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Auction: 26002 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 124

Six: Colour-Sergeant J. T. Aylward, Royal Marines, who served in North Russia in the M-25

1914-15 Star (PO. 14118, Pte. J. T. Aylward, R.M.L.I.); British War and Victory Medals (PO. 14118 Cpl. J. T. Aylward. R.M.L.I.); Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R. (Po.14118 J. T. Aylward. Sgt. R.M.), very fine (6)

While more than 700 Marines were swarming to attack the coast of Belgium in 1918 in what became known as the Zeebrugge Raid, James Thomas Aylward and the 69 officers and crew of H.M. Monitor 25 served out the war with the Dover Patrol then headed for North Russia.

M25 teamed up with five other monitors in 1919 to relieve the North Russian Expeditionary Force in Murmansk, and that same year it saw service in Archangel, her shallow draft enabling her to travel up the Dvina River to cover the withdrawal of British and White Russian forces.

M25 and her sister ship M27 could not be recovered when the river level fell and both vessels were scuttled in mid-September after running aground.

Aylward, who was born in March 1892 in Portsmouth and enlisted in 1906 at Gosport, initially notched up significant periods of sea service. These included periods aboard H.M.S. Terrible, Vengeance, Britannia, Albermarle and Venerable, then in June 1917 he served aboard the M25, eventually bringing down the curtain on his Russian episode as Fox oversaw the passage home of the M25’s crew in July 1919.

His service continued until March 1931 when he was discharged on termination of his contract of engagement. He also collected a 1914-15 Star, British War and Victory Medal pair, as well as a Long Service & Good Conduct. He also claimed a Meritorious Service Medal with annuity, but like so many N.C.O.s, he missed out on the prestigious gong and was not recommended.

In 1938, Aylward rejoined for the Second World War and during that period the N.C.O. teamed up with a group of his fellow non-commissioned officers to welcome a visit from their old “boss”, Admiral Keyes, in 1942 and chew the fat with some of the corps’ most experienced soldiers.

Of the eight N.C.O.s in the photo with Keyes, only Aylward did not participate in the Zeebrugge Raid, although there were suggestions that his period aboard M25 qualified him as having taken part in the raid by virtue of the vessel’s presence. Many years ago, Beau Tracey, a fellow N.C.O. and Zeebrugge Raider, [top right in the photo] supplied photos of the reunion to this author and headlined it “Veterans of Zeebrugge, with Admiral Keyes at Lympstone”.

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Estimate
£160 to £200

Starting price
£130