A rare Second World War submariner’s D.S.M. group of seven awarded to Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class A. West, Royal Navy, who, having first seen action in H.M. Submarine Porpoise in the Mediterranean 1941-43, was decorated for his bravery in the Tally-Ho in the Far East during the summer of 1944 - on one occasion her ballast tanks being sliced ‘like crackling on pork’ by the screws of an enemy torpedo boat

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (E.R.A. 4 E. West, D/MX. 73402), in its case of issue; 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Italy Star; Burma Star; France and Germany Star; War Medal 1939-45, extremely fine (7) £1600-1800

D.S.M. London Gazette 20 February 1945. The original recommendation states:

‘For outstanding devotion to duty. Engine Room Artificer West has been employed in the Engine Room of H.M. Submarine Tally-Ho for the whole commission, in which time the vessel has travelled 46,000 miles. By his unending devotion to duty this distance, which is enormous for a submarine, has been completed without a single serious breakdown.’

Alexander West was born in Broxham, West Lothian, in January 1914, and, after serving an apprenticeship with Scottish Oils Limited, was employed as an Assistant Operator by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Making his way home after the outbreak of hostilities, where he resided at Whittington, near Oswestry, he joined the Royal Navy as an Acting Engine Room Artificer 4th Class in October 1940, was posted to the submarine base Dolphin in February 1941, and thence, at the end of the year, to H.M. Submarine Porpoise.

First blood - “Porpoise” - Mediterranean 1941-43

Commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Jack Hopkins, R.N., at the time of his joining, it was actually under a new skipper, Lieutenant-Commander Edward Pizey, D.S.C., R.N., that West first saw action proper, following Porpoise’s deployment to the Mediterranean - thus her torpedo strike against the Italian ship Sebastiano Venier south of Navarino on 9 December 1941, when the latter was heavily damaged and grounded off Cape Methoni. And, mine-laying and Malta-supply operations aside, he was subsequently present in a number of other actions fought by Porpoise, including the sinking of the Italian merchantman Citta di Livorno by torpedo, north-east of Cape Maleka, Crete, on 18 January 1942, and the Italian transport Ogaden off Libya on 12 August 1942, this latter attack under his new C.O., Lieutenant-Commander Leslie Bennington, D.S.C., R.N.

In fact, under Bennington, whom he would follow to his new command, the Tally-Ho, in March 1943, West saw considerable action in the period August-November 1942, opening with the sinking of the Italian merchantman Lerici, again by torpedo off Libya, on 15 August; followed by an unsuccessful strike against the merchantman Iseo off Derna four days later, which resulted in Porpoise being damaged by depth charges during a determined counter-attack - this quite possibly the occasion the Admiralty described as ‘one of the heaviest depth-charge attacks ever survived by a British vessel’; then the sinking of the Italian tanker Giulio Giordani by torpedo off Misurata on 18 November and similarly, the Italian auxiliary vessel Fertilia, off Kerkennah, Tunisia, on 23 November. Bennington was awarded a D.S.O.

“Tally-Ho” - Far East - D.S.M.

During the period of West’s employment in the Tally-Ho in the period March 1943 until July 1945, which commenced with a more or less uneventful spate of patrols off Norway, Gibraltar and the South of France, Bennington added a Bar to his D.S.O. and Second and Third Award Bars to his D.S.C., the latter distinction being gazetted at the time of West’s D.S.M. for like services in the period June-November 1944.

Here, then, an indication of the remarkable scale of operations undertaken by Tally-Ho out in the Far East, an operational record to which it would be impossible to do justice within the restrictions of this catalogue entry. Accordingly, interested parties are referred to Ian Trenowden’s excellent history, The Hunting Submarine - The Fighting Life of H.M.S. Tally-Ho, for a full and vivid account of said operations.


But by way of offering a glimpse of Tally-Ho at work, and a summary of the conditions under which she had to operate, the following extracts from Submarine Victory, by David A. Thomas, is quoted:

‘Submarine operations got into full swing in the new year of 1944. Boats were being sent to patrol the shallow waters of the Malacca Straits.

All waters are dangerous for submarines in wartime, as we have read; the northern waters of Norway, with their long daylight hours; the Arctic ones with their ice hazards; the shallows off the coast of Europe; the shallows and clarity of the Mediterranean. Now, in the East, submarines were subjected to the peculiar hazards of these oriental waters. Clear, shallow seas are dangerous in themselves. But the Malacca Straits and similar Eastern waters were not always reliably charted. This is no reflection on he magnificent work of the Admiralty's Hydrographic Department. Accurate charts demand frequent surveys to locate shifting sandbanks and similar peculiarities. Commanders and navigators were constantly perturbed by depths which failed to correspond with those shown on the charts. And the knowledge that there is plenty of sea room in depth is one of the many things commanders like to have when launching an attack.

Another aspect of this campaign was the long distance from base to billet.  A passage of one thousand miles from Trincomalee was not uncommon. The thought of being damaged on patrol with such a long haul back to base was one which commanders kept constantly in mind.

Perhaps the most worrying personal aspect of submarine service in those tropical waters was the heat. All sailors - in surface vessels as well as in submarines - are familiar with prickly heat, but the sailor in surface vessels rarely had to contend with the suffocating conditions in a submarine after a few hours of submersion. The electric motors generate heat while they are running, and this heat is circulated through the boat until conditions become almost intolerable.

The rig of the day became a sarong or towel wrapped round the waist; the crew were near naked as the sweat ran down in streams all over one's body. Temperatures of well over 100 degrees were typical while in motor-rooms 120 degrees was often reached.’

And on operational success:

‘One of the biggest successes in the campaign came to Commander Bennington in Tally Ho during his third patrol in the Malacca Straits. He added to his high reputation by sinking the 5,700-ton cruiser Kuma, then cleverly outwitting the hunters. For this exploit Bennington was awarded another D.S.O. to add to his veritable collection of medals.

In a later patrol, however, Tally Ho was nearly destroyed by a torpedo-boat which suddenly appeared at night when the submarine was surfaced. The port ballast tanks were ripped open, but the enemy craft was so damaged by the collision that it failed to take any further offensive action. Bennington skilfully took his damaged boat below and managed to complete the long passage home.

It was earlier in this same patrol when he further advanced his great reputation by torpedoing and sinking the Japanese submarine UIT 23.’

In summary, including the above, Tally-Ho’s main actions in Far East comprised:

6 November 1943: attack against the U-178 off Penang. Five torpedoes fired, followed by surface pursuit. Unsuccessful owing to arrival of enemy submarine chaser.

8 November 1943: depth-charged off Penang - ‘first pattern rather close and damaged depth gauge.’

10 November 1943: torpedoes and sinks the Japanese water carrier Kisogawa Maru in the northern part of the Malacca Strait - ‘fired five torpedoes from 2600 yards’ and ‘a tremendous explosion was seen to blow the enemy to pieces.’

11 December 1943: performs a ‘special mission’.

5 January 1944: performs another ‘special mission’.

11 January 1944: torpedoes and sinks the Japanese cruiser Kuma north-west of Penang but then faces counter-attack by an enemy destroyer.

15 February 1944: torpedoes and sinks the ex-Italian submarine UIT-23 in the Straits of Malacca.

21 February: torpedoes and sinks the Japanese army cargo ship Daigen Maru No. 6 in the Straits of Malacca

24 February 1944: hair-raising encounter on the surface with a Japanese torpedo boat - rammed and seriously damaged, her ballast tanks being sliced ‘like crackling on pork’.

14 May 1944: following extensive repairs at Colombo, Tally-Ho returns to operations with a mine-laying mission.

17 May 1944: launches an unsuccessful torpedo attack against the U-532.

22 August 1944: sinks a Japanese coaster with gunfire in the Straits of Malacca.

24 August 1944: sinks three Japanese junks with gunfire.

4 October 1944: has an inconclusive engagement with a Japanese coaster and torpedo boat.

6 October 1944: sinks a Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser with gunfire on the surface, but Tally-Ho’s gunnery officer is mortally wounded by the enemy’s return fire.

9 November 1944: carries out a ‘special mission’ with an O.S.S.-sponsored Free Thai team bound for Siam. Landed at Ko Kradan, Trang Province, on this date.

17-18 November 1944: sinks ten Japanese sailing vessels with gunfire off Langkawi and elsewhere.

20 November 1944: torpedoes and sinks the Japanese auxiliary minelayer Ma 4 off the southern tip of Great Nicobar Island - torpedoes set to six feet.

23 November 1944: completes her 12th wartime patrol and departs for home waters, arriving back in Portsmouth on 19 January 1945.

Subsequently allocated to the submarine base Elfin at Blyth, Northumberland, West was clearly involved in further operational service in the North Sea and off Norway, as verified by an accompanying certificate (see below).

Having then attended a Buckingham Palace investiture with Bennington and other members of Tally Ho’s crew on 20 July 1945, he was released from service as an Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class in March 1946.

Sold with a quantity of original documentation, including Admiralty letter notifying him of the award of his D.S.M., with related gratuity payment letter and certificate, and Buckingham Palace investiture tickets, dated 20 July 1945, together with congratulatory telegram from his skipper, Commander Leslie Bennington, D.S.O., D.S.C., R.N.; his R.N. Certificate of Service; a Liberation of Norway certificate, 8 may 1945, in the name of ‘A.West, E.R.A. 3, D/MX. 73402’; and several wartime photographs pertinent to West’s time in the Porpoise and Tally-Ho.