Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A rare and interesting Second World War C.I.E., O.B.E. group of seven awarded to Captain H. V. Briscoe, Royal Navy, a veteran of the battle of Jutland who established the secret naval base at Addu Atoll in 1941 to combat the Japanese threat in the Indian Ocean - work that won him one of just four known examples of the C.I.E. to the Royal Navy, in addition to his O.B.E.
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, C.I.E., Companion’s 3rd type neck badge, gold and enamels, in its Garrard & Co. case of issue; The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 2nd type breast badge; 1914-15 Star (Mid. H. V. Briscoe, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. H. V. Briscoe, R.N.); Defence and War Medals 1939-45, these last six mounted as worn, together with a set of related miniature dress medals, generally good very fine (14) £1800-2200

C.I.E. London Gazette 5 July 1945: ‘For distinguished service and fine leadership as Naval officer-in-charge of an important advanced base in the Indian Ocean.’

O.B.E. London Gazette 2 June 1943.

Henry Villiers Briscoe was born in Bermuda in November 1896 and, after attending the Royal Naval Colleges at Dartmouth and Osborne, entered the Royal Navy as a Midshipman. He subsequently served aboard H.M.S. King Edward VII from May 1914 until she was sunk by a mine off Cape Wrath on 16 January 1916 and, following a brief appointment aboard the Africa, joined the Royal Oak in April 1916 and was present aboard her at the battle of Jutland. Then in January 1917 he was posted to Dolphin for submarine duties, serving as a Sub. Lieutenant in H.M. Submarine C 30 from February 1917 and the E 42 from June 1918 until after the War. Placed on the Retired List in May 1922, Briscoe joined the Colonial Service and became a ship’s pilot at Dar-es-Salaam, and later Port Captain at Mauritius from August 1939.

At his own request, however, he was recalled to the Royal Navy in June 1940, and borne on the books of Lanka in Ceylon, where it soon became apparent that our naval bases might become indefensible if Japan entered the War. Accordingly, in August 1941, Briscoe was instructed to establish a secret naval base at Addu Atoll, at the southern tip of the Maldive Islands, 600 miles south-west of Colombo, of which establishment he was appointed Naval Officer-in-Charge. And in the fullness of time, after the Japanese entered the war in December 1941, this base proved invaluable, not least in early 1942, when the enemy had the upper hand in Malaya and Burma, and were able to put a strong naval force into the Bay of Bengal. In fact, after the sinking of the Hermes, Dorsetshire and Cornwall, and the bombing of our naval bases at Colombo and Trincomalee, Admiral Sir James Somerville was left only with Addu Atoll for the servicing of his Eastern Fleet, though even Addu Atoll was for a time too exposed and Somerville took his five Great War battleships off to Mombassa. This was a time of extreme peril for Briscoe and his people at Addu Atoll - nothing could have saved them if the base had been found. Fortunately, although the Japs came quite close, they never suspected the existence of the base and eventually their heavy ships withdrew from Ceylonese waters. The threat, though, still remained and had to be guarded against. When the Eastern Fleet returned, it was their job to protect the vital network of communications along which, in 1942-43, passed the bulk of troops and war material from the U.K., the U.S.A., South Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand, to the fighting fronts in North Africa, the Middle East, and, via the Persian Gulf, Russia. Thus, it was as vital to keep open the Indian Ocean sea routes as it was those of the Atlantic. The importance of Briscoe’s work in the Indian Ocean was recognised by the award of the O.B.E. in 1943, and the C.I.E. in 1945, the latter being a very rare award to the Royal Navy.

Briscoe was placed back on the Retired List as a Captain in 1945, and became Harbour Master of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, until October 1946. He was subsequently Marine Superintendent with the Gold Coast Railway and Harbour Administration until his retirement in 1950, and died on the Isle of Wight in October 1983.

Sold with a large quantity of original documentation, including C.I.E. and O.B.E. warrants, numerous career “flimsies” from both World Wars, official letters, etc., and much besides.