Exceptional Naval and Polar Awards from the Collection of RC Witte
On the run into harbour the C.O. of C.M.B. 88, Lieutenant Dayrell-Reed, was shot through the head and killed. His body slumped over the steering wheel so that the motor boat began to career out of control. The second-in-command, Lieutenant G. C. Steele, manhandled his dead Captain's body away from the controls and took charge himself, steadying the boat on course once more for her target, the battleship Andrei Pervozvanni. Steele fired one torpedo at 100 yards range, and then had to manoeuvre the C.M.B. in a very confined space to get a clear shot at the other battleship, the Petropavlosk, which was obscured by the hull of the Andrei Pervozvanni and shrouded in the smoke from her. Steele only just had enough room to turn but headed for the entrance, firing at the machine-guns along the wall as he went, and he too gained the safety of the bay outside, where Agar in C.M.B. 7, who had been acting as a kind of traffic marshal, was waiting. There, Lieutenant Bremner in C.M.B. 24 also arrived, having torpedoed and sunk the submarine depot ship Pamyat Azova. Both battleships sank in the inner harbour, as the remaining
C.M.Bs roared across the water back to base.
This brilliant coup de main severely embarrassed the Cabinet, who were at that very moment conducting delicate negotiations with the Bolsheviks for the withdrawal of the large British land forces then in Archangel. The raid also had another unexpected and unfortunate political effect. The Russian Baltic Fleet, and especially the Kronstadt garrison, had been scornfully critical of the Bolsheviks. The audacity of the raid caused them to turn temporarily over to the Bolshevik side. However, Victoria Crosses are happily not awarded by politicians, and Dobson [S.N.O. and Sadler's skipper] and Steele were duly gazetted on 11 November 1919, the first anniversary of Armistice Day.'
Sadler was demobilised in December 1919; sold with copied research.
1012
A rare Anglo-Russian Naval Brigade operations D.S.M. group of seven awarded to Colour-Sergeant W. G. Peters, Royal Marines
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL, G.V.R. (PO/17265 Pte. W. G. Peters, R.M.L.I., Russian Allied Nl. Bde. 13-16 Oct. 1919); BRITISHWAR AND VICTORY MEDALS (PO. 17265 L. Cpl. W. G. Peters, R.M.L.I.); JUBILEE 1935; CORONATION 1937; ROYAL MARINES MERITORIOUS SERVICEMEDAL,
G.VI.R., 2nd issue (PO. 17265 C. Sgt. W. G. Peters, D.S.M., 28.2.1951); ROYALNAVY L.S.&G.C., G.V.R., 3rd issue, coinage bust (PO. 17265 Sgt. W. G. Peters, R.M.), the M.S.M. with officially corrected number, the first three with contact marks and a little polished, good fine, the remainder very fine or better (7)
£3000-3500 D.S.M. London Gazette 22 April 1919.
William George Peters was born in Gosport, Hampshire in August 1899 and enlisted in the Royal Marines Light Infantry as a boy recruit in May 1914. Posted to the Portsmouth Division, he was awarded the King’s Badge in the summer of 1918, by which stage he was serving in Russia.
A full account of the Royal Marines in Russia 1918-19 may be found in Blumberg’s Britain’s Sea Soldiers 1914-19, a publication that also confirms the recipient’s award as being one of just nine
D.S.Ms to the Corps for these operations. It is clear, however, that the year inscribed on his D.S.M. should actually be 1918, rather than 1919 (by October of which year the Allied Naval Brigade had returned home), a deduction also made possible by entries in Peters’ service papers - he was among the 94 N.C.Os and men of the Royal Marine Field Force that accompanied “Elope” Force in the River Dwina operations, the whole having been transferred to the books of H.M. Monitor 25.
It is interesting to note that due to the intense cold of the Arctic winter, Sir Ernest Shackleton travelled to Murmansk to advise the Force based on his experiences gained in the Antarctic. As a result, each man was issued with an Arctic kit designed by him, comprising four sets of Wolseley underclothing, one Burberry suit, one large woollen lined overcoat, 12 pairs of socks, one pair of Shackleton boots, one Arctic cap, special gloves, one pair of blizzard goggles, one pair of skis and sticks, and one Westinghouse rifle manufactured in the U.S.A. The Force was also equipped with small axes, sleighs as used in Sir Ernest’s last expedition, sleeping bags, Stockholm tar and specially prepared food.
Following his services in Russia, he remained a “regular”, was awarded the Jubilee 1935 and Coronation 1937 Medals (service papers refer), and was discharged in August 1938. Soon after the renewal of hostilities, however, he was recalled by his old Corps and appears to have served at assorted R.M. Barracks and Depots in the U.K. until being released for a final time in September 1945; sold with copied research.
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