Beschreibung:

A fine Great War Q-ship action D.S.M. group of eight awarded to Able Seaman E. J. Bunting, Royal Navy, who was decorated for his bravery in the Penshurst, aboard which ship he was still serving on the occasion of her loss Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (S.S. 4999 E. J. Bunting, A.B., Atlantic Ocean, 19 Aug. 1917); 1914-15 Star (SS. 4999 A.B., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (SS. 4999 A.B., R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; War Medal 1939-45; Royal Fleet Reserve L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., coinage head (4999 (Dev. B. 9211) A.B., R.F.R.), edge bruising, contact marks and polished, good fine and rather better (8) £2500-3000 Footnote D.S.M. London Gazette 2 November 1917: ‘For services in action with enemy submarines.’ Edward John Bunting was in Lurgan, Armagh in October 1895 and entered the Royal Navy as an Ordinary Seaman in May 1914. His first seagoing appointment commenced in October 1914, when he joined the ship’s company of H.M.S. Tiger, aboard which battle cruiser he served until September 1915, and was present in the action at Dogger Bank in January of the latter year. Removing to the submarine depot ship Cyclops that December, he finally joined the Q-ship Penshurst (a.k.a. Q.7) in April 1916, aboard which famous vessel he served right up until her loss in December 1917. The ‘Splendid Penshurst’ was one of the most famous and highly decorated Q-ships, her two captains, Francis Grenfell and Cedric Naylor, both receiving multiple decorations - the latter ended up as the most highly decorated Naval officer of the Great War, with three D.S.O’s and two D.S.C’s to his name, the whole for services in the Penshurst. Having joined the ship in April 1916, Bunting would have shared in all of her actions, the first of which occurred in November of the same year, when she sank the UB-19 on the 30th. Then on 14 January 1917, she sighted the UB-37, Kapitain Lieutnant Günther. The U-boat opened fire immediately and Penshurt’s captain, Grenfell, ordered the usual “abandon ship” tactics to be carried out. Slowly the UB-37 closed in until she was 700 yards off the Q-ship’s starboard bow and twice in succession Penshurst was hit by shell fire and several members of her crew, who were waiting in concealment for the order to ‘Open fire’, were killed or wounded. At first Captain Grenfell anticipated that Günther would take UB-37 around to the Q-ship’s boats off Penshurt’s port quarter and that such action would afford the opportunity of decreasing the range, but it soon became obvious that Günther had no intention of closing in and Grenfell decided to reveal his true colours and commence an action. At 4.24 p.m. Penshurst hoisted her White Ensign and her apparently deserted decks became alive with activity as the screens concealing her armament were lowered and her guns opened a rapid fire on the submarine. The first shell from Penshurst’s 12-pounder struck the base of UB-37‘s conning tower and when the black smoke which resulted from the violent explosion had cleared away, it was observed that a part of the U-boat’s conning tower was missing. A second shell caused further damage to UB-37‘s hull and at least four more hits were registered on her conning tower before she sank to the bottom with all hands. To ensure the U-boat’s destruction, Penshurst steamed over the position where she had disappeared and dropped depth-charges before returning to Portland. Just over a month later Penshurst engaged U-84 in an indecisive action off the south coast of Ireland, and on 2 July and 19 August she was in action with other U-boats, the latter occasion being the one for which Bunting received his D.S.M. In this action Penshurst was torpedoed and badly damaged by gunfire, exposing her hidden guns. Despite this, the submarine surfaced and Penshurst pretended to “run away” according to plan. She then opened fire with her 3-pounder gun in an attempt to entice the submarine closer before opening up with her heavier guns. Hits were scored against the submari