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Auction: 20001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - conducted behind closed doors
Lot: 240

An outstanding British War Medal awarded to Lieutenant B. A. Isaac, R.N.A.S., an early member of the pioneering R.N.A.S. Armoured Car Section, which anticipated tank warfare; Isaac was then severely injured serving with No. 3 Squadron in daring bombing raids at Gallipoli

British War Medal (Lieut. B. A. Isaac. R.N.V.R.), good very fine

Bernard Alexander Isaac was born on 29 May 1873. Married prior to the Great War, he lived at 1 Stanhope Terrace, Hyde Park. On 8 August 1914, he took his private Rolls-Royce over to France and donated it to the Royal Naval Air Service. Although the R.N.A.S.'s primary role was aviation, it was also responsible for Britain's earliest forays into mechanised warfare. Isaac's vehicle was among the earliest cars to join what became the R.N.A.S. Armoured Car Section, the first armoured car unit of British forces in the Great War. Intended to guard lines of communication and rescue stranded airmen, the unit was soon employed on audacious raids into enemy-held territory. It wrought havoc among German cavalry regiments near Dunkirk, and covered the British retreat from Mons. Its activities largely ceased with the onset of trench warfare, but several members of this maverick unit went on to assist the Landship Committee in developing the first tanks. Isaac, employed as a motor driver in the unit, kept a remarkable photograph album of his service (IWM 2004-11-80).

Isaac gained a commission as a Sub-Lieutenant in the R.N.A.S. on 20 August 1914, taking to the skies as an Observer. He took part in Commander C. R. Samson's daring bombing raid on the Zeppelin sheds at Dusseldorf and Cologne, for which Samson earned the D.S.O. He then served with No. 3 Squadron, R.N.A.S. in the Aegean and at Gallipoli in 1915. His album includes photographs of Tenedos camp, airfield and harbour during June 1915, as well as reconnaissance photographs of Suvla Bay, Krithia, Achi Baba, Kum Kali, Yeni Shehr town and Anzac Cove. Commander C. R. Samson D.S.O. features very prominently, since he took command of No. 3 Squadron in March 1915. Remembered as the first man to fly an aircraft from a moving ship, Samson pioneered bombing raids from the deck of H.M.S. Ark Royal, softening up Turkish defences and almost killing Mustafa Kemal, future founder of the Turkish Republic. Isaac took part in these raids, and was severely injured on 13 December 1915. Admitted to Hospital on Malta, he was rendered 'physically unfit' for further service on 10 March 1916. Samson gave Isaac a glowing report, deeming him 'a very capable officer' who had 'rendered invaluable service in Intelligence work.' On 29 March, Arthur Balfour expressed his appreciation for Isaac's services. Also entitled to a 1914 Star, this Medal was sent to him on 22 March 1919; sold with copied research.


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Sold for
£320

Starting price
£70