Exceptional Naval and Polar Awards from the Collection of RC Witte

The Second World War D.S.O., D.S.C. group of eight awarded to Lieutenant-Commander H. M. C. Sanders, Royal Naval Reserve, who was killed in action in command of the first of the flower-class corvettes, the Gladiolus, when she was torpedoed and sunk in October 1941: her C.O. from March 1940, he had participated in the destruction of at least two U-Boats in the interim, a gallant wartime career with parallels to the Compass Rose of Cruel Sea fame

Distinguished Service Order, G.VI.R. 1st issue, the reverse of the suspension bar officially dated ‘1941’, silver-gilt and enamel; Distinguished Service Cross, G.VI.R., hallmarks for London 1940 and officially dated ‘1940’; British War and Victory Medals (Mid. H. M. C. Sanders, R.N.R.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; War Medal 1939-45; Royal Naval Reserve Decoration, G.V.R., silver, gilt, unmarked, generally extremely fine (8) £4000-5000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Exceptional Naval and Polar Awards from the Collection of RC Witte.

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D.S.O. London Gazette 9 September 1941:
‘For enterprise, skill and devotion to duty in action against enemy submarines.’

D.S.C. London Gazette 13 November 1940:
‘For good services in a successful attack on a U-Boat.’

Harry Marcus Crews Sanders, who was born in Lowestoft in November 1900 and was appointed a Midshipman in the Royal Naval Reserve in August 1918, was appointed to the command of the flower-class corvette Gladiolus on her commissioning in April 1940 - the first of some 250 such corvettes to be built in the 1939-45 War, she had been laid down at Smiths Docks on the River Tees in October 1939. And she quickly proved herself in action on convoy work, when, on 28 June 1940, she picked up 35 survivors from the S.S. Llanarth, which had been torpedoed by the U-30 about 220 nautical miles west by south of Ushant.

Just a day or two later, in the Western Approaches, Sanders orchestrated her first “kill”, when he successfully depth-charged the U-26. Severely damaged, the enemy submarine was then attacked on the surface by a Sunderland from No. 10 (R.A.A.F.) Squadron, as a result of which her commander, Heinz Scheringer, took the decision to scuttle her - seven of his crew perished and the remainder were taken prisoner. Sanders was awarded the D.S.C. and the Gladiolus became the first flower-class corvette to be credited with a confirmed U-Boat “kill”.

In April 1941, while escorting Convoy HX. 121, the Gladiolus made an unsuccessful attack on the U-96, one of five U-Boats that came to haunt the convoy and sink several ships - the destroyer Douglas had more luck, sending the U-65 to the bottom with no survivors. But in the company of her sister ships the Nasturtium and Celadine, in Convoy HX. 133, south-west of Iceland on 26 June 1941, Gladiolus shared in the destruction of the U-556 and assisted in driving off another attack by the U-201 - 41 crew of the former U-Boat were taken prisoner, including her famous skipper, Herbert Wohlfarth, who had recently been awarded the Knight’s Cross. For his own part in this well executed depth-charge attack, Sanders was awarded the D.S.O., while members of a boarding party that reached the crippled U-Boat were likewise decorated, one of them coming away with Wohlfarth’s torpedo range tables.

Then in September, as part of Convoy SC. 42, Gladiolus played an important part in engaging a large wolf-pack, and no doubt assisted others in gaining a final score of two U-Boats. Sadly, however, in the following month, on the night of the 16th-17th, during the course of Convoy SC. 48, Gladiolus herself was to fall victim to a torpedo attack. Having picked up a survivor from the Empire Heron, Sanders decided to carry on his search, but no further news was ever heard from him - German records revealed after the War that the Gladiolus had fallen victim to the U-558, or possibly the U-432. If the former, it was the command of another famous U-Boat ace and Knight’s Cross holder, Gunther Krech.

Sanders never set eyes on his D.S.O. and D.S.C., both decorations being forwarded to his widow, Janet, then a resident of Bitterne, Southampton. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

Sold with the recipient’s original D.S.O. warrant, dated 9 September 1941, with related forwarding letter to his widow, dated 13 August 1942, and his Admiralty condolence slip.