The James Fox Collection of Naval Awards

Six: Able Seaman W. F. Thomas, Royal Navy, who was present aboard the destroyer H.M.S. Cossack at the time of the famous ‘Altmark Incident’ of 16 February 1940, when 300 British merchant seamen were rescued from the holds of the German auxiliary ship Altmark in neutral waters in Jossingfjord, Norway

1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, 1 clasp, France and Germany; Africa Star, 1 clasp, North Africa 1942-43; Italy Star; War Medal 1939-45; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue (J. 105039 W. F. Thomas, A.B., H.M.S. Cossack) mounted as worn, minor edge bruising to last, good very fine or better (6) £260-£300

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The James Fox Collection of Naval Awards.

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William Francis Thomas was born in Portsmouth on 28 June 1905 and joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Second Class in November 1921. Having qualified as a Leading Torpedo Man in the 1930s, he served during the Second World War in the destroyer H.M.S. Cossack, and was present at the time of her spectacular rescue of some 300 British merchant seamen from the German Auxiliary ship Altmark on 16 February 1940.

The Altmark Incident
On the night of 16 February 1940, the German Auxiliary Ship Altmark was at anchor in Jossingfjord, Norway, with 300 British merchant seamen being held in appalling conditions in her holds, the survivors of earlier sinkings in the South Atlantic by the Graf Spee. Being in neutral waters, the Altmark was protected by two Norwegian torpedo-boats ordered to prevent British intervention. But, in a daring operation, H.M.S. Cossack - under the command of Captain Philip Vian, R.N. - was tasked with mounting a rescue operation. Vian’s own account takes up the story:
‘Having placed Cossack in a position from which our pom-poms could play upon Norwegian decks, whilst their torpedo tubes were no instant menace to us, I said we could parley no longer, and must board and search the Altmark forthwith, whether we fought them or not. Kjell's captain decided that honour was served by submitting to superior force, and withdrew. On rounding the bend in the fjord, Altmark at last came into view. She lay bows inshore, encased in ice, her great bulk standing black against the snow-clad mountains. Thoughts of the six-inch guns with which the Altmark was said to be armed were naturally in our minds. Though our own guns were manned we were obviously an easy target, and the enemy's first shots might well immobilise us at once. There was nothing for it, however, but to go ahead and get to grips as quickly as possible.

The Altmark Captain was determined to resist being boarded. On sighting Cossack, he trained his searchlight on our bridge to blind the command, and came astern at full power through the channel which his entry into the ice had made. His idea was to ram us. Unless something was done very quickly the great mass of the tanker's counter was going to crash heavily into Cossack's port bow. There followed a period of manoeuvring in which disaster, as serious collision must have entailed, was avoided by the skill of my imperturbable navigator, McLean, and by the speed with which the main engine manoeuvring valves were operated by their artificers.

Lieutenant Bradwell Turner, the leader of the boarding party, anticipated Cossack's arrival alongside Altmark with a leap which became famous. Petty Officer Atkins, who followed him, fell short, and hung by his hands until Turner heaved him on deck. The two quickly made fast a hemp hawser from Cossack's fo'c's'le, and the rest of the party scrambled across.

When Turner arrived on Altmark's bridge he found the engine telegraphs set to full speed in an endeavour to force Cossack ashore. On Turner's appearance, the captain and others surrendered, except the third officer, who interfered with the telegraphs, which Turner had set to stop. Turner forbore to shoot him. It was now clear that as a result of her manoeuvres Altmark would ground by the stern, which she did, but not before Cossack, the boarding party all being transferred, had cast off, to avoid the same fate.

It was expected, with the surrender of the German captain, that the release of our prisoners would be a drawing-room affair. That this was not so was due to the action of a member of the armed guard which Graf Spee had put aboard. He gratuitously shot Gunner Smith, of the boarding party, in an alleyway. This invoked retaliation, upon which the armed guard decamped; they fled across the ice, and began to snipe the boarding party from an eminence on shore. Silhouetted against the snow they made easy targets, and their fire was quickly silenced by Turner and his men. In the end German casualties were few, six killed and six badly wounded. The boarding party had none, save unlucky Gunner Smith, and even he was not fatally wounded.

Resistance overcome, Turner was able to turn to the business of the day. The prisoners were under locked hatches in the holds; when these had been broken open Turner hailed the men below with the words: "Any British down there?" He was greeted with a tremendous yell of "Yes! We're all British!" "Come on up then," said Turner, "The Navy's here!"’

Thomas was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in March 1941, and after participating in the Second Battle of Narvik, saw further action off North Africa, Italy and Normandy. He was released 'Class A' in October 1945.