Orders, Decorations and Medals

A superb Second World War ‘Channel Dash’ D.S.O., ‘Convoy attack’ D.S.C., and ‘Dunkirk evacuation’ Polish Cross of Valour group of seven awarded to Lieutenant-Commander W. A. Juniper, Royal Navy

Distinguished Service Order, G.VI.R. 1st issue, the reverse suspension officially dated ‘1942’; Distinguished Service Cross, G.VI.R., the reverse hallmarked London 1942 and officially dated ‘1943’; 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, clasp, France and Germany; Africa Star, clasp, North Africa 1942-43; War Medal, with M.I.D. oak leaf; Polish Cross of Valour, the group mounted as worn, very fine (7) £4000-5000

M.I.D. London Gazette 1 January 1941: ‘Lieutenant William Anthony Juniper, H.M.S. Griffin.’

Polish Cross of Valour London Gazette 21 October 1941. A letter from the Chief of the Polish Navy, dated 1 September 1941, transmitting the Cross and Diploma to Lieutenant Juniper advises him that it was ‘awarded in recognition of your gallant and brave conduct during the evacuation of Polish Forces from France in July 1940.’ Lieutenant Jumiper was serving aboard H.M.S. Griffin which brought back 313 Polish troops.

D.S.O. London Gazette 31 March 1942: ‘For daring and resolution while serving in H.M. Destroyers, Motor Torpedo Boats, and Motor Gun Boats in daylight attacks at close range and against odds, upon the German Battle-Cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the Cruiser Prinz Eugen.’

The recommendation states: ‘Handled H.M.S. Whitshed with coolness and gallantry in a torpedo attack on heavy German cruisers on 12th February 1942, pressing in to a range of little more than 3000 yards as he found his position after Mackay had fired unfavourable.’

D.S.C. London Gazette 9 February 1943: ‘For bravery and enterprise when a Westbound enemy Convoy was intercepted off Dieppe by our light naval forces and one supply ship and one escorting ship sunk, and others damaged.’

The recommendation states: ‘Lieutenant-Commander Juniper assumed command of the Flotilla when H.M.S. Whitshed was disabled on the night of 11/12th December, 1942. With commendable initiative he collected the three remaining undamaged ships to look for further targets as a result of which H.Nor.M.S. Eskdale was enabled to torpedo an escort vessel.’

The escape of the German battle-cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen from Brest and their dash through the Straits of Dover back to Germany in February 1942, was an occasion of glorious gallantry and self-sacrifice and, at the same time, one of bitter disappointment. The battle-cruisers had been at Brest, and under frequent air attacks, since March 1941. They had been joined by Prinz Eugen in June, after her voyage with the Bismarck. It was Hitler himself, obsessed with the notion of an Allied attack on Norway, who had ordered the Kriegsmarine to bring the ships back to Germany, or have them reduced to hulks where they lay, and their crews dispersed into the Luftwaffe. Allied Intelligence had been reporting German plans to break out for months past. Their route was anticipated. Some even guessed the date, but few the time of day; it was not thought that Ciliax, the German fleet commander, would risk passing Dover in broad daylight.

The German force was first discovered in the area of Le Touquet and unsuccessfully shelled by British coastal batteries. Motor Torpedo Boats set out from Dover and Ramsgate but their attacks were unsuccessful and three M.T.B’s were damaged. Finally, Captain C. T. M. Pizey’s destroyer force from Harwich succeeded in approaching the German force but the attacks were largely unsuccessful in the face of heavy defensive fire. H.M.S. Mackay, in company with H.M.S. Whitshead and Campbell, managed to close in on a ‘large enemy ship’, later identified as the Prinz Eugen. In heavy rolling seas, the Mackay closed to a range of 4000 yards and fired a salvo of torpedoes but, at that same moment, the Prinz Eugen changed course to starboard and none of the torpedoes found their target. Lieutenant-Commander Juniper took Whitshead in to a range of little more than 3,000 yards in order to make his attack but this was again unsuccessful and the three ships returned safely to the Fatherland.

The bravest and most hopeless attack of all was the gallant sortie by six Swordfish torpedo-bombers of 825 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, led by Lieutenant-Commander Eugene Esmonde. The Swordfish had little chance of survival and all six were shot down, only four officers and one rating surviving. Esmonde, himself, was killed and awarded a Posthumous Victoria Cross.

The group is offered with a large selection of original documentation including Warrant and Statutes for the D.S.O., letter and Diploma for the Polish Cross of Valour, numerous Ship Appointment Certificates, his ‘Record and Certificates’ during service as Cadet, Midshipman and Sub-Lieutenant, numerous letters of congratulation, news cuttings, and numerous R.N. College Dartmouth reports and certificates, etc.