the armament supply organisation at Sasebo. He has made a great success
of an unusual and arduous job.’ Also awarded the Queen’s and U.N. Korea Medals, he added the L.S. & G.C. Medal to his honours in
February 1964, while serving at the training establishment Ganges. But further accolades were to follow, for he witnessed yet more
active service out in the Far East in Manxman in 1964-66, acting in support of Malaysian security in ‘the fight against Indonesian
infiltration and aggression’, and off Borneo, operations that resulted in the the award of his B.E.M. and General Service Medal - both
clasps being confirmed on his service record. Finally pensioned ashore in June 1970, McLaughlin took up employment as a Revenue
Assistant in H.M. Customs & Excise, but retained his links with the Senior Service by way of employment as a Lieutenant in the Royal
Naval Reserve (Sea Cadet Corps) at Holyhead, where, by all accounts, he was an inspiration to his young charges and a popular
colleague, his C.O. reporting in April 1972 that he was ‘a grand chap with wonderful sense of humour and lots of personality.’
Sold with a large quantity of original documentation, including several signals and letters appertaining to the award of his B.E.M.,
among them an investiture letter for a ceremony being held at the British High Commission, Singapore, on 18 April 1966, and related
programme; the recipient’s R.N. Educational Test Certificates (I & II), dated March 1937; official Record of Service, in its card sleeve,
together with Gunnery History Sheets (2), and Trade Certificate for Royal Naval Divers; Certificates for Wounds and Hurts (4), relating
to injuries received aboard H.M.S. Shropshire, June 1938, H.M.S. Sussex, November 1948, H.M.S. Birmingham, November 1955 and at
the training establishment Ganges, November 1963; assorted letters of reference from C.Os (6), covering the period 1950-70; his C.-in-
C’s Commendation, Far East Station, dated 1 October 1951, and related congratulatory letter from the Admiral’s second-in-command;
career photographs (4), including wartime portrait wearing his D.S.M. riband and a “still” from the film “The Battle of the River Plate”,
in which McClaughlin made a brief appearance as his ship at the time was lent to the film makers for deck scenes; and Admiralty
certificate of retirement, dated 15 May 1970.
www.dnw.co.uk
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