Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

“I’ll always remember his last words, he said, ‘Is the ship all right?’ I said, ‘Yes, Sir, the ship’s all right!’ He said, ‘I’ll have a little sleep now then…’ And that was it.”
(The last words of the mortally wounded Lt .Cdr. Onslow at Jutland)

The unique ‘Somaliland 1904’ Conspicuous Service Cross awarded to Lieutenant-Commander A. G. Onslow, Royal Navy, who at Illig on the Somali Pirate Coast made gallant charges under point-blank fire through burning huts into concealed caves to bayonet tribesmen who were sniping at the British assault force - Later during the Great War he was present at the Battle of Jutland where he commanded the destroyer H.M.S. Onslaught and made an heroic torpedo attack which sank the battleship S.M.S. Pommern, being, himself, mortally wounded by a direct hit on Onslaught’s bridge - One of only eight C.S.C’s. ever issued and the last awarded example of this medal

Conspicuous Service Cross, E.VII.R, hallmarks for London 1901, a very good original example with bulbous rounded reverse as issued, this contemporarily engraved 'Midshipman A.G. Onslow', good very fine and very rare £3000-4000

C.S.C. London Gazette 6th September 1904.

The Official History of the Operations in Somaliland 1901-1904 states: ‘During this operation Hood, with Mr. A. G. Onslow, midshipman, and No. PO-9146 John Edward Flowers, Corporal, Royal Marine Light Infantry, of Fox entered the cave from which they were fired at and cleared it in a hand-to-hand encounter. Major C. H. Kennedy, R.M.L.I., who was an eye-witness of this incident, gave the following account:- “A marine and a bluejacket passing a burning hut were fired at. Mr. A. G. Onslow, Midshipman, with the two men at once opened fire, and, after several shots, firing ceased, but, after a pause, firing was again opened by the occupants of the hut. Captain Hood, who was on the beach at the time, then went up with several men who opened fire. After several volleys had been fired into the hut, the firing still continuing, Captain Hood gave the order to charge, and called on more men to follow. He himself dashed in, accompanied by Mr. Onslow, through the burning hut, and with his sword attacked the men in the cave, the whole time being practically under fire. He first used his sword and then his revolver, and Mr. Onslow bayoneted the third man.”’

Captain Hood’s report: “As the sniping still continued from the village, I collected a few men, with Mr. Onslow, Midshipman (special report), and cleared a cave, the entrance of which was covered by a wicker hut. It contained three men, all riflemen, who were then killed.”

Contemporary newspapers reported the attack on Illig in dramatic terms:

‘Fight in a Cave: Thrilling Incident of a Hand-to-Hand Combat: Some thrilling incidents of the dervish rout near Illig, Italian Somaliland, on April 21st, when the enemy’s entrenchments were stormed by sailors, marines and infantry, are telegraphed by the Daily Mail’s Aden Correspondent. Captain Hood, of H.M.S. Hyacinth, greatly distinguished himself in the close fighting that followed the British charge. With a sword in one hand and a revolver in the other, he entered the cave whence the dervishes were firing and shot down the snipers. Corporal Flowers followed, and bayoneted a dervish who was in the act of spearing Captain Hood from behind, and Midshipman Onslow also gallantly bayoneted several snipers hidden in caves.’

Specially promoted for service in Somaliland 1904 London Gazette 16 November 1906

The Conspicuous Service Cross was instituted in 1901 and converted to the Distinguished Service Cross in 1914. During its short life, only eight awards of the C.S.C. were made: five for South Africa, two for China 1900 and Onslow's for Somaliland in 1904, the last C.S.C. ever to be awarded. The whereabouts of Arthur Onslow’s Africa GSM with clasp and his WWI trio are unknown, though it is believed that his memorial plaque was held at Sheerness Dockyard and may now be in storage at Chatham Historic Dockyard.

Arthur Gerald Onslow (1885-1916), the eldest son of Colonel Gerald Onslow R.E., was born in India on 13th May 1885. The Onslow family, originally from Shropshire, is large. Although Arthur’s brothers and immediate ancestors served in the Army, the Navy List has always shown two or three Onslows.

Arthur joined the Navy on 15th January 1900, a few months before his fifteenth birthday. In 1904 the 18 year-old Midshipman Onslow was serving on the brand-new cruiser H.M.S. Hyacinth, the flagship of Rear-Admiral George Atkinson-Willes, Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station. Among Atkinson-Willes’ duties was the enforcement of an international embargo against the supply of modern rifles to the Somali tribes of the Horn of Africa. In 1912 Arthur married Elsie Hinde Crouch. Their only child, a daughter, was born in February 1915. On October 15th 1914, at the age of 29, Arthur Onslow was promoted to be Lieutenant-Commander . After a series of commands of torpedo-boats and small destroyers, in 1915 he was appointed to command the newly built ‘M class’ destroyer HMS Onslaught, which formed part of the 12th Destroyer Flotilla, assigned to Admiral Jellicoe’s Grand Fleet.

Jutland: The Gallant, “Admirably Executed” Attack on the Battleship S.M.S. Pommern

At the Battle of Jutland in 1916 the Flotilla was stationed on the port quarter of the Battle Fleet during the night action following the first day of fighting. At 01.45 in the morning of June 1st, just as the short summer night was showing the first signs of dawn, it reported “Enemy’s battlefleet steering south-east, approximate bearing south-west. My position ten miles astern of 1st Battle Squadron”. At 02.03 the 1st Division of 12th Destroyer Flotilla began an attack.

Torpedoman Fred Knight of the Onslaught recalled: “We went straight in to attack. It was fast breaking daylight. We carried four 21-inch torpedoes which were all fired - one hitting the third ship in line at a range of 1,000 yards.” Sir John Jellicoe stated in his official despatch: “The attack carried out by the Twelfth Flotilla was admirably executed. Torpedoes…fired at the third ship took effect, and she was observed to blow up... There were many gallant deeds performed by the destroyer flotillas; they surpassed the very highest expectations that I had formed of them.”

The Imperial War Museum holds a sound recording of George Wainford, one of the crew of HMS Onslaught, giving a first-hand account of the action. The two dual revolving 21" Torpedo Tubes slewed towards their firing position at 8 degrees a second. Torpedoes were charged, heaters switched on to reduce dive, high speed set, gyros checked, test firing gear. Flood. Charge the firing reservoir and ready at standby. 02.07: Final preparations and checks completed.

02.08: From the bridge came the order FIRE - the first two torpedoes are off, with high speed set they should hit the battleship scarcely 3000 yards distant in about three minutes. 02.11: Order to FIRE the last pair of torpedoes.

02.12: One, possibly two torpedoes from Onslaught detonates on the port side of the target, igniting the cordite and 6.7" and 11" shells in her magazines. There is a vast explosion as the stricken ship breaks in half. The stern capsized but remained afloat for at least 20 minutes, its propellers in the air. After half an hour the remains of Germany’s last and the world’s fastest pre-dreadnought, SMS Pommern, and her crew of 844 are at the bottom of the North Sea. There are no survivors. The battleship Pommern, along with the battlecruiser Lutzow, were the only major units of the High Seas Fleet that were sunk by the Royal Navy at Jutland.

Wainford: “We fired our torpedoes and of course other ships in the flotilla did the same and there was a terrific explosion and a German ship blew up. ‘Cor!’ I said. ‘We got her!’ And the moment I said that either one shell or a salvo hit our bridge. There was a terrific bang, a fire started the port side of the foc’sle where all the hammocks underneath the foc’sle deck were stowed…

02.13: A 6.7" shell from SMS Schleswig-Holstein explodes directly on Onslaught’s bridge, killing seven men and mortally wounding her Captain.

Sub-Lieutenant Kemmis reported “Shell burst against the port side of the charthouse and forebridge igniting a box of cordite, causing a fire in the charthouse, completely wrecking the forebridge and destroying nearly all navigational instruments. At the time were on the forebridge: the Captain, First Lieutenant, torpedo coxswain, two quartermasters and both signalmen, and the gunner on his way up the bridge ladder.

I had just been sent down to tell the engine room to make black smoke, in order to screen our movements, and had only got to the bottom of the ladder from the forecastle deck to the upper deck. I went back to the bridge and, finding everything wrecked, the Captain mortally wounded and the First Lieutenant killed, I assumed command.”

Able Seaman Wainford witnessed Onslow’s poignant last words: “The skipper died in the crew’s foc’sle, on the mess table. They laid him on there. I’ll always remember his last words, he said, ‘Is the ship all right?’ I said, ‘Yes, Sir, the ship’s all right!’ He said, ‘I’ll have a little sleep now then…’ And that was it. I was there when he died.”

The Tragic Toll
Lieutenant-Commander Arthur Onslow C.S.C., who died shortly after his 31st birthday, is buried in Queensferry Cemetery, East Lothian, and commemorated on the Sheerness War Memorial. Onslow’s Commanding Officer at Illig, by now Rear-Admiral Hood, commanding the Third Battle Cruiser Squadron, also died at Jutland, when his flagship, HMS Invincible, blew up after receiving a direct hit as it engaged Vice-Admiral Hipper’s Battle Cruisers. Both of Arthur’s younger brothers were killed in action during the First World War. His wife, Elsie Crouch Onslow, remarried in 1918.