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Auction: 26002 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 177

The remarkable D.S.M. group of four awarded to Lieutenant S. G. Hobbs, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, who was killed in the German manned torpedo attack on H.M.S. Magic off Normandy on 6 July 1944

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (JX.166281 S. G. Hobbs. A.B. H.M.S. Colne.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; War Medal 1939-45, good very fine (4)

D.S.M. London Gazette 16 July 1940, the original citation states:

'…for good services in the Royal Navy since the outbreak of war'.

Sidney Gordon Hobbs was born at Reading, Berkshire in 1919, the son of Sydney and Sybil Hobbs. Serving as an Able Seaman at the start of the war, Hobbs was stationed with Colne in 1940 earning the D.S.M. and was commissioned Lieutenant in 1944. He was in this role aboard the minesweeper Magic serving with her off Normandy during the Allied invasion of Europe.

The German 'Neger' torpedo, described as human torpedoes despite not being submersible, entered service in 1943. They launched attacks against the Allied fleets off Normandy, supplying the Allied beachhead being steadily enlarged in France twice before the Normandy breakout. Operating from the South Bank of the Seine they launched an attack on the night of 5-6 July 1944, targeting the minesweepers Magic and Cato.

Magic was hit just aft of amidships at 03:52, with her back being broken, she sank in just seven minutes. Cato slipped her moorings and launched a motor boat to help with the rescue, saving a number of men however she too was hit not long later, killing many of the crew and the survivors of the Magic. Hobbs was killed in action during the sinking and commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial; sold together with copied research.

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Estimate
£1,000 to £1,400

Starting price
£800