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

Pair: Chief Petty Officer Stoker Mechanic J. S. Williamson, Royal Navy, who won two “mentions” in the 1939-45 War, the first of them for the evacuation of Crete

Naval General Service 1915-62, 1 clasp, Minesweeping 1945-51 (P/K 67055 C.P.O.S.M., R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue (K. 67055 S.P.O., H.M.S. Kimberley), occasional edge nicks, good very fine or better (2) £250-300

James Soulsby Williamson was first mentioned in despatches for his deeds aboard the destroyer H.M.S. Kimberley in the evacuation of Crete in May 1941 (London Gazette 8 January 1942 refers). Later events in the Pacific aside, it would be fair to say that during the course of this operation the Royal Navy underwent one of the most prolonged and intensive air assaults ever endured and the brunt of that assault was taken by the destroyers - eight of them were sunk and another seven seriously damaged. Remarkably, however, given how busy she was throughout this period, including the earlier evacuation of Greece in the previous month, the Kimberley escaped unscathed.

Following the Crete operation, in which the Kimberley was present right through until the final evacuation of troops from Sphakia on the night of the 31 May (and at the sinking of ten small sailing vessels 18 miles north-east of Canea on the 21st), she was employed in the Syrian campaign, taking part in an abortive Commando operation north of Tyre on the night of 7 June 1941, and at the bombardment of Damour in the following month. She was next engaged on the famous Tobruk run, escorting eight convoys in the period August to November 1941, following which she sailed for Malta to reinforce Force ‘K’. This latter “posting” witnessed her assisting at the sinking of the Italian transport Adriatico on 30 November 1941 and the destroyer Da Mosto in the following month, in addition to being present at the First Battle of Sirte. But her operational days were numbered, for at 2038 hours on 12 January 1942, whilst engaged on an anti-submarine sweep, she was torpedoed by the U-77 off Tobruk, much of her stern being blown away in addition to serious damage being caused to her propellers and shaft - the resultant fire took until 0340 hours on the following day to extinguish. Towed into Alexandria, at which point it is likely Williamson departed her company, she underwent extensive repairs and did not return to an operational footing until 1944.

Williamson, who had earlier qualified for his L.S. & G.C. Medal at the Aden base Sheba, in March 1941, on the eve of joining the ship’s company of Kimberley, won his second “mention” for services aboard the minesweeping sloop Elfreda (London Gazette 13 June 1946).