Beschreibung:

24 APRIL 1916: A GALLANT ATTEMPT TO SUPPLY KUT 'I am of the opinion that each officer and man has fully earned the Victoria Cross, but with the precedents before me of the award of this coveted decoration for combined efforts of this nature, I am led to believe that this will not be allotted to all ... Before closing my report, I would beg to put on record my appreciation of the gallantry of each one of these officers and men in undertaking this forlorn hope. They were under no misapprehensions as to the dangers they ran, and they knew that I considered it most unlikely that they would reach their destination and fulfil their task; and had it not been that I realised that it was the one and only chance of saving the garrison I would not have given my consent to such an undertaking …' Vice-Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss's report on Julnar's mission to Kut, refers. An extremely rare Great War relief of Kut operations D.S.M. group of four awarded to Seaman J. Featherbee, Royal Naval Reserve, one of 15 men who volunteered to man the river steamer Julnar on a suicidal mission to get supplies through to the besieged town in April 1916 The calibre of courage displayed aboard the Julnar in her desperate mission led to her becoming one of the most decorated ships in the annals of the Royal Navy, her commanding officer, Lieutenant H. O. B. Firman, R.N., and second in command, Lieutenant-Commander C. H. Cowley, R.N.V.R., receiving posthumous awards of the V.C.; the latter - known to one and all as the "Pirate of Basra" - was subsequently murdered by his Turkish captors Having then considered invoking Rule 13 of the V.C.'s warrant to reward other members of crew with the ultimate accolade, Their Lordships finally approved the award of the D.S.O. to Julnar's sole surviving officer, together with two C.G.M.s and ten D.S.M.s to her ratings Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (A 6973 J. Featherbee, Sea., R.N.R., H.M.S. "Julner", 24 April 1916), note spelling of ship name; 1914-15 Star (6973A J. Featherbee, Sea., R.N.R.; British War and Victory Medals (6973A J. Featherbee, Sea., R.N.R.), heavily polished, thus fine (4) D.S.M. London Gazette 11 November 1919. On 2 February 1917, the London Gazette had earlier announced the award of posthumous Victoria Crosses to Lieutenant H. O. B. Firman, R.N., and Lieutenant-Commander C. H. Cowley, R.N.V.R., for their conspicuous gallantry in an attempt to re-provision the force besieged in Kut-el-Amara. The circumstances behind the awards were reported by the G.O.C., Indian Expeditionary Force, in the following terms: 'At 8 p.m. on 24 April 1916, with a crew from the Royal Navy under Lieutenant Firman, R.N., assisted by Lieutenant-Commander Cowley, R.N.V.R., the Julnar, carrying 270 tons of supplies, left Falahiyah in an attempt to reach Kut. Her departure was covered by all artillery and machine-gun fire that could be brought to bear, in the hope of distracting the enemy's attention. She was, however, discovered and shelled on her passage up the river. At 1 a.m. on the 25th, General Townshend reported that she had not arrived, and that at midnight a burst of heavy firing had been heard at Magasis, some eight and a half miles from Kut by river, which had suddenly ceased. There could be but little doubt that the enterprise had failed, and the next day the air service reported the Julnar in the hands of the Turks at Magasis. The leaders of this brave attempt, Lieutenant H. O. B. Firman, R.N., and his assistant, Lieutenant-Commander C. H. Cowley, R.N.V.R. - the latter of whom throughout the campaign in Mesopotamia performed magnificent service in command of the Mejidieh - have been reported by the Turks to have been killed; the remainder of the gallant crew, including five wounded, are prisoners of war. Knowing well the chances against them, all the gallant officers and men who manned the Julnar for the occasion were volunteers. I trust that the services in connection of Lieutenant H. O. B. Firman, R.N., and Lieute