Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Second World War Battle of Crete D.S.M. group of ten awarded to Petty Officer E. G. Northcott, Royal Navy

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (D/J. 44852 E. G. Northcott, P.O., H.M.S. Kandahar); British War and Victory Medals (J. 44852 Ord., R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; Italy Star; Burma Star, clasp, Pacific; War Medal 1939-45; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 3rd issue, coinage bust (J. 44852 A./L.S., H.M.S. Glorious), the Great War awards with contact wear, edge bruising and polished, fine, the remainder generally very fine and better (10) £800-1000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals for Services at Sea from the Collection of the Late Oliver Stirling Lee.

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D.S.M. London Gazette 8 January 1942: ‘For outstanding gallantry, fortitude and resolution during the Battle of Crete.’

Ernest George Northcott received his D.S.M. at an investiture held on 5 May 1942.

Born in Exeter, Devon in April 1900, he entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in October 1915, and first went to sea in the decoy ship Q2 (a.k.a. Intaba) in June 1916. Departing her in May 1917, his service record would suggest his next appointment to the Dunlevon included ‘Services in Land Operations’ but, if so, they were short-lived, for in December of the same year he returned to sea in the cruiser Cochrane, and was still aboard her when she ran aground in thick fog in the Mersey in November 1918. Unfortunately, until the relevant records are released, little else is known about Northcott’s career, other than the fact he was awarded his L.S. & G.C. Medal in April 1933. What is pretty certain, however, is that he was still serving aboard the Kandahar when she fell victim to a mine some six months after her gallant part in the battle and evacuation of Crete. A Dictionary of Disasters at Sea takes up the story:

‘The destroyer Kandahar, Commander W. G. A. Robson, D.S.O., D.S.C., was in company with the cruisers Neptune, Aurora and Penelope and several destroyers off Tripoli on 19 December 1941. In the early hours of the morning Neptune ran into an enemy minefield and was badly holed. Kandahar entered the minefield with the intention of taking the cruiser in tow, but also fouled a mine and had to be sunk by British ships on the 20th. Two officers and 70 ratings were lost. The 178 survivors, among whom was Commander Robson, were taken off by the destroyer Jaguar.’