Beschreibung:

An extremely rare Great War relief of Kut operations D.S.M. group of four awarded to Able Seaman H. Blanchard, Royal Navy, one of 15 men who volunteered to man the river steamer Julnar on a suicidal mission to get supplies through to Kut in April 1916, an extraordinary episode that resulted in the award of two posthumous V.Cs, a D.S.O., three C.G.Ms and ten D.S.Ms - and the cold-blooded murder of Lieutenant-Commander C. H. Cowley, R.N.V.R., the “Pirate of Basra” Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (J. 13427 H. Blanchard, A.B., “Julnar”, 24 April 1916); 1914-15 Star (J. 13427 H. Blanchard, A.B., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (J. 13427 H. Blanchard, A.B., R.N.), contact marks, nearly very fine or better (4) £3500-4000 Footnote D.S.M. London Gazette 11 November 1919. Back on 2 February 1917, the London Gazette had announced the award of posthumous V.Cs 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 Lieutenant-Commander C. H. Cowley, R.N.V.R., his assistant, both of whom were unfortunately killed, may be recognised by the posthumous grant of some suitable honour.’ The remainder of the crew had to wait until November 1919 before suitable Honours & Awards were granted, these comprising the D.S.O. to the Engineer Officer, Sub. Lieutenant W. L. Reed, R.N.R., the sole surviving officer, and three C.G.Ms and 10 D.S.Ms between the remaining crew. Interestingly, in the interim, there had been strenuous efforts to invoke Rule 13 of the Victoria Cross statutes in order to reward other crew members with this ultimate honour, but they proved unsuccessful. The Vice-Admiral, Commander-in-Chief, Sir Rosslyn Wemyss wrote: ‘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 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 no