Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A rare Great War D.S.M. group of five awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel A. Ingledew, Auxiliary Forces of India, late Royal Naval Air Service, who was decorated for his part in the destruction of the UB-32 in August 1917 - ‘the first enemy submarine to be destroyed in the Channel by direct attack by British aircraft.’

Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (F. 13492 A. E. Ingledew, Air Mech. 2nd Gr., R.N.A.S., Cherbourg 18th Aug. 1917); British War and Victory Medals (F. 13492 A. E. Ingledew, Act. A.M. 1, R.N.A.S.); Efficiency Decoration, G.VI.R., India, the reverse officially engraved, ‘Lt. Col. A. E. Ingledew, Chota Nag. R. A.F.I.’, in its Royal Mint case of issue; France, Croix de Guerre 1914-1917, with bronze palm riband fitment, together with a set of related Great War dress miniatures, generally good very fine (9) £2000-2500

D.S.M. London Gazette 23 November 1917.

Arthur Edward Ingledew was born in Middlesborough, Yorkshire, in February 1899, and enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service as a Boy Mechanic in April 1916.

Having then qualified as a Wireless Operator, he served in seaplanes at Calshot before being posted to the recently opened Naval Air Station at Cherbourg, a sub-station of Calshot equipped with three Wight seaplanes. And the new station had an early success when, on the morning of 18 August 1917, a U-boat had been reported north-east of Cherbourg. The pilot of a Wight seaplane, who went up to search, had sighted the submarine but could not get up with her in time to attack, nor could he find the craft again although he patrolled for some time. The same Wight was taken up later in the afternoon, this time by Flight Sub. Lieutenant C. S. Mossop, with Ingledew as his Observer, and the U-boat was found again on the surface. This time she could not completely submerge before the Wight got in a favourable position to attack, and the first 100lb. bomb, released by Ingledew, exploded just ahead of the periscope. Mossop turned for a second attack but, in fact, this was unnecessary - the UB-32 had gone down with her crew, the first submarine to be destroyed in the Channel by direct attack by British aircraft.

Ingledew was awarded the D.S.M. and the French Croix de Guerre, and remained on active service in Cherbourg until returning home in April 1918. In the interim, when embarked for France from leave on 25 January 1918, he had been fortunate to survive the loss of the S.S. Normandy - torpedoed by the U-90, she sank almost immediately with a loss 14 souls.

Transferred to the R.A.F. Reserve in May 1919, Ingledew subsequently pursued a career out in India, where, among other activities, he was commissioned in the Chota Nagpur Regiment, Auxiliary Forces of India. And it was in this capacity, as a Major, that he led the Dhanbad Detachment of the regiment during an outbreak of civil disobedience following Gandhi’s arrest at Nagpur in the summer of 1942 - the town’s central police station was overrun by rioters and it took three days for the authorities to restore order. A copied signal to Ingledew, which is included, speaks of his timely intervention which ‘saved a very ugly situation’.

Also sold with a Chota Nagpur Rifles sweetheart’s brooch, by J. R. Gaunt, London; a light grey armband with embroidered crown and bullion ‘GRI’ and the recipient’s uniform rank insignia, together with a quantity of uniform medal riband bars.