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Auction: 20002 - Orders, Decorations, Medals & Space Exploration
Lot: 200

The General Service Medal awarded to Lance-Corporal J. B. Devlin, Royal Army Service Corps, who was killed when the Italian cargo ship Scillin was torpedoed by the submarine Sahib - the families of those lost were not made aware of the circumstances until 1996

General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Palestine (T/64797. Dvr. J. Delvin,' R.A.S.C.), note surname spelling, good very fine

Joseph Brendon Devlin was born at Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1918. Having served in Palestine, he was serving with the 14th General Transport Company and was taken prisoner of war during the Second World War. He was aboard the Scillin, together with 814 allied prisoners who were crammed into the hold which was made for 300. The British Medical Officer, Captain Gilbert made protests and it is possible some 195 were then removed from the hold. Despite this, the conditions were certainly unsanitary and dangerous. She was fired upon by Sahib on 13 November 1942 whilst nine miles north of Kurait, Tunisia. Having She did not respond, so the Captain decided to torpedo her. Those in the hold had little chance of survival as the torpedo had hit the hold direct and the ship sank rapidly. Sahib was able to rescue 27 prisoners, the Scillin's Captain and 45 Italian crew members, before the arrival of an Italian warship obliged her to leave. Only when survivors were heard speaking English was it clear the nature of men in her hold.

The Ministry of Defence kept this incident a closely guarded secret for fifty-four years, telling relatives that the victims had died while prisoner-of-war in Italian camps or lost at sea. It was not until 1996, after repeated requests for information from the families of the drowned men that the truth came out. It appears that the use of ULTRA was the main reason that Sahib was able to be put on course with her target, without any knowledge of her cargo.

Devlin is commemorated upon the Alamein Memorial.

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Sold for
£350

Starting price
£40