Exceptional Naval and Polar Awards from the Collection of RC Witte

The Great War D.S.C. group of three awarded to Lieutenant J. P. Bradley, Royal Naval Reserve, for his gallantry in operations on the Tigris in the period December 1916 to March 1917

Distinguished Service Cross, G.V.R., hallmarks for London 1917, in its Garrard & Co. case of issue; British War Medal 1914-20 (Lieut. J. P. Bradley, R.N.R.); Victory Medal 1914-19, M.I.D.oak leaf, remnants of naming after erasure, ‘Bradley, R.N.’, so presumably the Medal of another officer, good very fine and better (3) £1000-1200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Exceptional Naval and Polar Awards from the Collection of RC Witte.

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D.S.C. London Gazette 21 September 1917:

‘For coolness under fire on all occasions. Lieutenant Bradley did very good work by personally taking the captured Turkish steamer Basra down the river laden with enemy wounded.’

John P. Bradley commenced his wartime career with an appointment in the cruiser Proserpine in November 1914, in which ship he was present in operations in Suez in the following year; so, too, in subsequent operations on the River Tigris, in support of General Maude’s advance on Baghdad, from early 1916. As a result, he would appear to have served in Captain W. Nunn’s flagship the Tarantula, in addition to commanding the prizes Basra and Firefly - the latter had been taken by the Turks after being abandoned as a result of an engagement in the retreat from Ctesiphon.

The Basra and Firefly were taken prize after an action in the Zaljah Reach of the Tigris on 24 February 1916, when Tarantula’s fire brought the former to a halt on the river bank - ‘We were afterwards informed that we had killed and wounded some German machine-gunners who were on board’; while the Firefly put up a better fight with her 4-inch gun before taking several direct hits and also hitting the bank, whereupon her crew, under cover of darkness, fled ashore - it was at this stage that Captain Nunn put a prize crew aboard her under Bradley, ‘and the White Ensign was hoisted over her once more’. We must assume, therefore, that his good work in bringing back the Basra occurred after the Firefly had been secured, in itself no mean feat, her 4-inch gun still hot from firing, with plenty of fused shells lying around it - ‘We later buried some of the most dangerous-looking ones in the desert’. Moreover, a search of the magazines revealed a parting gift from the Turks, some ‘smouldering cotton-waste steeped in oil’.

In addition to his D.S.C., Bradley won “mentions” from General Sir F. Maude (his despatch dated 10 April 1917), and Admiral Wemyss (London Gazette 21 September 1917), and who removed to the destroyer Seal in January 1917. After the War he was employed as a First Officer by the New Zealand Shipping Company; sold with original M.I.D. certificate, dated 10 April 1917.