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Auction: 22003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 257

An unusual German South-West Africa Armoured Car Squadron pair to awarded to Sick Room Attendant A. E. Abdy, Royal Naval Auxiliary Sick Berth Reserve, late Royal Naval Air Service

1914-15 Star (M.9638 A. E. Abdy. S.R.A., R.N.); Royal Naval Auxiliary Sick Berth Reserve L.S. & G.C., G.V.R. (453. A. E. Abdy. S.R.A. R.N.A.S.B.R.), very fine (2)

Albert Edward Abdy was born at Sheffield on 14 March 1877. He had minor previous military service in the Royal Artillery (No. 18754), serving from February-April 1897.

During the Great War he served in the Armoured Car Division in German South-West Africa at the start of the Great War having been embodied on 14 August 1914.

After declaring War on Germany on 4 August 1914, Britain asked the Union of South Africa, then a British dominion, to invade German South-West Africa. The British hoped their ally would be able to neutralise powerful German radio facilities located in Lüderitz, Swakopmund and Windhoek, and seize key port facilities. The Union of South Africa agreed to assist.

Union of South Africa troops commanded by Colonel P. S. Beves landed at Lüderitz on 18 September, and forces commanded by Colonel Skinner went ashore at Walvis Bay on Christmas Day 1914. A Southern Force approached German South-West Africa from South African territory.

Skinner captured Swakopmund in January 1915, and on 11 February, General Botha landed at Walvis Bay, to assume direct command of the Northern Force, and overall command of all the South African forces, which, a month later, would include the sole British unit to participate in the campaign.

Ordered to German South-West Africa from Britain in March 1915, the No. 1 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service, Armoured Car Division, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander W. Whittall, consisted of 12 light armoured cars, with support vehicles. 'Light' was certainly a relative term, since the armour-plated Rolls Royce touring cars, with Vickers machine guns in revolving turrets, tipped the scales at about four tons when fully loaded.

Arriving at Walvis Bay, the Squadron found that unloading the materials and equipment necessary to construct a rail line to Swakopmund held top priority, so the sailors contrived to disembark their own equipment. Utilising pontoons, they brought their 22 cars and motorcycles to shore, driving them over narrow planks to offload them during calm intervals between the six-foot swells. Amazingly, none were lost to sea.

General Botha's Chief of Staff, Colonel Collyer, expressed doubt that the heavy armoured vehicles would be able to traverse the sands of the dry Swakop River bed, which served as the roadway for the first 50 miles toward Windhoek. Collyer instead ordered Whittall to proceed via rail to support Colonel Skinner's Brigade, about 40 miles east of Swakopmund.

On 24 April, Whittall and his Squadron joined the South African units at Trekkopje, where patrols had contacted a German unit of unknown strength. Preparing to repulse an attack, five of the armoured cars were situated up to half a mile in front of the South African lines. Two others were placed to directly support infantry units, and two were held in reserve.

The German attack was met with heavy fire from the armoured vehicles, which had not been anticipated, since aerial reconnaissance had mistakenly identified them as water trucks or field kitchens. The German intent was to cross the railroad tracks, take a ridge, and flank the South African trenches. Instead, the steady fire from the armoured cars and the infantry forced them to move parallel to the railroad tracks. When the German troops committed to a frontal attack on the trenches, they were repulsed, and elected to withdraw. A counterattack by Skinner was thwarted by heavy German artillery fire, and the armoured vehicles were unable to overcome the steep railroad embankment to pursue the fight further.

Following the action at Trekkopje, Skinner continued to move east, replacing the rail lines destroyed by the Germans, and becoming the left flank of the northern force's advance toward Windhoek. The armoured cars patrolled the railway lines, providing support to the infantry units protecting the railhead. In his book, With Botha and Smuts in Africa, Whittall describes the back-breaking efforts of his sailors as they moved four-ton vehicles through near impossible terrain:

'During the whole campaign we did not encounter five miles of road that by any stretch of the imagination could be called even passably fit for cars.'

Access to water was always a concern. Alleged 'permanent' water sources were frequently dry, or the water was so bitter that even animals refused to drink it. Whittall was able to secure a number of steel beer kegs, left behind by the Germans in Swakopmund, which served his unit well as containers for hauling water.

A staff officer who observed their passing was heard to remark, '...no wonder the Huns don't like the look of them.'

Experience in the off-road driving of mechanised vehicles was virtually unknown in 1915. Encountering deep sand 'as fluid as water', Whittall admits that his unit experienced '...appalling difficulty' in negotiating drifts and riverbeds early in the campaign; manhandling the vehicles over difficult terrain was the cause of the only casualties his squadron sustained during their service. The detachable running boards with which the cars were equipped tended to turn over, and were useless in sand. Matting was drawn under by the drive wheels and thrown out the back. Wooden poles broke, and iron piping bent. The solution turned out to be two-inch angle iron, cut into eight-foot lengths, with a wire rope and toggle attached. The irons were dropped between each of the twin drive wheels in heavy sand, with the crew moving the pieces forward as the vehicle progressed; it was described as 'murderously difficult work', but it proved to be effective. Each vehicle carried four of the angle irons, but occasionally at a wide riverbed, all the iron would be laid in advance, forming a 'continuous railway' for the cars.

Driving tactics improved with experience. Scouts once reported that a 200-yard-wide riverbed with deep sand was impassable, but the cars, being 'well-driven', all made it through. At another 'iffy' crossing, Whittall signalled his number two to come forward to assess the situation, but the officer, misreading the gesture, came at high speed, and, 'throwing sand up like the bow wave of a destroyer' made it to the other side, with the other cars then following his example.

While skirmishes with the enemy did occur in other areas, Skinner's Brigade's pushed through Usakos, Omaruru, Kalkfeld, and finally Otjiwarongo, was more a battle with the terrain, since German forces generally avoided contact and steadily withdrew before them. Past Kalkfeld, the terrain worsened, and their support vehicles had to be left behind, along with tents and personal kit. The sailors suffered from the hard labour of levering boulders out of their path, the night-time cold, and the lack of adequate water.

Because of the increasingly arduous terrain, the Squadron was ordered back to Usakos before the German surrender came on 9 July 1915. When they returned to Walvis Bay, one of the Squadron's units was detached for service in East Africa; the rest returned to Britain.

No. 1 Squadron, the first armoured unit in history to be deployed in Southern Africa, encountered daunting obstacles during their service. A fitting tribute came in Usakos, before the final push, when General Botha conducted an inspection, which included a pass in review. Many thought the noise and clanking of the awkward armoured cars would add a humorous note, contrasting with the military precision of the infantry and horse cavalry units. Instead, in the words of Whittall, the Squadron, '...stole silently past, four abreast, in perfect alignment, their grim outlines relieved by the flaunting White Ensigns we flew on Gala occasions'.

After having served in Africa, Abdy left Durban and landed at Plymouth on 18 August 1915, being discharged at the end of the month. Clearly not satisfied, he joined the Army Service Corps (No. M2/12187), his Pair being issued by the War Office. His Royal Naval Auxiliary Sick Berth Reserve L.S. & G.C. Medal was issued on 24 March 1920.



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Sold for
£180

Starting price
£180