Lot Archive

Lot

№ 189

.

1 December 2004

Hammer Price:
£210

Four: Able Seaman H. L. Woodhouse, Royal Navy

1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star,
clasp, France and Germany; War Medal 1939-45; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue (JX. 126829 A.B., H.M.S. Orwell), extremely fine (4) £100-120

H.M.S. Orwell, an Oribi-class destroyer, won Battle Honours for “Arctic 1942-45”, “Barents Sea 1942”, “Atlantic 1943”, “Normandy 1944” and “Norway 1945”, and it is not unlikely that Woodhouse was aboard her for the majority - if not all - of these hard won accolades. The events surrounding convoy JW. 51B, or “The Battle of Barents Sea” as it became widely known, resulted in the award of the V.C. to Captain R. St. V. Sherbrooke, D.S.O., of the Onslow.