Exceptional Naval and Polar Awards from the Collection of RC Witte 1011
An extremely rare Kronstadt raid D.S.M. group of three awarded to Chief Motor Mechanic H. E. Sadler, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, who went in to action in Dobson, V.C’s leading boat, Coastal Motor Boat 31
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL, G.V.R. (M.B. 2499 H. E. Sadler, Ch. M.M., R.N.V.R., “C.M.B. 31”, Cronstadt Harbour, 18 Aug. 1919); BRITISHWAR AND VICTORYMEDALS (M.B. 2499 H. E. Sadler, C.M.M., R.N.V.R.), minor official corrections to the first, polished, nearly very fine (3)
£4000-5000
From Agar’s “Baltic Episode” D.S.M. London Gazette 11 November 1919. The original recommendation - for a C.G.M. - states:
‘He was in charge of one engine of Coastal Motor Boat No. 31 in the attack on Kronstadt harbour on the morning of 18 August 1919. This boat torpedoed the Bolshevik battleship Andre Pervozanni.’
Harry Eric Sadler, who was born in September 1895, entered the “Wavy Navy” as a Chief Motor Mechanic in London in April 1918.
Subsequently enrolled for service in Coastal Motor Boats (
C.M.Bs), he found himself ordered to Bjorko in the Baltic in the summer of 1919, in one of eight
C.M.Bs intended for use in a raid on Kronstadt harbour, under Commander C. C. Dobson, D.S.O., R.N.
And accompanying them in that daring enterprise on the night of 18-19 August - but only as an observer - was Augustus Agar, V.C., who had already established a secret base at Terrioki on the Finnish shore north of Kronstadt, from whence, in addition to carrying out a courier service for agents in his C.M.B., he had executed a brilliant solo attack on the Russian cruiser Oleg in Kronstadt harbour on 16 -17 June, winning a V.C. in the process - and a price of £5,000 on his head from the irate Bolsheviks.
Of subsequent events on 18-19 August, much has been written, not least by Agar in Baltic Episode, but the following account of Dobson’s fortunes in C.M.B. 31, with Sadler as his mechanic, is taken from The Victoria Cross at Sea, by John Winton:
'At 1 a.m. on 18 August, the eight
C.M.Bs led by Commander C. C. Dobson in C.M.B. 31, left Cowan's base at Bjorko Sound, thirty miles east of Kotlin Island. The
C.M.Bs were manned by two officers and an Engine-Room Artificer, and each had a Finnish smuggler on board with local knowledge of the Bay. They reached the north side of the island at about 4 a.m. just as the diversionary bombing attack by twelve R.A.F. Sopwith Camels was taking place, and slipped past a row of forts which were supposed to be armed with heavy 11-inch, 9-inch and 6-inch guns (in fact, at least two forts had only rifles and machine-guns). However, the guns' crews were caught completely napping and even when the
C.M.Bs roared into the inner harbour at about 4.25 a.m., many of the guns could not fire because they feared to hit each other or because they could not depress far enough.
Three
C.M.Bs had been detailed to sink the destroyer Gavril at the entrance but their torpedoes ran too shallow and missed. Assisted by searchlights from the forts Gavril retaliated and eventually sank three
C.M.Bs. Meanwhile, the others swept into the harbour in two columns. C.M.B. 31, conned by Lieutenant McBean [and with Saddler aboard], reached the inner jetty and torpedoed the battleship Andrei Pervozvanni. The C.M.B. stayed for a time in the harbour, under heavy machine-gun fire, whilst Dobson directed the other C.M. Bs before retreating under the shelter of the harbour walls to the open bay.
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