A Collection of Medals relating to the Boer War formed by two brothers 237
A rare Great War Dardanelles operations D.S.C. group of five awarded to Lieutenant J. W. A. Chubb, Royal Navy, an ex-Boer War Naval Brigade hand who was decorated for gallant deeds during a heated action in The Narrows - according to one survivor it ‘beat the Crystal Palace for fireworks hands down’
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS, G.V.R., hallmarks for London 1916; QUEEN’S SOUTH AFRICA 1899-1902, 4 clasps, Cape Colony, Paardeberg, Driefontein, Transvaal (178485 A.B. J. W. A. Chubb, H.M.S. Barrosa); 1914-15 STAR (Gnr. J. W. A. Chubb, D.S.C., R.N.); BRITISHWAR AND VICTORYMEDALS (Gunr. J. W. A. Chubb, R.N.), minor scratches over ranks on the Great War awards, generally good very fine (5)
£2000-2500 D.S.C. London Gazette 16 August 1915:
‘Mr. Chubb, when a volunteer in Trawler No. 488, on the night of 13-14 March 1915, brought the vessel out of action in a sinking condition, his commanding officer and three of the small crew being killed.’
John William Alexander Chubb was born in Southsea, Hampshire in October 1878 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy Seaman 2nd Class in February 1894. Advanced to Able Seaman in June 1898, he was serving aboard H.M.S. Barrosa on the outbreak of hostilities in South Africa and, in January 1900, among those of her ratings landed for service in the Naval Brigade, namely as members of “Grant’s Guns” and, more particularly, to man the 4.7-inch gun “Sloper”, which was pulled by 16 oxen. Chubb duly went into action Paardeberg, Poplar Grove and Driefontein, was onetime attached to the Doris’ gun team as well, and qualified for the above described Queen’s Medal & clasps by the time he returned to the Barrosa at the end of the year.
Rapid advancement now ensued, Chubb becoming a Petty Officer 1st Class in November 1903 and a Gunner (T.) in September 1909, and he joined the battleship Prince George in August 1914, shortly before her departure for the Dardanelles. But it was as a volunteer in Trawler No. 488, in a desperate mine sweeping enterprise on the night of 13-14 March 1915, that he won his D.S.C. Taffrail’s Swept Channels takes up the story:
‘On the night of March 13-14 the Cornwallis was sent into the Straits and spent an hour from midnight bombarding the searchlights and minefield batteries. At 2 a.m. the Amethyst and destroyers again closed in to engage the batteries with great vigour. Then, at 3 a.m., seven trawlers, commanded by naval officers and partly manned by naval ratings [including Chubb], steamed up in single line. They were accompanied by five picket boats commanded by young midshipmen and provided with explosive creeps. The minesweeping force was covered as usual by the Amethyst and destroyers.
The Turks were fully awake, and two powerful searchlights were illuminating the approach. They allowed the sweeping flotilla to get into the middle of the minefield on their way up, firing an occasional single gun. Then the searchlights were extinguished for a moment and flashed on again, which was evidently a prearranged signal. Instantly every gun that would bear opened fire on the trawlers, the dark shore sparkling with gun flashes and the water vomiting fountains of dazzling spray.
But there was no stopping the little ships on this occasion. Followed by the storm of shell, they steamed on to the point where the downward sweep was to begin, roughly two miles below the town of Chanak. It was a gruelling experience, carried through with the greatest gallantry and devotion to duty.
By the time they reached the turning-point, however, they had already suffered severely. Two of the trawlers had had their entire working crews killed or wounded. Hit by every type of shell from six inch to shrapnel fired by field-guns, kites were demolished, wires were cut, and winches smashed. Only two of the trawlers reached the turning-point with their gear fit for sweeping.
‘I was in the leading boat of the first pair,’ wrote an officer who was present. ‘If anybody is in need of a few hours of intense excitement I can recommend minesweeping under fire as good sport; but their nerves will suffer next day. You can judge of mine by my handwriting five days later. We were under fire for about half an hour on the way up, and three quarters of hour on the way down. The most dangerous part was at the top, where you turned and stopped to get the gear out.’
‘It is about a mile and a half broad there,’ he continued, ‘with seven or eight splendid big searchlights and twenty or thirty guns a side, not counting pom-poms and Maxims, at ranges from 200 yards to a mile or so, and all sizes from 14-inch downwards. There is also a pretty fair chance of striking a mine. It was a proper show, regular Brock’s Benefit, beat the Crystal Palace for fireworks hands down.’
‘Mine were the only pair of trawlers which succeeded in sweeping down. The others came out all right; but they weren’t able to sweep because of winches being hit, etc. The picket boats did all right, as they were too small to get hit. I was very lucky, because I managed to steer into a dark corner just at the critical time when we were getting out the gear. I was only hit once ... We must have swept through several lines of mines, and as none of them exploded we soon had so many that the sweep nearly parted and we could hardly tow them at all. I had the prospect of spending the rest of the night up there trying to tow them out, when the moorings parted. The next day over a dozen mines floated down; but I can’t have had more than four or five of them. The picket boats with explosive sweeps must have got the rest. If the Turks had taken the trouble to defend their minefields with mooring buoys and chain cables, it would have been impossible to sweep through at all.’
The enterprise was a very gallant one. The volunteers for the trawlers had been provided by six of the battleships and the destroyer depot-ship Blenheim, and the trawler manned by the Vengeance was hit eighty-four times. She was commanded by Lieutenant-
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