GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY
The German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee had been deployed, with the support ship Altmark, to cruise near the Cape Verde Islands in September 1939. With the outbreak of war she was ordered to move into the South Atlantic to operate as a commerce raider, whilst avoiding major engagements. The ‘warship claimed its first victim, sinking the British merchant vessel Clement. The British ship managed to broadcast a distress signal, providing the first indication that a German raider was operating in the area... As a result, Achilles was ordered to quit its watchdog role along South America’s west coast and proceed to the South Atlantic. After a steady passage, and refuelling at the Falkland Islands, Achilles reached the southern approaches of the River Plate on 26 October. It joined Commodore Henry (later Admiral Sir Henry) Harwood’s South America Division, which had been transferred from the America and West Indies Station. The New Zealand ship joined the division’s heavy cruisers H.M.S. Exeter and Cumberland and the light cruiser Ajax in patrolling the Rio de Janeiro/River Plate area.’ (Ibid)
On 2 December, in the eastern South Atlantic, the Graf Spee sank the Blue Star Line’s Doric Star, bound from New Zealand to the United Kingdom, and five days later she sank the steamer Tairoa. Both ships had got off distress messages, and their final positions gave the indication that the German ship was heading for the east coast of South America. Harwood concluded that the River Plate was the most likely target, and by the early hours of 12 December 1939 had gathered the Achilles, Ajax and Exeter.
Harwood’s educated guess was vindicated when at 6.14 am the following morning the Graf Spee’s smoke was spotted on the horizon. Faced with a much more heavily armed German ship, Harwood’s division faced the prospect of long range annihilation. However, instead of standing off and using the longer range of his guns to good effect, the German Captain closed with the enemy.
The Graf Spee ‘opened fire at 6.18 am at a range of just under 20,000 metres. Exeter, closing fast, replied two minutes later. At first the Germans responded to Harwood’s tactic by splitting their armament, but then concentrated the fire of all 11-inch guns on Exeter. Within six minutes, several shells had hit Exeter, causing heavy damage and loss of life. Despite having one turret knocked out, Exeter remained in action, and took more hits. At 6.32 it fired torpedoes at the enemy ship, but they missed. In all, 61 members of Exeter’s crew were killed or mortally wounded during the action.
While Graf Spee concentrated on Exeter, Ajax and Achilles closed in. Achilles opened fire at 6.21 am, and Ajax two minutes later. Their 16 smaller guns scored numerous hits, though the damage was limited by the small weight of the shells. Even so, the fire discomfited the Germans and, at 6.30, they again split their main armament. One 11-inch gun turret fixed on the light cruisers. Ajax was straddled by shells three times.
Achilles did not escape unscathed. At 6.40 a near miss sent shell splinters tearing through the director control tower, killing four ratings - two of them New Zealanders - and seriously wounding three more. Captain Parry and five others were slightly wounded.’ (Ibid)
The significance of Achilles’ role in the battle was historic:
‘When the cruiser H.M.S. Achilles opened fire on the German ‘pocket battleship’ Admiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic, at 6.21 am on 13 December 1939, it became the first New Zealand unit to strike a blow at the enemy in the Second World War. With the New Zealand ensign flying proudly from her mainmast - as battle loomed, a signalman had run aft with the ensign shouting ‘Make way for the Digger flag!’ - Achilles became the first New Zealand warship to take part in a naval battle.
The 82-minute engagement between the Graf Spee and its three smaller British opponents - Achilles, Ajax and Exeter - was inconclusive. All four were damaged, with the British ships suffering 72 fatalities (two of them New Zealanders) to the Graf Spee’s 36. But the German warship’s subsequent withdrawal to the neutral Uruguayan port of Montevideo, and its dramatic scuttling by its own crew on 17 December, turned the Battle of the River Plate into a major British victory - and a welcome morale boost for the Allied cause. Achilles’ role in the battle was a special source of pride for New Zealanders, who welcomed the ship’s crew home at huge parades on Auckland and Wellington in early 1940.’
Having experienced the adulation of the New Zealand public, Jerrard advanced to Acting Chief Engine Room Artificer in November 1940, and to Chief Engine Room Artificer in November the following year. With Japan entering the war, the Achilles was employed as part of the ANZAC Squadron, on convoy defence in the south-west Pacific. In July 1941 the Achilles transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy, upon its formation, and became H.M.Z.N.S. Achilles.
Throughout 1942-1943, the Achilles continued to be employed on escort duties, whilst often operating in tandem with American ships on military operations. She escorted a Task Force to Guadalcanal, 3 January 1943, and the following day deployed off the Solomons and bombarded the Japanese airfield at Munda, New Georgia. The Achilles was hit and badly damaged on her ‘X’ turret by air attacks whilst providing naval gunfire support off Guadalcanal, 5 January 1943. She underwent a major refit in the UK, between April 1943 - May 1944, and upon completion was allocated for service with the 4th Cruiser Squadron as part of the British Pacific Fleet.
In May 1945, the Achilles joined the British Pacific Fleet at Manus. She was employed as part of Task Force 57 during Operation Iceberg, the Battle of Okinawa, in particular as part of the screen during flying operations off Sakishima Gunto. In June 1945, the Achilles was employed with a number of British ships including the Aircraft Carrier H.M.S. Implacable as part of Task Unit 111.2 for Operation Inmate - a series of air attacks on Japanese positions in Truk, Caroline Islands. The following month she was engaged, as part of Task Force 37, in operations against Kure, Miko and Kobe. The Achilles remained in the task force’s operational area, during the final air operations - ultimately leading to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
Jerrard was ‘Shore Pensioned’ in December 1948, and settled in New Zealand. He died in Auckland, New Zealand in May 1980, and is buried in the Glenfield Berm Cemetery.
Sold with copied service papers, and research.
90
A Great War 1916 ‘Western Front’ M.M. and Second Award Bar group of eight awarded to Second Lieutenant E. V. Leach, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
MILITARYMEDAL, G.V.R., with Second Award Bar (3772 Sjt. E. V. Leach, 10/R. War. R.); 1914-15 STAR (3772 L. Sjt. E. V. Leach, R. War. R.); BRITISHWAR AND VICTORYMEDALS (2 Lieut. E. V. Leach); 1939-45 STAR; AFRICA STAR;DEFENCE ANDWARMEDALS 1939-45, good very fine and better (8)
£800-1000
M.M. London Gazette 21 October 1916. M.M. Second Award Bar London Gazette 9 December 1916.
Ernest Victor Leach, a native of Stoke, first went to France as a Lance-Sergeant in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in mid-July 1915. He was subsequently awarded the Military Medal and a Second Award Bar for his gallant deeds in the 10th Battalion, most likely for service on the Somme, and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in October 1917.
Sold with original Army Council forwarding slip for the 1939-45 War awards, services that remain unverified.
www.dnw.co.uk
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