A Collection of Medals to Second World War Casualties (Part II) 963
Four: Able Seaman A. Gibson, Royal Navy, who was killed in action when H.M.S. Edinburgh, on escort duty with Russian convoy QP-11, was torpedoed by the German submarine U-456 and sank in the Barents Sea, 2 May 1942; her cargo included 5 tons of Russian gold, bound for America
1939-45 STAR; ATLANTIC STAR; AFRICA STAR; WAR MEDAL 1939-45, with named Admiralty enclosure, in card box of issue, addressed to ‘Mrs. M. Gibson, 16 Alltyre Street, Glasgow, E.C.2’, nearly extremely fine (4)
£120-160
Andrew Gibson served during the Second World War as an Able Seaman in the Belfast-class light cruiser H.M.S. Edinburgh, that spent most of the Second World War on convoy escort duties to both Murmansk and Malta. On 29 April 1942 she departed Murmansk with convoy QP11. Her cargo contained almost 5 tons of Russian gold bullion, then worth £45,000,000, bound for the United States of America. Taking a position ahead of the main body of vessels, on 2 May she was attacked by the German submarine U-456, and was hit by two torpedoes to her starboard side. 78 of her crew were killed and 43 wounded, but incredibly the Edinburgh remained afloat. After two attempts to take her in tow had failed, her surviving crew were removed and she was scuttled by a torpedo from H.M.S. Foresight in the Barents Sea. The gold she was carrying sank with her, and was finally recovered in 1981.
Gibson was amongst those killed, aged 19. He is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial. His medals were sent to his mother Margaret Gibson, who subsequently composed the following poem in honour of her son:
As I stood out on the open deck And gazed on the ocean blue. I thought I saw someone I loved Or someone whom I knew.
I watched the waves go rolling by I thought I heard them say ‘I see you mother on the deck Please don’t forget to pray.’
My heart was still as I stood there I knew not what to say
So I closed my eyes and I whispered soft ‘God bless you son this day.’
Then I turned from the deck and slowly walked away My heart was breaking as the ship was plodding through For I had lost my dear, dear boy that day Killed in April 1942.
964
Three: Able Seaman E. L. Curry, Royal Navy, who was killed in action when H.M.S. Wild Swan was attacked by German Ju88 dive bombers and sunk 100 off the coast of Brittany, 17 June 1942
1939-45 STAR; ATLANTIC STAR; WAR MEDAL 1939-45, with named Admiralty enclosure, in card box of issue, addressed to ‘Mrs. M. P. Curry, 4 Marion Crescent, Maidstone, Kent’; together with the recipient’s MEMORIAL SCROLL (Able Seaman E. L. Curry Royal Navy), in envelope of issue, similarly addressed, extremely fine (3)
£200-240
Ernest Llewellyn Curry served during the Second World War as an Able Seaman in the destroyer H.M.S. Wild Swan. On 17 June 1942, having completed her escort duty with an Atlantic convoy that afternoon, she was proceeding still in the danger area off the South West coast of France. As she was passing a fleet of Spanish trawlers 12 Ju88 were sighted five miles away. Wild Swan waited until they came into range and then opened up with all her armament. An account of the ensuing action, given by the Navigation Officer, Lieutenant P. G. Satow, and recounted in H.M.S. Wild Swan, by Peter Smith, states:
‘Within a minute or two, of course, we were at full action stations and then the twelve Huns slowly dropped out from the cloud base. As they crossed ahead of us we opened up with our two foremost 4.7s. The first few rounds burst remarkably close, and at least two of the raiders appeared to be hit, and climbed back into the clouds. A minute or two later these two dropped out of the clouds again steering wildly. We held our breath as they collided head-on, each doing about 300 m.p.h. One caught fire and dived vertically on to a Spanish trawler. The whole lot blew up and a shower of pieces went flying through the air. The other dived headlong into the sea, quite close to the burning wreckage of his opposite number. He released his bombs about a hundred feet up - too late - they fell only a few yards away, and he was also blown to pieces. During the early part of this fierce engagement, Wild Swan was steaming at nearly 25 knots, and altering course continuously to try and avoid the bombs which were falling alarmingly close. She had no time to go and look for German airmen in the sea who might have escaped... About this time Wild Swan experienced a very near miss which severely shook her entire hull, and caused extensive damage. As she lost speed, the rudder also jammed and the crippled destroyer was out of control. Her speed through the water had dropped to only walking pace, when the Wild Swan collided with a trawler which became impaled on her bows. The ship soon stopped, and the Spanish crew were hauled aboard... The sixth bomber caught us. He dived down out of the sun at an angle of 50 degrees and, although the starboard pom-pom and Lewis gunner fired through his wings, five bombs hit the water 15 feet from the ship’s side and went off immediately under the keel. All the guns were firing individually as the electrical circuits and supplies were shattered. This quarter of an hour gave us time to rig a jury wireless aerial. One aircraft came in and machine-gunned us. Unfortunately for him the 12-pounder crew - by now all stripped to the waist - scored a direct hit on one of the engines. As he turned away, the forward guns engaged him and he slowly lost height, hitting the water in a sheet of spray. Before the aerial was finished somebody yelled, “Look out, here he comes.” High up above a machine was coming down at full throttle. He was about 2000 feet up and had a long way to go. All the guns’ crews spotted him simultaneously and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much stuff going up into one machine. He turned his cannon on us and let go four 500lb. bombs. They fell a few feet from our starboard quarter. Although the Lewis and Bren gunners could see this lot coming straight for us, they kept up a hail of fire right till the bombs exploded. There was a rending of steel plates as the old ship broke her back. The flooding of the engine room was completed, depth charges thrown into the air and the 12-pounder lifted clean off its mounting... ’
With the order to “Abandon ship” given, Wild Swan’s survivors took to the water, some reaching Carley floats, others the ship’s whaler and motorboat, and a Merchant Navy pattern raft which had been recovered at sea at an earlier date. A long night ensued, and 30 men died of exposure. The survivors were picked up the following morning by the destroyer H.M.S. Vansittart.
Curry was amongst those killed. He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. His medals were sent to his mother Mrs. M. P. Curry.
Sold with an H.M.S. Wild Swan Christmas Card; and a copy of the book ‘H.M.S. Wild Swan’ by Peter C. Smith.
www.dnw.co.uk
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