Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue (MX. 48275 M. R. A. Sowter, C.E.R.A., H.M.S. Implacable) suspension claw crudely re-riveted, otherwise good very fine £80-100

Major Richard Arthur Sowter was mentioned in despatches for ‘courage, endurance and devotion to duty’ while employed on minesweeping duties in H.M.S. Bramble in northern waters (Seedie’s and the London Gazette 24 March 1942 refer). The time of his “mention” suggests he was a lucky man indeed, the Bramble being lost with all hands during the famous “Battle of Barents Sea” in December of the same year.

Awarded his L.S. & G.C. Medal while serving in the aircraft carrier H.M.S. Implacable in July 1945, Sowter would have witnessed the departure of her F.A.A. aircraft in numerous strikes launched against Tokyo plain and Honshu in the final weeks of the War.