Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Second War ‘Little Ships’ 1940 evacuation of Dunkirk D.S.M. group of seven awarded to Chief Petty Officer H. H. Smith, Royal Navy, who was decorated for his services in the Yacht Caryanda

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (JX.125648 H. H. Smith. A/P.O. H.M.S. Caryanda); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Burma Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue (JX..125648 H. H. Smith. P.O. H.M.S. Aggressive.) nearly extremely fine (7) £1,400-£1,800

D.S.M. London Gazette 16 August 1940:
‘For good services in the withdrawal of the Allied Armies from the beaches at Dunkirk’

Herbert Henry Smith was born on 2 July 1910 in Alverstoke, Hampshire. He entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class on 8 January 1926 and proceeded to serve in a variety of shore establishments and ships. Joining H.M.S. Hood on 18 March 1937, he was advanced to Acting Petty Officer on 7 September 1939 but transferred to the Orkney based trawler H.M.S. Leeward on 31 January 1940, thus avoiding Hood’s tragic fate the following year. Smith next served in the motor yacht, Tamahine, a Portsmouth Harbour boom defence patrol boat, from 23 April 1940 and from here found himself in the Portsmouth Inner Patrol Yacht, Caryanda, during Operation Dynamo, the Dunkirk evacuation at the end of May 1940; services which resulted in the award of his D.S.M.

Built in Amsterdam in 1938 and owned by E. R. Colman of 3 Whitehall, London, SW1, the requisitioned 70ft yacht, Caryanda, under the command of Lieutenant D. A. L. Kings, left Hamble for Dover on 29 May 1940 in company with 8 other yachts (including Tamahine) of the Portsmouth Inner Patrol Flotilla. Onward embarked from Dover the following day, the flotilla arrived at Bray Dunes, Dunkirk at 6am on 31 May. Here, under the orders of Commodore G. O. Stephenson in the yacht Bounty, Lieutenant Kings and her crew in Caryanda organised a number of smaller boats to collect troops from the beaches, thus enabling Caryanda to ferry an estimated total of 250 troops to off-lying ships over the course of the day. Ordered finally to stand off-shore at 8.45pm, Caryanda set course for Dover at 9pm, arriving the following morning. In addition to Smith’s award, the D.S.M. was also awarded to Able Seaman T. W. Schofield for services aboard Caryanda during the Dunkirk evacuation.

Smith continued to serve in a variety of vessels including the Motor Torpedo Boat Wasp and Motor Gun Boat 16. He was awarded the Naval L.S. & G.C. medal in July 1943 and advanced to Chief Petty Officer on 7 May 1945 while serving in the frigate H.M.S. Loch Katrine, based at Colombo. Continuing to serve post-war, he finally retired to a pension on 31 March 1959, the Special Remarks on his Trade Certificate at the time of his discharge describing him as: ‘A very loyal Chief Petty Officer who has always had the interest of the Service very much at heart, and who has always placed duty first.’

Sold with a number of original documents including the recipient’s Certificates of Service, Torpedo History Sheets, hand written references, a number of Trade Certificates and naval training records. Also sold with a copy of Lieutenant Kings’ report in respect of Caryanda’s operations from 29 May 1940 to 1 June 1941, a colour portrait image of the recipient in uniform, two photographic images of H.M.S. Hood and an original page from The Times newspaper, 17 August 1940, containing the recipient’s D.S.M. announcement.