Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A rare Great War D.S.M. awarded to Acting Chief Stoker J. McIntosh, Mercantile Marine Reserve

Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (J. McIntosh, Act. Ch. Sto., M.M.R., H.M.S. Kildonan Castle, 1917) good very fine
£600-800

D.S.M. London Gazette 6 April 1918: ‘For services in vessels of the R.N. employed on patrol and escort duty during the period 1 January to 31 December 1917.’

James McIntosh served during the Great War as a Donkeyman (Acting Chief Stoker) with the Mercantile Marine Reserve, and was decorated for his services in the armed merchant cruiser H.M.S. Kildonan Castle, a ship of the 10th Cruiser Squadron, in 1917. Originally recommended for a Mention in Despatches, his recommendation was upgraded to a D.S.M. by Rear-Admiral J. Sheppard. During the period January-March of that year alone, the Squadron intercepted 3478 ships, 877 of them being sent in with armed guards - ‘cruising without lights, intercepting ships night and day in all weathers, boarding them, placing armed guards on board, and conducting them in safety to their various destinations’, this then dangerous work further complicated by the presence of enemy submarines: thus a double torpedo strike against the Kildonan Castle back in October 1916, both fortunately missing their target even though fired from close range. Kildonan Castle also conveyed elements of the British Military Mission to Murmansk in early 1918.

Approximately 23 Distinguished Service Medals awarded in the Great War to the Mercantile Marine Reserve.