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Auction: 20001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - conducted behind closed doors
Lot: 842

The Great War trio awarded to Chief Engineer Officer A. R. Nicol, D.S.C., who was decorated for his services aboard M.V. Brisbane Star during Operation Pedestal

1914-15 Star (Eng.S.Lt. A. R. Nicol, R.N.R.); British War and Victory Medals (Eng. Lt. A. R. Nicol. R.N.R.), good very fine

D.S.C. London Gazette 10 November 1942:

‘For services during Operation Pedestal when the ship was torpedoed and damaged, but reached Malta on 14th August 1942.’

Allan Ramsay Nicol, a native of the Isle of Aran, served with the Royal Naval Reserve during the Great War. In 1940 he became Chief Engineer aboard M.V. Brisbane Star, a Blue Star Line refrigerated cargo liner used to take frozen meat from Australia and New Zealand to Britain. She supplied the Allied landings at Souda Bay, Crete in November 1940. On 31 July 1942, in the Firth of Clyde, she joined the convoy WS 21S for Operation 'Pedestal', aimed at relieving the siege of Malta. The convoy passed Gibraltar on 10 August. Two days later, Brisbane Star was torpedoed by the Luftwaffe at Cap Bon, losing part of her bow. She stayed afloat, but her speed was reduced to 3 knots. The harbour master at Sousse, in Vichy French Tunisia, declared her unseaworthy and ordered her to enter port, thus denying her supplies to the Allies. Captain Frederick Riley of Brisbane Star refused. The stricken vessel covered the 200 miles to Malta, escorted by Spitfires from the garrison, reaching Valetta's Grand Harbour on 14 August. Captain Riley was awarded the D.S.O. "for fortitude, seamanship and endurance... in the face of relentless attacks... from enemy submarines, aircraft and surface forces." Nicol, as Chief Engineer, received the D.S.C. for his vital part in the action. He died on 17 April 1944, and is buried on the Isle of Aran in Grave 411, Kilbride Old Churchyard. His D.S.C. and Second World War medals were sold at auction in December 2000; sold with CWGC certificate.

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Sold for
£480

Starting price
£70