Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria, to include the Brian Ritchie Collection (Part I)

Seven: Petty Officer A. R. Fordham, Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Reserve

1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals; Royal Fleet Reserve L.S., G.VI.R., 1st issue (J. 111319 Dev. B. 16605 P.O., R.F.R.), together with Admiralty forwarding certificate for the campaign issues and a related I.D. disc, nearly extremely fine (8) £140-160

Arthur Reginald Fordham, who was born in Tottenham in November 1908 and enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in August 1924, transferred to the Royal Fleet Reserve as a Leading Seaman in November 1938.

Recalled on the outbreak of hostilities, he was originally posted to Fortitude, the naval base at Ardrossan, but in May 1940 he was posted to the Admiralty-requisitioned, ex-Union Castle Line Edinburgh Castle. Returning ashore to an appointment in Drake in March 1942, Fordham went on to attend a torpedo course in Defiance before joining the destroyer Active as a Temporary Petty Officer in March 1943. Meanwhile, he had been awarded his Royal Fleet Reserve L.S. Medal in September 1942.

His time aboard the Active, which lasted until May 1944, witnessed extensive anti-U-boat operations, and on 23 May 1943, in company with the frigate Ness, the Active contributed to the destruction of the Italian submarine Da Vinci, north-east of the Azores. Fordham was also serving in her when she assisted in the destruction of the U-340 off Gibraltar on 1 November 1943. Clay Blair’s definitive history, Hitler’s U-Boat War, The Hunted 1942-45, takes up the story:

‘Only a few hours later, in the early minutes of November 1, a Leigh-Light-equipped Wellington of British squadron 179, piloted by Arthur H. Ellis, found Hans-Joachim Klaus in U-340 also at the mouth of Gibraltar Strait. Ellis attacked, dropping six depth charges, but an engine malfunctioned, forcing the Wellington to abort.

Later in the day another British surface patrol located U-340 with sonar. Three British warships, the destroyers Active and Witherington and the sloop Fleetwood, pounded the boat with depth charges. Still later that day, Klaus elected to scuttle close to shore so the Germans could swim to Spanish soil. After the forty-eight Germans had been in the water about four hours, a Spanish fishing trawler came along and picked them up. The Germans celebrated their rescue, but, as it turned out, prematurely. The sloop Fleetwood came up and captured all the Germans.’

Fordham ended his war with further appointments ashore at Defiance and Drake, and was discharged from the R.F.R. in November 1948.

Sold with the recipient’s original Certificate of Service and Torpedo History Sheet, together with a fine array of period photographs (approximately 40), several of a wartime nature and / or captioned.