Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Seven: Attributed to Lieutenant-Commander T. Hand, M.B.E., Royal Naval Reserve, later Harbour Master, Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority

1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Italy Star; War Medal 1939-45; Jubilee 1977, unnamed as issued; Malta George Cross 50th Anniversary Medal 1992, unnamed as issued; Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Jubilee Medal for the 40th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1985, bronze; together with an unofficial ‘Arctic Convoy’ Medal 1939-45; together with seven miniature awards, including that of the M.B.E., all mounted for display along with a plaque for the S.S. Bryony, and a coloured photograph of the recipient wearing his medals being introduced to H.M. Queen Elizabeth II, generally good very fine and better (8) £200-£240

M.B.E. London Gazette 3 June 1978: Captain Thomas Hand, lately Harbour Master, Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority.

Thomas Hand was born in South Shields on 4 January 1914 and was a merchant seaman by trade. First apprenticed on a Tyne Tramp running to New Zealand, amongst other experiences he was shipwrecked on the New South Wales coast, saw the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and arrived in New York after a 79 day voyage from the Philippines the day before the end of prohibition. He received his Master’s ticket in 1941, and was granted a commission in the Royal Naval Reserve on 19 May of that year. He served during the Second World War as a temporary Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve, and commanded the Flower-class corvette H.M.S. Bryony from 9 December 1942 to mid 1945, serving on convoy escort duties in the Atlantic, Arctic, and Mediterranean, including taking part in the celebrated Russian Convoy PQ-18.

On 3 November 1943 Bryony picked up 14 survivors from the French merchantman Mont Viso that was sunk in convoy KMS-30 by the German submarine U-593 about 40 miles north-east of Tenes, Algeria. Shortly afterwards she attacked the U-boat with eight depth charges, causing sufficient damage to the submarine that it was forced to break out of its patrol.

Hand relinquished his commission on 2 February 1946, and resumed his career with the mercantile marine, ultimately becoming Harbour Master of Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority in 1955. He retired in 1978, and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in that year’s Birthday Honours’ List.

Sold with the recipient’s Board of Trade Continuous Certificate of Discharge; a portrait photograph of the recipient, and a coloured photograph of him being introduced to the Queen; and other ephemera.