Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A rare George V B.E.M. for fire-fighting, Second World War submariner’s D.S.M. group of nine awarded to Acting Leading Telegraphist J. R. Walford, Royal Navy: having been awarded the D.S.M. for services in H.M. Submarine Parthian 1940-41, he went on to win a “mention” for like services in the Ursula 1942-43

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (JX. 142577 J. R. Walford, Tel., H.M.S. Parthian); British Empire Medal, (Military) G.V.R. (James R. Walford, O.N. P/JX. 142577); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; Pacific Star; Italy Star; War Medal, M.I.D. oak leaf; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 3rd issue, coinage bust (JX. 142577 Tel., H.M.S. Victory), the second with edge bruising and polished, good fine, the remainder very fine or better (9) £2500-3000

D.S.M. London Gazette 7 October 1941: ‘For courage, enterprise and devotion to duty in successful submarine patrols.’

B.E.M. London Gazette 3 June 1935. Recommended by the Vice-Admiral, Malta for extinguishing a fire on the 635 ft. mast of Rinella W./T. Station.

Mention in despatches London Gazette 9 March 1943: ‘For bravery and skill in successful submarine patrols.’

The original recommendation states:

‘Has shown outstanding zeal & devotion to duty as H.T.D. of H.M.S. Ursula. His ability during attacks has been of great assistance to his Commanding Officer and he has been an excellent influence amongst the ships company.’

James Reginald Walford, who was born in 1901 and entered the Royal Navy in 1919, transferred to the submarine branch in the summer of 1937, having been awarded his B.E.M. by H.M. the King on Victoria & Albert on 12 August 1935 and his L.S. & G.C. Medal in September 1936.

By the outbreak of hostilities he was serving as a Telegraphist in H.M. Submarine Parthian, then a component of the 4th Submarine Flotilla on the China Station, but in April 1940 she was ordered to Alexandria and quickly saw action under her new C.O., Lieutenant-Commander M. G. “Bim” Rimington, R.N. Indeed Walford would remain in the Parthian for more or less the entire duration of the latter’s command, not leaving her until she departed the Mediterranean for a refit in the U.S.A. in the summer of 1941. In the interim the Parthian carried out numerous war patrols with a number of notable successes, one of the the earliest of them being the sinking of the Italian submarine Diamante off Libya on 20 June 1940, when in broad daylight she was hit by a salvo of torpedoes fired from just 400 yards range. Rimington was awarded the D.S.O. and four of his crew the D.S.M.

In another patrol in October 1940, after completing several more operational trips, among them a special assignment to land an agent on Crete, the Parthian was lucky to survive an attack by an Italian submarine off Ras-el-Hilal on the 12th. On 9 January 1941, however, she torpedoed and sunk the Carlo Martinolich off Cape Spartivento, Calabria. Then in June, in the Dardanelles area, she sighted three escorted tankers and attacked one of them, the 5000-ton Strombo, the resultant damage forcing her to beach, and sunk a brace of schooners and a large dumb-lighter in Mitylene Harbour. But it was on her second patrol at the end of the same month that she gained her greatest prize, when, on the 25 June, off Beirut, after tracking her prey for three hours, she torpedoed and sunk the Vichy French submarine Souffleur. Rimington was awarded his second D.S.O., two of his officers the D.S.C. and seven of the crew the D.S.M., Walford among them.

A short spell in H.M. Submarine Tribune followed and then in May 1942, the same month in which he was posted to the Ursula, he was invested with his D.S.M. Walford’s time in the Ursula, which lasted until March 1944, spanned the command of Lieutenant R. B. Lakin, R.N., and was no less active than his operational commission in the Parthian. To begin with, however, before notching up several successes in the Mediterranean, the Ursula was assigned to the 3rd Submarine Flotilla on North Sea patrol work, a brief that included, in July 1942, participation in the ill-fated P.Q. 17 convoy - she was forced to dive on several occasions to avoid being spotted by enemy aircraft.

In November 1942, the Ursula was assigned to the 8th Submarine Flotilla at Algiers, in readiness for “Operation Torch”, the North Africa landings, during the course of which she carried out beach reconnaissance work - a task made all the more difficult by harrassing French fishing vessels - and reinforced the patrol line of the famous Malta-based “Fighting Tenth” Flotilla. She also landed a party of S.B.S. men at Savona, during the course of a patrol between Toulon and Genoa, and recovered the same after they had blown up a nearby railway target. As the Ursula was pulling away from the coast following this rendezvous, she encountered the A./S. schooner Togo and engaged her with gunfire, forcing the enemy crew to abandon ship. But before sinking her Lakin sent over a boarding party who recovered valuable books and papers. Further valuable documentation was recovered from her next victim, the 3000-ton German M.V. Sainte Marguerite II, following some accurate gunnery work on the 2 December 1942. So, too, the ship’s Captain and Chief Engineer, who were taken prisoner, and the ship’s dog, which was renamed “Petain” and became the Ursula’s mascot. The remaining enemy crew were left on their lifeboat and given directions to the French coast, while the Sainte Marguerite II was sunk by demolition charges. Ursula and her gallant crew were duly commended by Admiral Cunningham for their ‘impudence and daring.’

Disaster loomed on the horizon, however, for, having despatched the German-manned 4000-ton Gran at the commencement of her third war patrol in December 1942, the Ursula was rammed by a potential target ship while manoeuvring to get into a firing position off Cape St. Vito on the 28th. Lakin had only spotted the pending disaster with seconds to spare, and in any case the Ursula responded slowly to his corrective measures to deep-dive. As a result, on impact, the submarine rolled severely and the crew had a hair-raising time trying to get her back on an even keel, as her propellers bit into the casing. At length she righted herself and was able to dive in readiness for the expected depth-charge attack, but in the event, it never came. This was fortuitous in the extreme, for on finally reaching base the true extent of the damage was unveiled: both of her periscopes and standards had been ‘wiped’ and were hanging over the side, the bridge severely damaged and the conning-tower hatch jammed - it consequently had to be forced open before a much relieved Lakin could emerge to inspect the surrounding devastation. He was awarded the D.S.O., three of his crew the D.S.M. and another eight a “mention”, Walford being among the latter.

Meanwhile, he had been advanced to Acting Leading Telegraphist, and next joined, in July 1944, following her recent destruction of a U-Boat, H.M. Submarine Satyr. His last wartime appointment was in the Unrivalled and he came ashore for a final time in August 1945.