An emotive Second World War group of six awarded to Able Seaman J. H. Heath, Royal Navy, who, having been present at the “Altmark Incident” in H.M.S. Cossack, was awarded a “mention” for his part in the Second Battle of Narvik

1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Pacific Star; Defence and War Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue (J. 102464 A.B., H.M.S. Cossack), the campaign issues with their original addressed card forwarding box and Admiralty issuance slip, generally extremely fine (6) £400-500

Mention in despatches London Gazette 28 June 1940:

‘For daring, resource and devotion to duty in the Second Battle of Narvik.’

John Henry Heath was born at Bodmin, Cornwall in October 1905 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in May 1921. Advanced to Able Seaman in June 1925, he was awarded his L.S. & G.C. Medal while serving in H.M.S. Cossack in November 1938, and was similarly employed on the outbreak of hostilities in the following year.

The Altmark Incident

On the night of 16 February 1940, in an episode that would be widely reported in the home press, Captain Philip Vian, R.N., C.O. of the Cossack, commanded a brilliant enterprise in neutral waters in Josing Fjord, Norway, when 300 British merchant seamen were rescued from appalling conditions in the holds of the German auxiliary ship Altmark, all of them victims of earlier sinkings in the South Atlantic by the Graf Spee prior to her demise in the River Plate: their rescue was effected by a boarding party from Cossack, armed with revolvers, rifles and bayonets.

As a result of the unfortunate delays caused by the implications of the Altmark being in neutral waters, and the presence of two Norwegian torpedo-boats ordered to prevent British intervention, Vian had patiently awaited Admiralty orders before embarking on his desperate mission, but when they arrived, with all the hallmarks of the First Sea Lord, Winston Churchill’s hand upon it, he moved swiftly. Vian’s account takes up the story:

‘Having placed Cossack in a position from which our pom-poms could play upon Norwegian decks, whilst their torpedo tubes were no instant menace to us, I said we could parley no longer, and must board and search the Altmark forthwith, whether we fought them or not. Kjell’s captain decided that honour was served by submitting to superior force, and withdrew. On rounding the bend in the fjord, Altmark at last came into view. She lay bows inshore, encased in ice, her great bulk standing black against the snow-clad mountains.

Thoughts of the six-inch guns with which the Altmark was said to be armed were naturally in our minds. Though our own guns were manned we were obviously an easy target, and the enemy’s first shots might well immobilise us at once. There was nothing for it, however, but to go ahead and get to grips as quickly as possible.

The Altmark Captain was determined to resist being boarded. On sighting Cossack, he trained his searchlight on our bridge to blind the command, and came astern at full power through the channel which his entry into the ice had made. His idea was to ram us. Unless something was done very quickly the great mass of the tanker’s counter was going to crash heavily into Cossack’s port bow.

There followed a period of manoeuvring in which disaster, as serious collision must have entailed, was avoided by the skill of my imperturable navigator, McLean, and by the speed with which the main engine manoeuvring valves were operated by their artificers.

Lieutenant Bradwell Turner, the leader of the boarding party, anticipated Cossack’s arrival alongside Altmark with a leap which became famous. Petty Officer Atkins, who followed him, fell short, and hung by his hands until Turner heaved him on deck. The two quickly made fast a hemp hawser from Cossack’s fo’c’s’le, and the rest of the party scrambled across.

When Turner arrived on Altmark’s bridge he found the engine telegraphs set to full speed in an endeavour to force Cossack ashore. On Turner’s appearance, the captain and others surrendered, except the third officer, who interfered with the telegraphs, which Turner had set to stop. Turner forbore to shoot him.

It was now clear that as a result of her manoeuvres Altmark would ground by the stern, which she did, but not before Cossack, the boarding party all being transferred, had cast off, to avoid the same fate.

It was expected, with the surrender of the German captain, that the release of our prisoners would be a drawing-room affair. That this was not so was due to the action of a member of the armed guard which Graf Spee had put aboard. He gratuitously shot Gunner Smith, of the boarding party, in an alleyway. This invoked retaliation, upon which the armed guard decamped; they fled across the ice, and began to snipe the boarding party from an eminence on shore. Silhouetted against the snow they made easy targets, and their fire was quickly silenced by Turner and his men.

In the end German casualties were few, six killed and six badly wounded. The boarding party had none, save unlucky Gunner Smith, and even he was not fatally wounded.

Resistance overcome, Turner was able to turn to the business of the day. The prisoners were under locked hatches in the holds; when these had been broken open Turner hailed the men below with the words: “Any British down there?” He was greeted with a tremendous yell of “Yes! We’re all British!” “Come on up then,” said Turner, “The Navy’s here!”

I received many letters from the public after this affair: a number wrote to say that, as I had failed to shoot, or hang, the captain of Altmark, I ought to be shot myself.’

In point of fact Vian and his men were hailed as heroes the land over, Winston Churchill setting the pace with mention of their exploits in an address to veterans of the Battle of the River Plate at the Guildhall just four days after the Altmark had been boarded:

“To the glorious action of the Plate there has recently been added an epilogue - the rescue last week by the Cossack and her flotilla - under the noses of the enemy, and amid the tangles of one-sided neutrality - the rescue of British captives from the sunken German raider - your friend, the one you sunk. Their rescue at the very moment when these unhappy men were about to be delivered over to indefinite German bondage, proves that the long arm of British sea power can be stretched out, not only to foes, but also to faithful friends. And to Nelson’s immortal signal of 135 years ago: ‘England expects that every man will do his duty’ - there may now be added last week’s not less proud reply: ‘The Navy is here!’ ”

The Second Battle of Narvik

Cossack went on to play a distinguished part in the Second Battle of Narvik on 13 April 1940, this time under Commander R. St. V. Sherbrooke, R.N. (who would later be awarded the V.C. for his great bravery in the Battle of Barents Sea):

‘Commander Sherbrooke in Cossack now entered the harbour to finish the job. Threading his way carefully through the shipping that encumbered the fairway he suddenly came into full view of the Roeder and paid the penalty, in damage and casualties caused by no less than seven direct hits. Nine of the crew were killed and another 21 wounded. The main engine steam was cut and the steering gear wrecked as Cossack drifted helplessly on to the rocks. Frantic attempts to regain control and to re-establish order on board were hampered by fire from snipers, field guns and mortars ashore, a hazard not normally encountered by warships in action ... ’ (Destroyers at War, by Gregory Haines, refers).

In the event, Cossack was refloated on the night of the 14th, and, in his subsequent report of the action, Sherbrooke cited Heath and two other ratings for ‘special mention for outstanding work and exemplary conduct in the presence of the enemy’.