A very rare Second World War convoy escort operations D.S.M. and Bar group of ten awarded to Chief Mechanician G. M. R. Hide, Royal Navy, who received both of his decorations for gallant deeds in the flower-class corvette Bluebell, the first of them in respect of Arctic convoy PQ-18: in a wartime history reminiscent of Monsarrat’s fictitious corvette Compass Rose, the Bluebell lent lengthy and gallant service until torpedoed in March 1945 - on which occasion she went down in 30 seconds

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R., with Second Award Bar (K. 61051 G. M. R. Hide, Ch. Mech. 2, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (J. 86470 G. M. R. Hide, Ord., R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, clasp, France and Germany; Africa Star; Italy Star; War Medal 1939-45, M.I.D. oakleaf; Jubilee 1935, privately engraved, ‘K. 61051 G. M. R. Hide, Mech., R.N.’; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 3rd issue (K. 61051 G. M. R. Hide, Mech., H.M.S. Victory), together with two regatta oars, in silver, one inscribed, ‘Nelson, 1931’ and the other named to ‘G. Hide’ with additional inscription, ‘Wei Hai Wei, China Fleet Regatta, Yokohama Bowl, 1935, H.M.S. Cornwall’, the Great War awards polished, thus fine, the remainder generally very fine and better (10) £3500-4000

Approximately 150 Bars were awarded to the D.S.M. during the 1939-45 War, together with 3 second Bars and one third Bar.

D.S.M. London Gazette 8 December 1942: ‘For bravery and resolution in H.M. ships and merchantmen, while taking a convoy to North Russia in the face of relentless attacks by enemy aircraft and submarines.’

The original recommendation states: ‘During the service under consideration [PQ-18], no individual was markedly conspicuous above the remainder of the ship’s company, and this recommendation is made because Hide has by continued devotion to duty shown himself most deserving of recognition.’

Bar to D.S.M. London Gazette 14 June 1945.

Mention in despatches London Gazette 11 July 1940.

George Merrick Richard Hide was born in Eastbourne in April 1900 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in March 1918. Quickly rated as an Ordinary Seaman, he joined the destroyer H.M.S. Retriever that June and remained employed in her until the War’s end, following which, in March 1923, he transferred to engine-room duties. He was awarded his L.S. & G.C. Medal in April 1933.

A Chief Mechanician by the renewal of hostilities, Hide was mentioned in despatches for his services in the cruiser H.M.S. Calcutta, which ship was engaged off Norway and in the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, in addition to accompanying the Canadian destroyers Restigouche and Fraser on a special mission to the coast of Bordeaux, where 4,000 refugees awaited evacuation - in the event Calcutta and Fraser collided in heavy seas and poor visibility, the latter going down with a loss of 45 men. Whether Hide was still serving in Calcutta after her move to the Mediterranean in the following year remains unknown but, if so, he would have witnessed extensive action off Greece and Crete - and been present when she went down with 116 officers and ratings after being bombed by Ju. 88s off Alexandria on 1 June 1941.

At which point he removed to the Flower-class corvette Bluebell is difficult to say, but quite likely it was following her refit on the Tyne in the summer of 1942. Be that as it may, Hide was certainly aboard her in time for Arctic convoy PQ-18, one of numerous escort operations he would undertake over the coming years - including similar work on the Gibraltar run, and support to landing craft flotillas during the Sicily and Normandy landings. One of her Gibraltar convoys - HG-75 - was subjected to heavy attack over six days, but due to the excellent work of Bluebell and her consorts, just four ships were lost. But it was for his gallant work on the Arctic run that Hide won his D.S.Ms.

PQ-18

Following the disaster of PQ-17 in July 1942, when 24 of our ships were lost to U-boats and the Luftwaffe, the Admiralty postponed Arctic convoys until September, when PQ-18 was mounted, this time with a Royal Navy escort that employed over 70 ships to defend 40 merchantmen - nonetheless 13 of those merchantmen were sunk. And among the escorting corvettes was the Bluebell, commanded by Lieutenant G. H. Walker, D.S.C., R.N.V.R., one of five brothers who served in the “Wavy Navy” in the War.

On 14 September 1942, the Luftwaffe delivered no less than eight major assaults against PQ-18, large forces of Ju. 88s, He. 111s and He. 115s unleashing a torrent of bombs and torpedoes, many of the latter finding their mark - in fact so thick was the sky with enemy aircraft that the Commodore likened them to ‘a cloud of phantom locusts’, a scene all the more impressive with the intense A.A. fire put up by all ships. Of events on the 14th, Walker of the Bluebell reported:

‘During the first attack by torpedo-bomber aircraft at 1245, aircraft passed within 300 yards down both sides of the ship; two aircraft passed between the ship and the next ship to starboard. A 4-inch barrage, first long and then short, was fired as the aircraft approached and the aircraft were also engaged with all close range weapons whilst within effective range. Many hits by Oerlikon and Lewis guns were observed on the aircraft on both sides of the ship; the nearest aircraft to the port side was apparently badly damaged, lurching heavily and making large quantities of black smoke. This attack broke up as soon as the aircraft had passed the screen, aircraft dropping their torpedoes at random at a range of about 4,000 yards and turning away.

When the next torpedo aircraft attack was delivered at 1408, aircraft again approached through the port wing of the screen. One aircraft passed down the port side of the ship and was engaged by the port bridge Oerlikon. One aircraft (Heinkel III) came very close down the starboard side then swerved towards the ship and passed over the stern at a height of about 150 feet. This aircraft was engaged by every close range weapon on the ship, except the port bridge Oerlikon which could not bear, and every gun appeared to be hitting; the aircraft was being torn to ribbons by the concentrated fire as it passed overhead and pieces of debris were seen flying off from the vicinity of its two torpedoes. As it passed overhead it attempted to drop one torpedo but only the nose was released, the tail of the torpedo remaining fast to the aircraft. This aircraft crashed into the sea about half a mile from the port quarter ... ’

So here at least one verified victory achieved by the Bluebell, one of 40 such claims made by R.N. and D.E.M.S. gunners during the course of PQ-18. And on arriving at Archangel, Lieutenant Walker wrote the recommendation for Hide’s D.S.M., a recommendation dated 25 September.

Further work on the Arctic run

With the exception of the aforementioned interludes during the Sicily and Normandy landings, the Bluebell remained firmly engaged in escorting North Russian convoys, among them JW-53 in February 1943, during which all concerned were subjected to heavy air attack. Yet given the date on which Hide’s second D.S.M. was announced in the Birthday Honours List in 1945, it would be fair to assume the award reflected his part in subsequent operations carried out in 1944-45, a period that witnessed Bluebell’s participation in several important Arctic convoys. Thus JW-57 in February 1944, when two U-Boats were sunk; RA-57 in the following month, when three U-Boats were sunk; JW-58 in March-April, when four U-Boats were sunk; JW-59 in July, when two U-Boats were sunk; and JW-64 in early February 1945.

And it was during the return convoy from this last named operation - RA-64 - that Bluebell was sunk on 17 February 1945, several U-Boats having gathered off the entrance of the Kola Inlet. One of them, the U-711, commanded by Hans-Gunther Lange, gained a hit on Bluebell’s stern, a fatal blow in lieu of the depth-charges stored there - she blew up and went down in 30 seconds, just one survivor, a P.O. Telegraphist, being plucked from the icy Arctic waters. But a further member of Bluebell’s crew survived by default, having been transferred to the destroyer Cassandra just before the convoy sailed, and given the fact Hide did indeed survive the War, it is possible that he was that lucky man.

Hans-Gunther Lange, commander of the U-711, was informed by radio that Donitz had awarded him Oak Leaves to his Ritterkreuz, while Hide enjoyed a more memorable occasion - namely the receipt of his D.S.M. and Bar at a Buckingham Palace investiture held on 23 October 1945; sold with his Admiralty campaign award forwarding slip, and a copy of the wartime order announcing the award of his second D.S.M.