Auction Catalogue

1 December 2004

Starting at 10:00 AM

.

Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Grand Connaught Rooms  61 - 65 Great Queen St  London  WC2B 5DA

Lot

№ 254

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1 December 2004

Hammer Price:
£460

A Second World War Mediterranean operations B.E.M. group of seven awarded to Stoker 1st Class E. W. Kidd, Royal Navy

British Empire Medal
, (Military) G.VI.R., 1st issue (D/KX. 83519 Ernest W. Kidd, Sto. 1, R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; Burma Star; Italy Star; War Medal 1939-45, extremely fine (7) £300-350

B.E.M. London Gazette 13 October 1942. The original recommendation states:

‘For long sustained zeal and devotion to duty and his steadying influence upon younger men in action.’

Ernest William Kidd was decorated for his services in the Mediterranean aboard the minelayer H.M.S. Abdiel (Seedie’s refers), and, in common with fellow crew members, his decoration was approved by the Admiralty’s Honours and Awards Committee under the following circumstances:

‘Soon after commissioning, H.M.S. Abdiel was called upon to undertake two hazardous minelaying operations. From April 1941 onwards she was stationed in the Mediterranean, where her duties included minelaying off Cephalonia, service in the withdrawal from Crete, service as a Flotilla Leader, as a destroyer and as a A.A. cruiser. She also transported stores and troops to Cyprus and Tobruk, making no less than fourteen passages to the Libyan port. She has since been concerned in operations which, from a navigational point of view, have been of much danger. The spirit of her company has throughout been excellent and she has performed all her varied duties with success.’

Kidd was still serving in the Abdiel when she was mined and sunk off Taranto on 10 September 1943, two days after the Italian capitulation. His skipper, Captain D. Orr-Ewing, D.S.O., was among the survivors, but six officers and 42 ratings, including Kidd, were lost. In passing, it is worth noting that Oliver Stirling Lee served aboard the Abdiel too, and was also present in her at the evacuation of Crete.