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Auction: 18003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 628

Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R. (JX 129382 W. A. H. Marks, L.S. H.M.S. Anemone), nearly extremely fine

William Alfred Harvey Marks was born at Bleworth, Brentford, Middlesex on 25 September 1910 and first went to sea as an Ordinary Seaman aboard H.M.S. Emperor of India in 1929. Over the next decade he spent time aboard H.M.S. Bee, H.M.S. Firedrake and the submarine L-26; he was aboard the destroyer Firedrake during the Abyssinian Crisis of 1935-36.

Serving aboard the cruiser Southampton from 28 July 1939 to 1 July 1940, William was present when she intercepted the German merchant Johannes Molkenbuhr off Stadtlandet, Norway, but her crew scuttled the ship before she could be captured. On 16 October 1939, Southampton was damaged when struck by a 500 kg. bomb in a German air raid on the docks at Rosyth; repaired, she was one of the ships involved in the hunt for the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in late 1939. Having then come ashore, he later served aboard H.M.S. Anemone from 17 April 1941 and was posted to Gibraltar in September 1943. He was mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 1 January 1944, refers).


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