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Auction: 14002 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria
Lot: 50

Family Group:
An Outstanding and Well Documented Second War 1942 'Convoy P.Q.17' Archangel D.S.O. and 1943 'Salerno Landings' Bar Group of Ten to Captain J.H. Jauncey, Royal Navy, A Veteran of E-Boat Actions During Both Wars, and Operational Landings in North Africa and Anzio
a) Distinguished Service Order, G.VI.R., silver-gilt and enamel, reverse of suspension bar officially dated '1943', with Second Award Bar, reverse officially dated '1944', with integral top riband bar
b) 1914-15 Star (Lieut. J.H. Jauncey, R.N.)
c) British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. J.H. Jauncey. R.N.)
d) 1939-1945 Star
e) Atlantic Star
f) Africa Star, with North Africa 1942-43 Bar
g) Italy Star
h) War Medal
i) France, Third Republic, Naval Life Saving Medal, First Class, silver-gilt, reverse officially engraved 'John Henry Jauncey Lieutenant de Vaissau 1916', with embroided anchor and rosette on riband, generally nearly extremely fine, mounted court style as worn, with the following documents &c.:
- Commission Appointing Mr. John Henry Jauncey a Sub-Lieutenant in His Majesty's Fleet, dated 10.9.1909
- Bestowal Document for the D.S.O., named to Commander (Acting Captain) John Henry Jauncey, Royal Navy (Retired), and dated 26.1.1943
- Invitation to Buckingham Palace Investiture for the D.S.O., dated 23.3.1943
- Honours and Awards Committee letter to the recipient congratulating him on the award of Second Award Bar to his D.S.O., dated 24.5.1944
- United States Naval Forces letter of appreciation regarding the Salerno landings, dated 3.12.1943
- Admiralty Notification and Permission to Wear letter for the French Life Saving medal, dated 19.1.1917, together with Admiralty letter of appreciation
- Handwritten letter of thanks (in French) from Ensign Joseph Duhamel, whose life the recipient saved, dated 6.12.1916
- The Recipient's Statement of Service and Order for Release from Naval Service
- Various Certificates of Naval Service
- Various letters, including regarding the closure of the Greenock Escort Base and the recipient's retirement
- London Gazettes, dated 23.5.1944, and 13.10.1950, regarding the North Russian Convoys and the Salerno Operational Honours List
- Various newspaper cuttings
- Photographic image of the recipient together with his son outside Buckingham Palace having received his D.S.O.

Four: Sub-Lieutenant C.E. Jauncey, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Later Baron Jauncey of Tullichettle, a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
1939-1945 Star; France and Germany Star; War Medal; Coronation 1953, nearly extremely fine, mounted as worn, together with the recipient's related miniature awards; riband bar; Naval cloth insignia; a Defence Medal; and a Q.B.C.S.R.C.A. top silver riband bar with additional 'Meriden 1958' bar (lot)

D.S.O. London Gazette 26.1.1943 Commander (Acting Captain) John Henry Jauncey, Royal Navy (Retired)
'For bravery and resolution in H.M. Ships, while taking a Convoy to North Russia in the face of relentless attacks by enemy aircraft and submarines.'

The Recommendation, dated 6.1.1943, states: 'Commander (Acting Captain) John Henry Jauncey handled his ship with skill, judgement, and determination, the Palomares bringing effective Anti-Aircraft fire to bear on enemy aircraft during the three days of heavy air attack before the convoy scattered. His subsequent initiative and resource in organising into a convoy those scattered ships which had reached Matochkin Strait and bringing so many of them safely to Iokanki despite heavy air attacks was a most valuable achievement deserving of recognition.'

D.S.O. Second Award Bar London Gazette 23.5.1944 Acting Captain John Henry Jauncey, D.S.O., Royal Navy (Retired)
'For outstanding courage, resolution, leadership, skill or devotion to duty in operations which led to successful landings on the Italian mainland and at Salerno.'

The Recommendation, dated 24.12.1943, states: 'For skill, gallantry, and devotion to duty as Commanding Officer of H.M.S. Palomares during operations in the Mediterranean. The Palomares took part in the initial Torch operation. She was bombed and damaged on 9th November, 1942 off Algiers and suffered many casualties. Her steering gear was put out of action and fire started. Despite this gun crews continued firing and the ship was finally brought into Algiers harbour. After repairs in the U.K. Palomares returned to the Mediterranean where she has been continuously employed as an Anti-Aircraft ship for through Mediterranean convoys. Palomares took part in Avalanche, operating as Fire Defence and Anti-Aircraft ship for the Southern Attack Force. She claims four aircraft shot down during this operation.'

Captain John Henry Jauncey, D.S.O., (1889-1958), was born in Eastbourne, Sussex, the son of Commander H.H. Jauncey, R.N. and Blanche Pringle, and was educated at H.M.S. Britannia. Appointed Midshipman, 15.9.1905, he served before the Great War in H.M.S. Triumph and later in H.M.S. Swiftsure. Commissioned Sub-Lieutenant, 30.12.1908, he was promoted Lieutenant, 22.6.1911, serving in H.M.S. Blenheim. During the Great War he served in the Dover Patrol, escorting the convoys of ships backwards and forwards to France supplying the British Armies on the Western Front, and received his first command, H.M.S. Flying Fish, 24.10.1915, transferring to the torpedo boat P.12, 10.2.1916. In December 1916, whilst in command of the P.12 and on escort duty he helped save the life of a number of the crew of the French Destroyer Yatagan after she had collided with H.M.S. Teviot in thick fog during the night of 3-4.12.1916 off the coast of Dieppe, for which he was awarded the Naval Life Saving Medal by the French Government in appreciation of services rendered.

Promoted Lieutenant-Commander, 2.6.1919, Jauncey continued to serve in Destroyers, before being appointed Officer Instructor, East Scottish Division, R.N.V.R., 15.8.1927, he retired with the rank of Commander, 15.4.1932. On the outbreak of the Second World War he was called back to the Navy, and in the summer of 1940 was appointed to the command of H.M.S. Versatile (Destroyer). 'Her role was to escort the coal convoys supplying English power stations from Methil in the Firth of Forth to Sheerness in the Thames Estuary. This involved passing through the notorious 'E' boat Alley off the East Anglian coast where these German high speed motor torpedo boats based in Holland and Belgium as well as aircraft attacked these convoys. The Versatile saw a fair amount of action and the newspapers recorded that on one occasion she shot down a Messerschmitt fighter/bomber hitting it full in the nose. This class of destroyer required to have her boilers cleaned regularly to maintain her performance and during boiler cleans short leave was usually granted to the ship's company. This created a problem because there were a number of Glaswegians on board who reckoned that a spell in jail for desertion was a more comfortable form of existence than life on the mess-deck of a 1918 destroyer in the North Sea. The normal drill was that deserters were brought back to the ship, then court-martialled and duly sent to Barlinnie. The ship was very short-handed and the loss of every man threw an extra burden on the remainder of the crew. Jauncey therefore decided to solve the problem in his own way. When a deserter was brought back to the ship instead of passing him on for court-martial he had him secured to a stanchion in the mess-deck by a long chain enduring the taunts and insults of his messmates. As soon as the ship left harbour he was released. This unorthodox treatment which could have got him into severe trouble with the authorities was most effective and deserters ceased to present a problem.' (Account written by the recipient's son refers).

Convoy P.Q.17
Appointed to the command of H.M.S. Palomares (Anti-Aircraft ship), with the acting rank of Captain, 30.4.1941, Jauncey spent the next year based in the Irish Sea, escorting convoys between Belfast and Milford Haven, and providing anti-aircraft fire cover. In early June 1942 the Palomares sailed for Seydisfiord in Iceland and on the 27th June she was sailed from Hvalfiord, attached to a convoy of 34 merchant ships destined for Archangel. The Russian convoy routes, in contrast to the complete freedom of movement of the Atlantic routes, were restricted to the east and south by an enemy-occupied coastline and to the west and north by ice. The convoys themselves were subject to attack by surface forces over a large part of their 2,000-mile passage, to air attack for 1,400 miles, and to U-boat attack throughout their entire run. The severe Arctic weather added to their navigational difficulties during winter months, and they ran a greater risk of attack between March and September owing to the continuous daylight. The convoy escort consisted of 6 destroyers, 4 corvettes, 3 minesweepers, 4 trawlers, 2 anti-aircraft ships and 2 submarines. The convoy was first spotted by enemy aircraft and U-boats on the 1st July, and therefore was shadowed and attacked continuously. On the 4th July the Admiralty inexplicably ordered the convoy to scatter, the consequences of which were disastrous, leading ultimately to 23 of the 34 merchant ships which had left Iceland being sunk, with the loss in material amounting to 3350 vehicles, 430 tanks, and 210 aircraft. The Palomares reached the Matochkin Strait in Nova Zemlaya, some 500 miles NE of Archangel where she was joined by a number of other ships which had survived. After some days a small convoy with Jauncey as the senior officer of the escort sailed for Archangel. They came under heavy air attack and two more out of the five merchant ships in the convoy were sunk. By the time the Palomares reached Archangel she had virtually expended all her ammunition, as had all the other escorts, and four destroyers had to be sent out from the United Kingdom with ammunition for the escorts to make the return journey. Churchill called the episode 'one of the most melancholy naval episodes in the whole of the War.' The Palomares spent two months in Archangel and finally returned to Belfast in September 1942. For his 'bravery and resolution in the face of relentless attack by enemy aircraft and submarines', Jauncey was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

Operation 'Avalanche'
In late October the Palomares sailed to the Mediterranean to take part in Operation 'Torch', the joint British/American landing in French North Africa, 7.11.1942. While stationed off the Tunisian coast she was hit astern by a bomb which caused a number of casualties, a fire which raged for several hours, and damage to her steering gear. She limped into Algiers where temporary repairs were effected which enabled her to return to Tilbury in early 1943 for permanent repairs. She returned to the Mediterranean in time for Operation 'Avalanche', the Allied landings at Salerno, south of Naples, 9.9.1943, where she provided anti-aircraft fire, and was heavily engaged with German aircraft during the landings. For his 'outstanding courage, resolution, leadership skill and devotion to duty' Jauncey was awarded a Second Award Bar to his Distinguished Service Order. He also received the thanks of the Commander of the United States Naval Forces, Admiral H.K. Hewitt, who wrote: 'Your outstanding performance of duty as Commanding Officer of H.M.S. Palomares during the amphibious invasion of Italy is worthy of the highest praise. Your command, which was assigned as a unit in the Attack Force to provide anti-aircraft protection for the flagship of the Task Force Commander and other ships of the Control Group, performed its task in a highly satisfactory and effective manner. You handled your ship expertly and directed heavy, accurate fire on all attacking enemy planes throughout the critical period of the assault operations. You contributed materially to the defense against continuing enemy air attack on shipping which was vital to the support of the invasion forces. I wish to express my appreciation of your dependable services and great assistance in bringing these operations to a successful conclusion.'

The Palomares remained in the Mediterranean and took part in Operation 'Shingle', the landings at Anzio, 22.1.1944, where she was mined and once again severely damaged.

In July 1944 Jauncey was appointed Captain at Greenock, a shore-based appointment which gave him command of the Clyde Escort Force which consisted of destroyers and other escort vessels escorting convoys from and to the Atlantic, and appointment he held for the rest of the War. On the conclusion of hostilities he served for a further 14 months, first as Naval Officer in Charge, Falmouth, and then as Captain of the battle cruiser H.M.S. Renown which was used as an accommodation ship at Plymouth, finally retiring with the rank of Captain, 8.10.1946.

Sub-Lieutenant Charles Eliot, Baron Jauncey of Tullichettle, (1925-2007), was born in Edinburgh, the son of Captain J.H. Jauncey and Muriel Dundas, and was educated at Radley and Christ Church, Oxford. Commissioned Sub-Lieutenant, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, 8.5.1945, he served during the Second World War in H.M.S. ML.879. Called to the Scottish Bar in 1949, he was employed as standing junior counsel to the Scottish Ministry of Works in Coronation Year 1953. Appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1963, he became a Senator of the College of Justice in Scotland in 1979, and a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (Law Lord) in 1988. Lord Jauncey also served as a Member of the Queen's Bodyguard for Scotland from 1951, and as Kintyre Pursuivant of Arms for 16 years from 1955.

For the medals awarded to Commander H.H. Jauncey, see Lot 170

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