Exceptional Naval and Polar Awards from the Collection of RC Witte

Family group:

A rare River Dwina operations D.S.M. group of five awarded to Petty Officer Edward Eves, Royal Navy
Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (217536 E. Eves, Ldg. Sea., River Dwina, 1918); 1914-15 Star (217536 E. Eves, L.S., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (217536 E. Eves, L.S., R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (217536 Edward Eves, P.O., H.M.S. Victory), contact marks and polished, otherwise nearly very fine

The Great War campaign group of four awarded to Master at Arms J. E. Eves, Royal Navy, his brother
1914-15 Star (237525 J. E. Eves, L.S., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (237525 J. E. Eves, P.O., R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 2nd issue (237525 J. E. Eves, R.P.O., H.M.S. Vernon), contact marks, otherwise nearly very fine (9)
£1800-2200

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

View
Collection

D.S.M. London Gazette 12 December 1918:

‘The following awards have been approved for services in White Sea Operations, 1918.

Modyugski Island, at the sea end of the channels leading to Archangel, was captured on 1 August, 1918, after the batteries had been silenced by the Allied warships, and the town of Archangel was occupied on the 2 August, the Bolshevik Forces being quickly and efficiently overcome and driven out of the vicinity.

Following these operations, a River Expeditionary Force was organised with local craft, armed and manned by Allied crews, and this expedition succeeded, in co-operation with the military forces, in clearing the River Dwina and River Vaga of hostile craft up to the time when Allied ships had to be withdrawn to avoid the ice, several of the principal enemy vessels being destroyed.’

The original recommendation states:

‘Leading Seaman Edward Eves, H.M.S. Attentive. Fought his 6-inch gun under battery fire with marked coolness and success at the taking of Modyugski Island on 1 August 1918.’

Ten D.S.Ms and two Bars were awarded for these operations.

Edward Eves was born in Portsmouth in July 1886 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in October 1901. A Leading Seaman in the cruiser Attentive by the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, he remained similarly employed until August 1919, a protracted period of service that witnessed his advancement to Leading Seaman and operations off the Belgian coast, including the Zeebrugge raid of April 1918, and, more particularly, in respect of the above cited deeds for his D.S.M., further action in the White Sea operations of 1919 - when Attentive was hit by the return fire of the enemy fort on Modyugski Island. Awarded his L.S. & G.C. medal in July of the latter year, he was finally discharged ashore as a Petty Officer in July 1926; sold with copied research.

John Eden Eves was born in Portsea, Hampshire in October 1890 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in October 1906. A Leading Seaman in the destroyer Mohawk by the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, then commanded by ex-Scott Polar hand, Commander E. R. G. R. Evans, R.N., he remained similarly employed in the Dover Patrol until coming ashore to an appointment in Victory, and subsequently, the gunnery establishment Excellent. Then in August 1915, he joined the battleship Canada, in which ship he remained actively employed until the War’s end, being advanced to Petty Officer and present at Jutland - when she fired over 40 14-inch shells. Awarded his L.S. & G.C. Medal in October 1923, he was appointed Master at Arms in January 1926 and was still serving in that rate on the eve of the 1930s; sold with copied service record.