A rare Great War ‘Kut operations’ D.S.M. group of five awarded to Petty Officer 1st Class H. J. Wheeler, Royal Navy, who was decorated for his gallantry when sent in a boat from the gunboat Sumana to rescue the crew of the stricken gunboats Firefly and Comet, accomplished under heavy fire and whilst Ottoman soldiers had already boarded the two stranded gunboats- shortly afterwards he was invalided due to a gunshot wound

Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (179098. H. J. Wheeler, P.O. 1Cl. H.M.S. Sumana. Mesopotamia. 1915-6.); 1914-15 Star (179098. H. J. Wheeler. P.O.1. R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (179098. H. J. Wheeler. P.O.1 R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (179098. H.J. Wheeler, P.O. 1CL. H.M.S. Powerful) very fine or better (5) £1,000-£1,400

D.S.M. London Gazette 25 October 1916.

Although Petty Officer Wheeler’s London Gazette entry for the D.S.M. is not specific, he was Mentioned in Despatches several months earlier and this is surely the reason for the Award:

M.I.D. London Gazette 10 May 1916:
‘The abandonment of Comet and Firefly was unavoidable, and was accomplished in a highly seamanlike manner under heavy fire. In connection with the above I have the honour to bring to Their Lordships' notice the names of the following Officers and men: —
Lieutenant George E. Harden, R.N.
Petty Officer, 1st Class, H. John Wheeler, O.N. 179098, of Sumana
(plus 2 other Officers and 4 other ratings).

This conjecture is further backed up by the announcement award of the D.S.O to Lieutenant Harden in the same London Gazette as Wheeler received his D.S.M., with the following citation:
‘Lieutenant Harden was temporarily in command of the river gunboat Comet during the attack on Ctesiphon and the subsequent withdrawal to Kut-el-Amara, and behaved with great coolness during the whole period. On the 1st December 1915, when H.M.S. Firefly had grounded and been abandoned, he took a boat over from the-armed launch Sumana under very heavy fire, and brought off the Firefly’s crew.’

Henry John Wheeler was born on 20 November 1878, and joined the Royal Navy on 20 November 1896. Between this time and 1912, he served on a large number of ships, gaining the Rating of Petty Officer First Class in 1911. He served in H.M.S. Excellent (Portsmouth Gunnery School) from 17th March 1912 until 3rd September 1915 when he was transferred to H.M.S. Alert (depot ship in Mesopotamia) and is noted as being with H.M.S. Samana from 15th November 1915 until 29th February 1916. He was then transferred to H.M.S. Victory I, accounting and holding Barracks at Portsmouth, and back to H.M.S. Excellent until discharged on 27 March 1919. His Service Record notes ‘Invalided Haslar – GS wound right shoulder’ and in the Remarks section ‘Severely Wounded in Action’. Given Wheeler’s active service was only in H.M.S. Samana and the time period it would have taken to get a wounded man to hospital in Mesopotamia to Portsmouth, it seems very likely that his wound was inflicted on or around the date for which he was Mentioned in Despatches.

H.M.S. Sumana
The Sumana was one of a remarkable ‘gallimaufry of vessels’ pressed into service on the Tigris, and was commanded by Lieutenant Lionel Tudway, Royal Navy, who ‘had the nerve of Beelzebub’ and quickly won a D.S.O. and a D.S.C. She was armed with one 12-pounder and two 3-pounder guns, both of which were brought ashore for the final defence of Kut in March 1916. The Sumana was first heavily engaged in the action fought on 28 September 1915 and during the battle of Ctesiphon on 22 November, as well as the many subsequent skirmishes during the retreat back to Kut and thereafter, including the action in which Wheeler was awarded the D.S.M.:
‘The British also lost the new gunboat Firefly, which was disabled when a shell hit her boiler and the old gunboat Comet, which ran aground when trying to help her. Sumana managed to rescue their crews with Ottoman soldiers already boarding the two stranded gunboats.’