Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry 58
‘The destroyer was so close that Woodward was certain they must have been seen. When he reached periscope level the escort was 600 yards away and approaching at high speed. It was probably too late to dive to avoid collision, even if there was now more than eight feet under the keel. He muttered, ‘Oh my God!’, then yelled, ‘Stand by to be rammed,’ and ‘Shut watertight doors,’ ordered a swing to port to take a glancing blow and bolted for the control tower hatch. ‘Tosh’ Harding, the raw-boned southern Irish coxwain, grabbed him by the legs, said ‘I wouldn’t do that sir!’ and pulled him down while the first lieutenant dived the boat.’
An outstanding Second World War submariner’s D.S.M. and Second Award Bar group of seven awarded to Chief Petty Officer W. J. ‘Tosh’ Harding, Royal Navy: a ‘raw-boned’ southern Irishman who gained his first award for gallant services in H.M.S. Clyde, including the torpedoing of the German battleship Gneisenau in a brilliant action off the Norwegian coast in June 1940, he added a bar to his D.S.M. for his subsequent gallantry in H.M.S. Unbeaten during a period spanning nineteen war patrols which witnessed much action in the Mediterranean, including the sinking of both U-374 and the Italian submarine Guglielmotti
Distinguished Service Medal,
G.VI.R., with Second Award Bar (J.96730 W. J. Harding. P.O. H.M.S. Clyde.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; Pacific Star; War Medal 1939-45, with M.I.D. Oak Leaf; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C.,
G.VI.R., 1st issue (J-96730 W. J. Harding P.O. H.M.S. Clyde) last officially renamed, generally very fine (7)
£5,000-£6,000 D.S.M. London Gazette 9 August 1940: ‘For good services in a successful attack on an enemy heavy ship.’
D.S.M. Second Award Bar London Gazette 7 April 1942: ‘For courage, skill and coolness in successful submarine patrols.’ M.I.D. unconfirmed
Approximately 150 D.S.M.s with second award bars were issued for the Second World War.
William James Harding was born on 22 May 1904 in Newcastle, Wicklow, Ireland. He joined the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in 1920 and served in the battlecruiser H.M.S. Hood from 8 Dec 1920 until 14 May 1923, being promoted to Able Seaman on 1 December 1922. He transferred to the Submarine Branch on 1 October 1926 joining H.M.S. Dolphin, the Royal Navy’s submarine base. Between June 1929 and September 1938, Harding served aboard a number of submarines of various classes. Sailing from a range of naval bases, these included H.M. Submarines; L18, Oberon, L19, Perseus and H.M. Submarine Sterlet. He was awarded the Naval L. S. & G.C. medal on 29 July 1937 upon his completion of 15 years qualifying service.
H.M.S. Clyde - “Gneisenau” action - D.S.M.
On 10 September 1938, Harding, now an experienced submariner, rated Petty Officer, joined H.M. Submarine Clyde (N12), a River class Vickers Armstrong built submarine commissioned in 1935. With a complement of 61 and under the command of Commander W. E. Banks, Clyde was with the 1st Submarine Flotilla, stationed at Malta at the outbreak of the Second World War. In early September 1939 she joined the 7th Submarine Flotilla, stationed at Freetown, Sierra Leone from where, on 8 September, she departed for her first war patrol in the Gulf of Guinea. Returning on 2 October 1939, Clyde would go on to complete five war patrols in the Gulf of Guinea and the northern end of the South Atlantic, all with the goal of intercepting German merchant ships or raiders.
Returning to more northern waters, Clyde then undertook three patrols during April 1940 in search of U-boats, blockade runners and surface raiders in the North Sea and off the south west coast of Norway, firstly under Lieutenant-Commander R. L. S. Gaisford and then from 24 April 1940 under Lieutenant-Commander D. C. Ingram.
On 2 May 1940, Clyde, departed Dundee for her 9th war patrol. Ordered to patrol off Fro Havet, Norway, en route, she intercepted a Norwegian fishing vessel from which she took on board two Norwegian Naval officers, one of whom was wounded. The other officer, fluent in both English and German, was considered a possible asset for the patrol. On 13 May, Clyde sighted and attacked the German armed merchant cruiser Widder off Stadlandet, Norway. An exchange of gunfire followed, lasting over an hour, before the transport fled towards the shore in decreasing visibility.
Clyde departed Rosyth for her 10th patrol on 4 June 1940. Ordered back towards the Norwegian coast, this time off Standlandet, she was cruising on the surface, recharging her batteries, on the evening of 9 June when she was strafed and forced to dive by a Heinkel 111. On surfacing again when the danger had passed, bullet holes were found in the steel casing of the conning tower but the pressure hull was secure. The following day at 1340 hours she sighted the masts of two German warships passing to the northward of Clyde and well out of torpedo range. The ships sighted were the Gneisenau and Admiral Hipper, escorted by four destroyers. Ten days later off Trondheim, on 20 June 1940, Clyde would encounter them once more. D. A. Thomas takes up the story in Submarine Victory:
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