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Auction: 19001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 534

A rare Second World War B.E.M. awarded to Able Seaman A. Herman, Merchant Navy, an Estonian national who was decorated for his gallant services on the Arctic run

British Empire Medal, G.VI.R., Civil (Alexander Herman), good very fine

Alexander Herman was born at Pernau, Estonia on 5 April 1888 and entered the Merchant Navy in October 1918. He was awarded his B.E.M. in respect of gallant services aboard the S.S. Dan-Y-Bryn during air raids off North Russia in the period January-March 1943; the award was not gazetted as it was issued to a foreign national.

The Dan-Y-Bryn commenced her wartime career on the North Atlantic run, sailing from Liverpool to Halifax, Nova Scotia on numerous occasions in 1940-41. Then in November of the latter year, she undertook her first Arctic convoy, PQ-4 to Murmansk.

In March-April 1942, she participated in PQ-14, the convoy coming under U-Boat attack on 16 April. Dan-Y-Bryn narrowly avoided a brace of torpedoes by 'swift helm action' and was one of just eight merchantmen to reach Murmansk. Further drama ensued in her return trip to Loch Ewe - PQ-11 - when the cruiser H.M.S. Edinburgh, laden with $20 million in gold, was severely damaged in two separate torpedo attacks; she had to be abandoned and was sunk by gunfire. Then in September 1942, Dan-Y-Bryn joined PQ-18, another heavily contested convoy in which 11 merchantmen were sunk by U-Boats or enemy aircraft.

Such incidents likely contributed to Herman's award of the B.E.M., although official records cite his good work in convoy JW. 52 in January 1943 - and the convoy's return to the U.K. in March - during which period three enemy aircraft were shot down.

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Sold for
£230