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Auction: 19003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 90

(x) Mercantile Marine War Medal 1914-1918 (William Drummond), good very fine

William Drummond served as First Engineer aboard the British cargo transport S.S. Jessie. He was killed in action on passage from Calais to Middlesborough when she was attacked by shellfire from an enemy submarine on 2 November 1917, three miles north-east of Flamborough Head. The Master ordered the vessel hard to port attempting to run for the shore, then instructed his surviving crew to take to lifeboats. The ship slowly drifted ashore, beached and eventually became a total loss.

The attack is believed to have been made by the U35 under command of Captain Otto von Schrader, who experienced considerable success in the waters around Scarborough, sinking the Phare on 31 October 1917 and the Gimle off Ravenscar on 4 November 1917. One of 4 men killed during the encounter, Drummond is commemorated on the Bo'ness Cemetery Memorial; further entitled to the BWM and Memorial Plaque, these sold by auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb in December 2013.


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Sold for
£30

Starting price
£10