Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine Great War D.S.C. group of three awarded to Second Officer J. McD. Dunbar, Mercantile Marine, who distinguished himself on the occasion of an attack on his ship Caspian by a German U-Boat in the Mediterranean, 20 May 1917, and was taken Prisoner of War at sea

Distinguished Service Cross, G.V.R., hallmarks for London 1919, unnamed as issued; British War and Mercantile Marine War Medals (James Mc D. Dunbar) generally good very fine (3) £1400-1800

Provenance: Spink, July 1994; Dix Noonan Webb, July 2011.

D.S.C. London Gazette 17 March 1919:
‘In recognition of zeal and devotion to duty shown in carrying on the trade of the country during the War.’

The official letter of notification from the Admiralty in February 1919 states:
‘The King has been pleased to approve of the award of the Distinguished Service Cross to Mr. Ernest R. Crafter and to Mr. Dunbar, Chief Engineer and 2nd Officer, respectively, of the Caspian, for their gallantry on the occasion of the attack on that ship by an enemy submarine on the 20th May, 1917.’

James McDonald Dunbar was born in Kincardine in December 1886, and served during the Great War in the Merchant Navy. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in respect of his gallant deeds on the occasion that the S.S. Caspian, whilst sailing from Antofagasta, Chile, to Savona, Italy, with a cargo of nitrate, was engaged by the German U-Boat U-34 in the early hours of 20 May 1917 in the Mediterranean off Cape Palos, Spain. Hurd’s history of the Mercantile Marine in the Great War states:
‘A fight to the finish, which lasted for two hours, took place on the 20th, between the Caspian and a submarine, off the coast of Spain. Unhappily the Caspian’s 13-pounder was out ranged by the guns of the submarine, and while the ship was hit eight times and suffered heavy damage, she expended all of her ammunition, 100 rounds, without ever reaching her opponent. The Master and five of the crew were directly killed by gunfire, and altogether 25 lives were lost, including some firemen who died from exposure in the boats. The Chief Engineer, Second Officer (Mr. Dunbar), and a Gunner were made prisoners, and the ship was finally sunk by a torpedo.’

Having been removed from one of the life boats by U-34’s commander, Dunbar, and the Chief Engineer, Ernest Crafter, were landed at the enemy submarine’s base at Cattaro in Montenegro, and transported thence to the Offizer-Gefasngenlager Strohen, near Sulingen, where they remained incarcerated for the remainder of the War. Invested with his D.S.C. at St. James’s Palace on 18 October 1919, Dunbar returned to his career at sea and is known to have applied for his Master’s ticket in 1930.

Sold with the recipient’s Passport; three original German Prisoner of War documents; three camp photographs; and other documents, letters, and research.