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Auction: 18003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 567

Sold by Order of a Direct Descendant

'On 24 February 1944, while in action with the enemy in the Straits of Gibraltar, I was exposed to shell blast when a 4.7-inch gun, depressed to fullest extent, fired at a surfaced U-Boat; the shell hit the port after D.C. davit and exploded within three feet of my head. Following this I was deaf and was admitted to the Military Hospital at Gibraltar.'

High drama aboard the destroyer H.M.S. Anthony, as described in a medical submission made by Gunner (T.) E. C. Goffe, R.N., in March 1944; he was awarded the D.S.C.

A fine Second World War anti-U-boat operations D.S.C. group of ten awarded to Gunner (T.) E. C. Goffe, Royal Navy

His wartime career commenced in the destroyer H.M.S. Douglas, in which capacity he witnessed the heavily contested North Atlantic convoy HX-121 in April 1941, when Douglas depth-charged and sunk the U-65

Having then lent valuable service on the Arctic run - including P.Q. 17 - Goffe attained the rare accolade of 'Gunner (T.), R.N.' and won his D.S.C. for the destruction of the U-761 off Gibraltar in February 1944, on which occasion, as cited above, he suffered perforated ear drums

Distinguished Service Cross, G.VI.R., hallmarks for London 1943, the reverse officially dated '1944' and privately engraved, 'E. C. Goffe', with its Garrard & Co. case of issue; 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Arctic Star; Africa Star; Burma Star; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue (J. 102771 E. C. Goffe, P.O., H.M.S. Vernon), generally good very fine (10)

D.S.C. London Gazette 13 June 1944:

'For courage and skill in H.M. Ships Anthony and Exmoor in actions with U-boats.'

The original recommendation states:

'For zeal, devotion to duty and presence of mind when, after being dazed by the near explosion of an H.E. shell, he rallied the depth charge personnel who were all affected by the explosion, and successful reloaded the depth charges, meanwhile directing Able Seaman Balch and Leading Seaman Brown to render safe the depth charges which had been damaged by shell splinters.'

Eric Clarence Goffe was born at Little Kingsmill, Wycombe, Buckinghamshire on 23 August 1904 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in June 1921. He gained steady advancement, being appointed Petty Officer and awarded his L.S. & G.C. Medal in July 1937.

The outbreak of hostilities in September 1939 found him serving as a Chief Petty Officer in the destroyer H.M.S. Douglas, in which capacity he was quickly employed on anti-U-boat operations; in the very same month Douglas recovered survivors from the S.S. Tafna, a victim of the U-37. In the new year - on 21 January - Douglas was back in action in the defence of Gibraltar-bound convoy OG. 15F, when she attacked and damaged the U-44. Having then made a valuable contribution to diversionary work undertaken by Force H, she returned to duties in the Home Fleet.

In April 1941 - and having been transferred to the 2nd Escort Group in Western Approaches command - Douglas was heavily engaged in support of convoy HX. 121, and she depth-charged and sank the U-65, south-east of Iceland, on the 28th. Then in June 1942, she was nominated for support in the passage of convoys PQ. 17 and QP. 13, the outcome of the former requiring little explanation here; on 4 July the former convoy was scattered on Admiralty orders, with terrible consequences.

In October 1943, whilst employed at torpedo establishment Vernon, Goffe was appointed a Temporary Acting Gunner (T.), R.N., and it was in the same rank that he went on to win his D.S.C. for gallant services in the destroyer H.M.S. Anthony on the occasion of the destruction of the U-761 off Gibraltar on 24 February 1944, a confirmed 'kill' enacted with the assistance of her consort, H.M.S. Wishart. The U-Boat - which had been located by use of Coastal Command aircraft fitted with Magnetic Anomaly Detector (M.A.D.) equipment - was scuttled in the Strait of Gibraltar, north of Tangier, with a loss of nine dead.

Goffe, as stated, suffered perforated ear drums on the same occasion - but kept his depth-charge team rallied and in action - and was awarded the D.S.C. His injuries, however, prevented him from seeing further active service and he was invalided and placed on the Retired List as a 'Gunner (T.), R.N.' in July 1948. He died in Sutton, Surrey in August 1999.

Sold with a quantity of original documentation and photographs, including:

(i)
Admiralty letter of notification for the award of the recipient's D.S.C., dated in June 1944, together with a congratulatory Naval Message; and copies of The Hampshire Telegraph & Post, 16 June 1944, announcing the recipient's award of the D.S.C., and The Naval Chronicle, 25 May 1945, with a front-page photograph of him, and family, outside Buckingham Palace on his investiture day.

(ii)
Admiralty campaign medal forwarding slip and Under-Secretary of State for Defence forwarding slip for the Arctic Star.

(iii)
Lord Commissioners' of the Admiralty 'Certificate for Wounds and Hurts', dated 14 March 1944, in respect of the above cited action against the U-761 off Gibraltar on 24 February 1944: 'Ruptured tympanic membrane of left & right ears. Result of blast when in action.'

(iv)
A selection of career photographs, including wartime scenes and portraits.

(v)
A contemporary copy of statements of reference issued by made by senior officers at H.M.S. Vigilant in the period 1945-48, the whole widely praising the recipient's record as an instructor in the same period.

(vi)
A typed carbon copy of the recipient's medical history, circa 1949, including the above cited statement made by the recipient following his D.S.C.-winning exploits in H.M.S. Anthony. He was compelled to make an appeal at an Admiralty medical board, owing to 'the extreme inconvenience and misery caused by my deafness in everyday life and the loss in pay and pension through being invalided from the Royal Navy.'

(vii)
Admiralty letter of appreciation on the recipient's retirement in July 1948, together with a Ministry of Pensions letter forwarding him the 'King's Badge' for those disabled as a result of war service, this dated 3 July 1948.


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Sold for
£4,800