POSTHUMOUS WW2 ALBERT MEDAL GROUP AWARDED TO NAVAL COMMANDER WHO DIVED OVERBOARD TO RESCUE MEN AND WAS NEVER SEEN AGAIN TO BE SOLD AT NOONANS - JULY 27, 2022

The highly emotive and unique Second War D.S.O., D.S.C., and Posthumous Albert Medal group of eight awarded to Royal Navy Commander W. R. Marshall-A’Deane will be sold by Mayfair-based Auctioneers Noonans on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in a sale of Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria. They are expected to fetch £20,000-30,000.

Born in 1902 in Keswick (now Cumbria), Marshall-A’Deane’s distinguished command of the destroyer H.M.S. Greyhound came to a sudden end when she was bombed and sunk by German aircraft during the battle of Crete in May 1941. He was among the survivors picked up by H.M.S. Kandahar; however later in the day H.M.S. Fiji was sunk and Kandahar again went to the rescue. Commander Marshall-A’Deane, despite the ordeal he had already been through that day, dived overboard in the gathering darkness to rescue the men in the water. He was not seen again.

Nimrod Dix, Specialist and Deputy Chairman of Noonans commented: “Although Commander Marshall-A’Deane died before the age of 40, he had a momentous career and was recognised for his great gallantry on several occasions. Sadly, his life was cut short and his decorations, the D.S.O., D.S.C. and Posthumous A.M. were all presented to his next of kin by King George VI and are now being sold by his family.”