A rare Great War Dardanelles operations D.S.C. group of five awarded to Lieutenant J. W. A. Chubb, Royal Navy, an ex-Boer War Naval Brigade hand who was decorated for gallant deeds during a heated action in The Narrows - according to one survivor it ‘beat the Crystal Palace for fireworks hands down’

Distinguished Service Cross, G.V.R., hallmarks for London 1916; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 4 clasps, Cape Colony, Paardeberg, Driefontein, Transvaal (178485 A.B. J. W. A. Chubb, H.M.S. Barrosa); 1914-15 Star (Gnr. J. W. A. Chubb, D.S.C., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (Gunr. J. W. A. Chubb, R.N.), minor scratches over ranks on the Great War awards, generally good very fine (5) £2000-2500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals relating to the Boer War formed by two brothers.

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D.S.C. London Gazette 16 August 1915:

‘Mr. Chubb, when a volunteer in Trawler No. 488, on the night of 13-14 March 1915, brought the vessel out of action in a sinking condition, his commanding officer and three of the small crew being killed.’

John William Alexander Chubb was born in Southsea, Hampshire in October 1878 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy Seaman 2nd Class in February 1894. Advanced to Able Seaman in June 1898, he was serving aboard H.M.S. Barrosa on the outbreak of hostilities in South Africa and, in January 1900, among those of her ratings landed for service in the Naval Brigade, namely as members of “Grant’s Guns” and, more particularly, to man the 4.7-inch gun “Sloper”, which was pulled by 16 oxen. Chubb duly went into action Paardeberg, Poplar Grove and Driefontein, was onetime attached to the Doris’ gun team as well, and qualified for the above described Queen’s Medal & clasps by the time he returned to the Barrosa at the end of the year.

Rapid advancement now ensued, Chubb becoming a Petty Officer 1st Class in November 1903 and a Gunner (T.) in September 1909, and he joined the battleship Prince George in August 1914, shortly before her departure for the Dardanelles. But it was as a volunteer in Trawler No. 488, in a desperate mine sweeping enterprise on the night of 13-14 March 1915, that he won his D.S.C. Taffrail’s Swept Channels takes up the story:

‘On the night of March 13-14 the Cornwallis was sent into the Straits and spent an hour from midnight bombarding the searchlights and minefield batteries. At 2 a.m. the Amethyst and destroyers again closed in to engage the batteries with great vigour. Then, at 3 a.m., seven trawlers, commanded by naval officers and partly manned by naval ratings [including Chubb], steamed up in single line. They were accompanied by five picket boats commanded by young midshipmen and provided with explosive creeps. The minesweeping force was covered as usual by the Amethyst and destroyers.

The Turks were fully awake, and two powerful searchlights were illuminating the approach. They allowed the sweeping flotilla to get into the middle of the minefield on their way up, firing an occasional single gun. Then the searchlights were extinguished for a moment and flashed on again, which was evidently a prearranged signal. Instantly every gun that would bear opened fire on the trawlers, the dark shore sparkling with gun flashes and the water vomiting fountains of dazzling spray.

But there was no stopping the little ships on this occasion. Followed by the storm of shell, they steamed on to the point where the downward sweep was to begin, roughly two miles below the town of Chanak. It was a gruelling experience, carried through with the greatest gallantry and devotion to duty.

By the time they reached the turning-point, however, they had already suffered severely. Two of the trawlers had had their entire working crews killed or wounded. Hit by every type of shell from six inch to shrapnel fired by field-guns, kites were demolished, wires were cut, and winches smashed. Only two of the trawlers reached the turning-point with their gear fit for sweeping.

‘I was in the leading boat of the first pair,’ wrote an officer who was present. ‘If anybody is in need of a few hours of intense excitement I can recommend minesweeping under fire as good sport; but their nerves will suffer next day. You can judge of mine by my handwriting five days later. We were under fire for about half an hour on the way up, and three quarters of hour on the way down. The most dangerous part was at the top, where you turned and stopped to get the gear out.’

‘It is about a mile and a half broad there,’ he continued, ‘with seven or eight splendid big searchlights and twenty or thirty guns a side, not counting pom-poms and Maxims, at ranges from 200 yards to a mile or so, and all sizes from 14-inch downwards. There is also a pretty fair chance of striking a mine. It was a proper show, regular Brock’s Benefit, beat the Crystal Palace for fireworks hands down.’

‘Mine were the only pair of trawlers which succeeded in sweeping down. The others came out all right; but they weren’t able to sweep because of winches being hit, etc. The picket boats did all right, as they were too small to get hit. I was very lucky, because I managed to steer into a dark corner just at the critical time when we were getting out the gear. I was only hit once ... We must have swept through several lines of mines, and as none of them exploded we soon had so many that the sweep nearly parted and we could hardly tow them at all. I had the prospect of spending the rest of the night up there trying to tow them out, when the moorings parted. The next day over a dozen mines floated down; but I can’t have had more than four or five of them. The picket boats with explosive sweeps must have got the rest. If the Turks had taken the trouble to defend their minefields with mooring buoys and chain cables, it would have been impossible to sweep through at all.’

The enterprise was a very gallant one. The volunteers for the trawlers had been provided by six of the battleships and the destroyer depot-ship Blenheim, and the trawler manned by the Vengeance was hit eighty-four times. She was commanded by Lieutenant-Commander E. G. Robinson, who greatly distinguished himself on three separate and distinct occasions in the Dardanelles, and was awarded the Victoria Cross besides being specially promoted to the rank of Commander. Among others who were conspicuous in minesweeping on this and other occasions were Commander J. R. Middleton of the Albion, and Lieutenant F. H. Sandford of the Irresistible, both of whom were awarded the D.S.O. Sub.-Lieutenant A. Bayford, R.N.R., and Midshipman J. C. W. Price, the latter of the Ocean, were awarded the D.S.C., while Mr. J. W. A. Chubb, the torpedo gunner of the Prince George, was mentioned for gallantry in bringing his trawler out in a sinking condition after his commanding officer and three men had been killed.

No trawlers were sunk, but four of them and one picket boat were put out of action. Thanks, however, to the efficient protection of the steel plating fitted at Malta Dockyard, their casualties were no more than five killed and four wounded, including one volunteer officer killed and another wounded.’

Although the sweepers had not achieved their aim, ‘their conduct’, says the Official History, ‘had excited everyone's admiration, and in the morning Admiral Carden made the following general signal: "Minesweepers are doing fine work. Their perseverance and steadiness are excellent. Much depends on them!" Indeed, almost everything depended on them, but how with their low speed they were to do the work in the strong current till means were found of mastering the minefield defence was far from clear.’

Chubb was awarded the D.S.C.

Not long afterwards, on 22 May 1915, he received a shrapnel wound to his foot, and he was evacuated to hospital in Egypt, and thence home to the U.K. On recovering from his wound in December 1915, he took up an appointment at the Devonport Barracks Vivid, but in September 1916 he returned to sea in the battleship Warspite, and remained employed in that capacity until the end of hostilities.

Having then served in the Glorious 1920-22, he joined the submarine depot ship Maidstone, but in December of the latter year he was placed on the Retired List in the rank of Lieutenant. Sadly his retirement was short-lived, for he died at Devonport in February 1924; sold with an extensive file of research.

1914-15 Star officially re-impressed.