Three: Captain W. B. Wilkinson, Royal Navy, attached Royal Australian Navy and in command of H.M.A.S. Pioneer off the German East African coast

1914-15 Star (W. B. Wilkinson, Commander R.N.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaf (Commr. W. B. Wilkinson, R.N.) mounted as worn and contained in small display case with companion miniature medals, nearly extremely fine (6) £400-500

Waldemar Bernard Wilkinson was born on 12 November 1871, and entered the Royal Navy in October 1896 as a Sub-Lieutenant. Promoted to Lieutenant in December 1897, and to Lieutenant-Commander in December 1905, he was serving aboard the armed merchant cruiser Kinfauns Castle when war broke out in 1914, and formed part of the British force sent out to Zanzibar to take part in the blockade off the German East African coast, where the German cruiser Konigsburg had taken shelter up one of the mouths of the Rufiji river delta. The Konigsburg was finally destroyed on 12 July 1915, the very day that Wilkinson was appointed Acting Commander of H.M.S. Challenger, serving in the same squadron. In June 1916 he was given command of H.M.A.S. Pioneer, and with Challenger, on 13 June, bombarded Tanga. In July she took part in the attack on Dar-es-Salaam with Vengeance and Hyacinth. The naval bombardment of Tanga was a prelude to its capture on 7 July and that of Dar-es-Salaam its seizure by sea and land forces on 7 September. Meanwhile, Wilkinson had taken part in the capture of Bagamoyo by a naval force on 15 August 1916, and was recommended for promotion by Rear-Admiral Charlton, who reported that he, having ‘landed under heavy fire, was most efficient in getting boats cleared of men and when boats had all gone off to Mersey, joined up with advance and was of great assistance to me in keeping the men steady under fire’.

In recognition of his services at Bagamoyo, Wilkinson was promoted to Commander on 31 December 1916, and transferred to H.M.A.S. Cerberus. He retired from the Royal Navy on 5 May 1919 with rank of Captain in order to be permanently appointed to the Royal Australian Navy. Captain Wilkinson died on 8 August 1941.