The Second War 1940 operations D.S.M. group of nine awarded to Lieutenant (S.C.C.) J....

The Second War 1940 operations D.S.M. group of nine awarded to Lieutenant (S.C.C.) J. Derrick, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, late Royal Navy, who was serving in H.M.S. Javelin when she was severely damaged by torpedo attack in November 1940, with Lord Mountbatten aboard in his capacity as Captain (D.), and survived 24 hours on a raft after the loss of the Wild Swan to enemy bombers in the Bay of Biscay in June 1942: he had earlier been awarded the Greek Medal of Military Valour for his part in the Chalcidice earthquake relief operations in 1932

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (JX. 130198 J. Derrick, L. Smn., R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; Italy Star; Burma Star; War Medal 1939-45; Greece, Medal of Military Valour, 4th class; Cadet Forces Long Service, E.II.R. (Lieut. (S.C.C.) J. Derrick, D.S.M., R.N.R.), mounted as worn, the first officially corrected in places, very fine and better (9) £2,400-£2,800
---
Importation Duty
This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK
---



---

D.S.M. London Gazette 1 January 1941.

John Derrick was born in Bath, Somerset in August 1911 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in May 1927. Advanced to Able Seaman in November 1930, he was serving in the repair ship H.M.S. Resource at the time of the Chalcidice earthquake, and was awarded the Greek Medal of Military Valour for his part in the relief operations, having ‘Rendered valuable services and granted permission to wear the Greek Cross of Valour, Class IV, for relief work after the earthquake in Chalcidice, 1932’. Derrick, who qualified as a diver while aboard Resource, also appears to have been awarded the Hellenic Red Cross Medal, or certainly a related Certificate of Commendation (see below).

Javelin

An Acting Leading Seaman in the destroyer Javelin on the outbreak of hostilities, under Commander A. F. Pugsley, R.N., he was present in operations off Norway and Dunkirk, early actions that no doubt contributed to the award of his D.S.M., but it was following his deeds that November, when Javelin was severely damaged by two torpedo strikes, while engaging enemy destroyers in the Channel, that his decoration was confirmed. As it happened, and as was his want in the absence of the Kelly undergoing repairs, Lord Mountbatten was aboard in his capacity as Captain (D.), 5th Destroyer Flotilla. Christopher Langtree’s definitive history, The Kelly’s, which includes two spectacular images of the damaged Javelin, takes up the story:

‘As they turned the British ships lost the targets on their directors and steamed right into the paths of torpedoes launched by the German ships. Most missed but two torpedoes hit Javelin in the bow and stern. The first hit almost blew the stern off up to Station 64 and ignited the oil tanks. The stern dropped off two minutes after the explosion but luckily the aft magazine did not explode. The second hit blew off the whole bow forward Station 30 and caused rapid flooding up to Station 35, flooding No. 2 Magazine at a rate of 6 inches per hour. The German ships turned away, pursued by the rest of the flotilla, but escaped undamaged. The four ships then returned to stand by Javelin which had been reduced from a length of 366 and a half feet to 155 feet. At midday the tug Caroline Moller arrived and by passing a line round Javelin’s torpedo mount was able to tow her back to Plymouth at two knots, arriving on the 30th.’

As related in the Bath & Wiltshire Chronicle and Herald in March 1955, when Derrick met Mountbatten again during the First Sea Lord’s visit to his local Naval H.Q., the two sailors were quickly overheard recalling the events of November 1940:

‘And as they yarned about that cold November day in 1940, when their destroyer was all but blasted from beneath them by German torpedoes, strong March sunshine picked on two medal ribbons from the rows of insignia on each man’s uniform. For Lord Louis Mountbatten it was the D.S.O.; for C.P.O. Derrick, the D.S.M. - and both medals were won by brave men in the same action ... ’

Afterwards interviewed by the newspaper’s reporter, Derrick recalled:

‘There was a terrific explosion, water went up in the air like a water-spout, and the next thing I knew was that I had two men where I had started with 16 - many of the crew left by small boats and rafts, or were taken off by supporting ships. The Javelin was in such a bad way that she hardly looked worth salvaging. But Lord Mountbatten decided to try and get her in. Throughout the day we were bombed by Dorniers who were trying to finish us off but we were eventually given a strong escort and towed, after-part first, back into port. Lord Haw Haw was gloating that the Javelin had gone down but by the time we returned the B.B.C. were able to put him right.’

Derrick was presented with his D.S.M. at a Buckingham Palace investiture held in March 1941, on which occasion the King asked him about the circumstances leading to the award of his unusual Greek decoration.

Wild Swan

Next attending the gunnery establishment Excellent, and advanced to Temporary Petty Officer in December 1941, Derrick joined Wild Swan in January 1942, aboard which destroyer, on 17 June of the same year, his recent attendance at Excellent proved telling - no less than six enemy aircraft were downed by her accurate gunfire. The following eye-witness account of that fateful day has been taken from Peter C. Smith’s history of Wild Swan:

‘Within a minute or two, of course, we were at full action stations and then the twelve Huns slowly dropped out from the cloud base. As they crossed ahead of us we opened up with our two foremost 4.7s. The first few rounds burst remarkably close, and at least two of the raiders appeared to be hit, and climbed back into the clouds. A minute or two later these two dropped out of the clouds again steering wildly. We held our breath as they collided head-on, each doing about 300 m.p.h. One caught fire and dived vertically on to a Spanish trawler. The whole lot blew up and a shower of pieces went flying through the air. The other died headlong into the sea, quite close to the burning wreckage of his opposite number. He released his bombs about a hundred feet up - too late - they fell only a few yards away, and he was also blown to pieces. During the early part of this fierce engagement, Wild Swan was steaming at nearly 25 knots, and altering course continuously to try and avoid the bombs which were falling alarmingly close. She had no time to go and look for German airmen in the sea who might have escaped ...

... About this time Wild Swan experienced a very near miss which severely shook her entire hull, and caused extensive damage. As she lost speed, the rudder also jammed and the crippled destroyer was out of control. Her speed through the water had dropped to only walking pace, when the Wild Swan collided with a trawler which became impaled on her bows. The ship soon stopped, and the Spanish crew were hauled aboard ...

... The sixth bomber caught us. He dived down out of the sun at an angle of 50 degrees and, although the starboard pom-pom and Lewis gunner fired through his wings, five bombs hit the water 15 feet from the ship’s side and went off immediately under the keel. All the guns were firing individually as the electrical circuits and supplies were shattered. This quarter of an hour gave us time to rig a jury wireless aerial. One aircraft came in and machine-gunned us. Unfortunately for him the 12-pounder crew - by now all stripped to the waist, scored a direct hit on one of the engines. As he turned away, the forward guns engaged him and he slowly lost height,...