Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria, to include the Brian Ritchie Collection (Part I)

A rare Second World War D.E.M.S. operations B.E.M. awarded to Lance-Bombardier W. Leigh, Maritime R.A.

British Empire Medal, (Military) G.VI.R., 1st issue (L./Bmbr. William Leigh, 1773656), slack re-pinned suspension and edge bruising, very fine £180-220

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals from the collection of Angela and the late Douglas Bertram.

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B.E.M. London Gazette 11 May 1943:

‘For conspicuous bravery in rescue work when a merchant vessel was sunk.’

William Leigh was serving aboard the M.V. Leinster, an ex-Irish Sea ferry turned hospital-carrier, at the time of the above deeds in November 1942, when he assisted in rescuing survivors from the Union Line’s S.S. Warwick Castle. The latter vessel was returning from troopship duties off North Africa, when she was torpedoed by the U-413 about 200 miles off the coast of Portugal, her captain being among the 63 crew members who died. A number of honours and awards were won by her crew, and by the men of the Leinster, the latter including an O.B.E. and Lloyd’s Bravery Medal to her captain, an M.B.E., and four B.E.Ms, Leigh’s among them. The citation for his captain’s Lloyd’s award refers to atrocious conditions, as a result of which several of the Warwick Castle’s lifeboats capsized, the occupants being thrown into the water.

In the previous year, the Leinster had briefly participated in Malta convoy M.G. 1 (a.k.a. “Operation Substance”), until she ran aground in thick fog off Carnero Point; and on 24 January 1944, she was bombed and damaged by enemy aircraft off the west coast of Italy, but whether Leigh was a witness to these incidents remains unknown.