Orders, Decorations and Medals

A Second World War Mercantile Marine O.B.E. group of eight awarded to Captain Matthew McK. Brown, late Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Indian Marine, three times sunk by enemy submarines

The Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Civil) 2nd type, in case of issue; British War Medal (Lieut., R.N.R.); Mercantile Marine War Medal (Matthew McK. Brown); Victory Medal (Lieut., R.N.R.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Defence and War Medals, good very fine (8) £200-250

The lot is sold with the following original documentation: Diary/Letter Book for the period December 1917 to July 1920; Commission as Lieutenant, R.I.M. (1917); Commission as Lieutenant, R.N.R. (1918); Board of Trade Certificate of Competency (1920); Guildhall Library letter confirming service; various letters and news cuttings covering his career; “The Donaldson Line” History; and a pair of Captain’s gilt cuffs.

Matthew McKirdie Brown was born in 1890, and served with the Donaldson Line from 1915 to 1951. He was 4th and 3rd Mate of the S.S. Athenia, which was sunk on 16 August 1917 by a torpedo from an enemy submarine, 7 miles north of Inishtrahull Island, off Co. Donegal. Fifteen lives were lost but the Captain was amongst the survivors. From late 1917, Lieutenant Brown commanded the patrol vessel Hye Leong, based in Rangoon, returning in late 1919 to study for his Master’s ticket which he passed in Glasgow on 1 March 1920. Between the wars he was Chief Officer of the S.S. Corinaldo, 1921-25, and then Master of the S.S. Corrientes, which was torpedoed and sunk in September 1940. He was next appointed Master of the S.S. Cortona, until 11 July 1942, when this vessel was also sunk by a torpedo from an enemy submarine. The attack took place midway between the Canary Islands and Gibraltar. Thirty of the crew were killed and one was wounded, but Captain Brown was again one of the survivors.

Captain Brown’s subsequent commands were S.S. Cordillera 1942-43, S.S. Norwegian 1943-44, S.S. Salacia (III) 1944-47, and S.S. Cortona (II) 1947-51. He was awarded the O.B.E. in January 1946 for war services and retired in 1951.