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Auction: 19001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 493

'One of the Men Who Gave 'Amethyst' the Power for Her Historic Dash:

'Petty Officer Mechanic Connor of Haydock, Lancashire, in charge of the stokers. He and his men, working in temperatures of 124 deg., closed down in the boiler room below the waterline [on 20 April 1949]. They flashed the boilers for the now historic escape down the Yangtze.'

Picture Post, 1 October 1949, refers.


A well-documented Second World War and Yangtze group of eight awarded to Petty Officer Stoker Mechanic L. J. Connor, Royal Navy

Among 'The Few' to remain aboard H.M.S. Amethyst after she was attacked on 20 April 1949, with charge of the ship's stokers, he is credited with 'flashing the boilers' at the commencement of her epic dash for freedom

1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Italy Star; War Medal 1939-45; Naval General Service 1915-62, 2 clasps, Palestine 1945-48, Yangtze 1949 (D/KX. 96160 L. J. Connor, P.O.S.M., R.N.); Korea 1950-53 (D/KX. 96160 L. J. Connor, P.O.S.M., R.N.); U.N. Korea 1950-54; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., E.II.R. (KX. 96160 L. J. Connor, P.O.S.M., H.M.S. Flint Castle), contact marks, generally very fine or better (8)

Leonard James Connor was born at Newton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire on 19 March 1919 and entered the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class in January 1939.

His first wartime seagoing appointment was aboard H.M.S. Viscount, from December 1939 to November 1942, a period of active service that embraced much convoy work. Most notable of those convoys was HX-90, bound from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool in December 1940. The convoy was savaged by a Wolfpack, losing 10 ships in a single day and, but for the appearance of Viscount on the scene - she was diverted from another convoy - losses may well have been greater. In the company of the Canadian destroyer St. Laurent, she carried out 13 depth-charge attacks on Asdic contacts over just four hours, following which she picked up a total of 100 survivors from four different merchantmen.

Then in October 1942, as part of the escort of convoy SC1-CW, Viscount rammed and sunk by gunfire the U-661; there were no survivors.

Advanced to Acting Leading Stoker, Connor next served in Evolution in March-October 1943, followed by Augusta in November 1943-March 1945. His final wartime appointment was at the shore training establishment Raleigh.

In May 1947, whilst serving at St. Angelo in Malta, Connor was appointed Petty Officer Stoker Mechanic, and it was in the same rate he joined Amethyst at Tamar in Hong Kong, in January 1949. Following his notable part in Amethyst's trials and tribulations on the Yangtze in April-July 1949, he witnessed further active service off Korea.

Awarded his L.S. & G.C. Medal in February 1954, Connor finally came ashore as a Petty Officer Engineering Mechanic in January 1961.

Sold with a quantity of original documentation, including:

(i)
The recipient's parchment Certificate of Service, in old card envelope addressed to him at 118 Penny Lane, Haydock, Lancashire; together with his History Sheet for Stoker Ratings and a Wounds and Hurts Certificate, dated 8 February 1958, for injuries sustained in H.M.S. Salisbury.

(ii)
An Admiralty 'for your private information' communication addressed to the recipient's wife, dated 18 June 1949, and attaching a report from H.M.S. Amethyst; together with a Wigan Observer report of November 1949: 'Petty Officer Leonard Connor is now on leave and will attend the Palace Cinema, Ashton, during the first house this Saturday night, when, from the stage, he will relate the dramatic story of the escape of H.M.S. Amethyst.'

(iii)
A worn copy of Picture Post, 1 October 1949, including a photograph of the recipient in Amethyst's engine room: 'One of the Men Who Gave 'Amethyst' the Power for Her Historic Dash - Petty Officer Mechanic Connor of Haydock, Lancashire, in charge of the stokers. He and his men, working in temperatures of 124 deg., closed down in the boiler room below the waterline. They flashed the boilers for the now historic escape down the Yangtze.'

(iv)
A letter to the recipient from Associated British Cinemas Limited, dated 23 October 1957, being an invitation to the Forum Cinema at Lime Street, Liverpool, to 'splice the mainbrace with your shipmates of H.M.S. Amethyst' and to see the film 'Yangtze Incident'.


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Sold for
£4,200