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Auction: 1008 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 14

A Well Documented Family Group: A Second War ´Evacuation of Crete´ D.S.C. Group of Eight to Lieutenant (Engineer) W.J. Spendlow, A Veteran of Jutland, During The Great War He Served in H.M.S. Decoy When She Rescued the King of Greece from Crete, May 1941 a) Distinguished Service Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated ´1942´ and additionally engraved in upright sans-serif capitals ´Lt. (E) W.J. Spendlow´ (Hallmarks for London 1940) b) 1914-15 Star c) British War and Victory Medals d) 1939-1945 Star e) Atlantic Star f) Africa Star g) War Medal, M.I.D. Oakleaf, Great War medals unnamed, generally good very fine, with the following related items: - Card box of issue for Second War Campaign Medals, addressed to ´W.J. Spendlow, 66 Compton Road, North End, Porstmouth, Hants´, with enclosure slip - Commission appointing W.J. Spendlow to Warrant Engineer, Royal Navy, dated 1.6.1927 - M.I.D. Certificate, named to Mr. William J. Spendlow, Commissioned Engineer, R.N., H.M.S. Decoy, dated 11.11.1941 - Two Investiture Admittance Tickets, Buckingham Palace, dated 17.2.1942 - Letter from recipient to his brother regarding evacuation from Greece and Crete, dated 17.10.1941 - A number of photographs relating to his family and his military career Four: Engine Room Artificer A.D. Spendlow, Royal Navy Defence and War Medals; Naval General Service 1918-62, G.VI.R., one clasp, Minesweeping 1945-51 (P/MX88279 A.D. Spendlow E.R.A. 3. R.N.); Imperial Service Medal, E.II.R. (Alan David Spendlow), very fine or better, with the following related items: - Four Sports Prize Medals - Silver-plate cigarette case surmounted with Royal Naval Artificers Training Establishment crest - Pocket Watch - Pewter Tankard engraved ´Alan Spendlow On His Retirement from D.G. Ships March 1982´ - A number of photographs relating to military career and the presentation of his Imperial Service Medal One: Wren D. Spendlow War Medal, extremely fine, with the following related items: - Card box of issue, addressed to ´Miss D. Spendlow, 66 Compton Road, North End, Portsmouth, Hants´, with enclosure slip - Three photographs relating to the recipient One: Second Lieutenant N.S. Spendlow, Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force: Coronation 1953, nearly extremely fine, with the following related items: -Named award certificate - Royal Naval Air Service Pilot´s Flying Log Book (covering the period 2.7.1918-7.12.1918) - Call to the Bar Certificate (Gray´s Inn), dated 1929 - Two photographs of recipient in uniform; and several other family photographs and other ephemera relating to all the recipients in two large and comprehensive files of research (lot) Estimate £ 1,000-1,400 D.S.C. London Gazette 8.1.1942 Lieutenant (E) William Jarvis Spendlow, Royal Navy, H.M.S Decoy ´For outstanding gallantry, fortitude and resolution during the Battle of Crete.´ M.I.D. London Gazette 11.11.1941 Mr. William Jarvis Spendlow, Commissioned Engineer, Royal Navy, H.M.S Decoy ´For distinguished services in operations in Greek Waters.´ Lieutenant William Jarvis Spendlow, D.S.C. (1894-1975), born Bradford, Yorkshire; entered Royal Navy as Boy, 1.1.1910; service as an Engine Room Artificer during the Great War included: H.M.S. Dreadnought (Battleship); H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth (Battleship), 22.9.1915-23.1.1916 and H.M.S. Barham (Battleship) 10.2.1916-1.5.1920, during which time she participated in the Battle of Jutland (31.5.1916); advanced Acting Warrant Engineer, 1.10.1925; Sub-Lieutenant Engineer, 1.10.1935; between the War he served in the Mediterranean, China and the Persian Gulf; service during the Second War included in the Destroyer H.M.S. Decoy, 17.2.1939-7.10.1941, initially operating in the Mediterranean at the start of the war Decoy´s service included taking part in the Battle of Calabria (9.7.1940); and the evacuation of Greece and then Crete, Spendlow gives more detail in a letter written to his brother, ´We got back to the Mediterranean again & worked with the fleet, did a lot of hard steaming in the Calabria battle, passed through lots of big gun salvos but could not get in torpedo range as the Italians turned away each time. We had lots of high level bombing attacks & were unfortunate on one occasion & got one on the quarterdeck which set fire to the depth charges & the aft magazine. It was a hectic few minutes, but we managed to get the magazine & shell room flooded & put it out, unfortunately quite a number were killed by the explosion of the bomb...... We were in Malta in January during the big blitz there, this time a real big un went right through our bows and out the side & exploded in the water, gosh talk about shaking the ship up, but no one was hurt. Our next job was running to Benghazi, but that didn´t last long as the Jerries pushed the Army back and the Greek show started. Then it was convoy after convoy, bombed on the way there and then on the way back. We just missed the big bang at Piraeus having left a day or so previously then came the evacuation of Greece & then Crete. Crete was pretty bad, I shall never forget my last trip from Heraklion, packed tight with soldiers, and attacked by Stuka dive bombers from 5 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon. All our machinery was smashed by the near misses but we kept going somehow, to stop would have meant the end in a few minutes, metal ran out of the bearings but still the engines went round. We saw several of our pals go, but there was no turning back, we lost too many ships before doing that. At last we were out of range and reached Alexandria safely...... Another job we had during the Evacuation of Crete was taking off the King of Greece, his cabinet & staff. It was a pitch dark night, the party had managed to dodge the German parachutists by the skin of their teeth on several occasions & got over the mountains to the south coast of Crete...... We had a rendezvous just after midnight at a given spot on the coast & when we showed a small light, it was immediately answered with a torch & the party embarked in a small fishing boat .... We left about 3 am at 30 knots & were well away by dawn..... Tobruk was another creepy job, in at midnight, unload & away with reliefs about 3.30am & Jerry waiting about 40 miles out for the dawn, sometimes 20 to 30 of them & you are the only target. Still Decoy was lucky, the only ´D´ out of eight remaining, & to have been hit 4 times & got away with it is a record I think.´; Spendlow was promoted Lieutenant Engineer, 1.10.1941, and was awarded the D.S.C. for his gallantry during the Battle of Crete; from ´1941-44 he was in H.M.S. Melbreak [Destroyer] in the Western Approaches, and from 1944 until his retirement in 1948 he was with the Commander-in-Chief Air Staff at H.M.S. Daedalus, Lee-on-Solent.´ (newspaper article refers). Engine Room Artificer Second Class Alan David Spendlow (1926-1992), born Portsmouth, Hampshire, was the son of William Jarvis Spendlow; joined Royal Navy as Engine Room Artificer Apprentice, 14.8.1941; Minsweeping service included in H.M.S. Chameleon, June-August 1947, October 1947-December 1949 and January 1950-March 1950; discharged as Engine Room Artificer Second Class, 10.3.1956; he later went on to be employed as a Professional and Technology Officer with the Ministry of Defence and was presented with his Imperial Service Medal by Vice-Admiral Sir Ted Horlick upon his retirement in 1982. Dora Spendlow, born Portsmouth, Hampshire, 1919, was the daughter of William Jarvis Spendlow; she served as a Wren at H.M.S.´s Pembroke, Victory and Boscawen during the Second War; she took her own life in 1955. Second Lieutenant Norman Smith Spendlow (1897-1977), was the brother of William Jarvis Spendlow; prior to service during the Great War he was employed as an Inland Revenue Officer at Lancaster House; joined the Royal Flying Corps as a Cadet, 13.2.1918; his entire Great War service was at the R.N.A.S. Flying Training School at Vendome, France; discharged 11.3.1919; after the War he returned to the Inland Revenue and became a Barrister.

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£1,400