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Auction: 22003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 376

'Thus ended the blow delivered at the Bolshevik forces opposing us. The results were most serious for him. He had lost out of his 6,000 effectives at least 3,700 killed, wounded and missing. Hundreds of Bolos were lost in the woods, and, being without food, must have perished from exhaustion. In guns and equipment his losses were enormous. We captured 18 guns, 50 machine guns, 2,600 rifles, 7 trench mortars.... thousands of rounds... In short, he was entirely crushed as an offensive or as a force at all on the Dvina, for those remnants which remained were thoroughly disorganized and cowed …'

Good work by the Sadleir-Jackson Brigade and Altham's Flotilla on the Dvina in 1919; Bolos & Barishynas, by G. R. Singleton-Gates, refers.

A Great War campaign group of three awarded to Marine W. H. Freemantle, Royal Marines Light Infantry, who witnessed action in the monitor M 33 on the Dvina in the summer of 1919

British War and Victory Medals (PO. 20287 Pte. W. H. Freemantle, R.M.L.I.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R. (PO. 20287 W. H. Freemantle, Mne., R.M.), contact wear and somewhat polished, nearly very fine (3)

William Henry Freemantle was born at Portswood, Southampton on 15 August 1900 and enlisted in the Royal Marines Light Infantry in September 1917.

Assigned to the Portsmouth Division, he joined the monitor M 33 in May 1919, in which capacity he witnessed action in the Archangel River Expeditionary Force up until September of the same year; with a shallow draught and brace of 6-inch guns, M 33 was ideal for carrying out bombardments in support of the Expeditionary Force.

Bashing the 'Bolos'

As a member of Captain Altham's Flotilla, Freemantle first saw action on the Dvina River 19 June, when the M 33 and her consorts bombarded Bolshevik troops and shipping during an offensive to capture the high ground between Topsa and Troitsa. A passage having then been cleared through an enemy minefield, the M 33 made her way - under a heavy fire - to Troitsa, where, on 9 July, the Bolsheviks launched a fierce attack. Of subsequent events, an officer of the gunboat Cricket stated:

'The enemy gunboats, however, soon began to take a hand in the business and we therefore advanced, in company with M 33, to engage them, and a pretty hot action followed. We took up position close under the cliffs on the right bank, where continuous machine-gun fire still resounded through the woods, but at a good distance inland. The enemy seemed to have got our position well marked off and was getting unpleasantly close. We therefore shifted our position and closed the range. Just as we passed under the stern of M 33, a cloud of black smoke shot up from amidships and it was evident she was hit. She was not badly damaged, the shot having only destroyed the wardroom, sparing the wine store, as the Captain cheerfully informed us as we passed. Together we continued the action for another half-hour or so, shifting place to place, and the enemy, according to his usual tactics, ceased fire and retired behind his river bank.'

Relative peace having intervened, events took a turn for the worse at noon, when, to complicate matters, a White Russian battalion mutinied:

'Without the slightest warning, a perfect storm of machine-gun and rifle fire broke out from the woods on the bank, at a range of about 50 yards. The few on deck scuttled for cover, or froze like rabbits behind anything handy. For what seemed like a very long time, but was probably only a few minutes, the enemy had it all his own way, the bullets beating on the side and upper works with a deafening clatter, like the noise of an automatic riveter, sweeping across the deck and lashing the water into foam ... '

Then in preparation for an Allied offensive on 9 August, M 33 took two more hits from enemy batteries at Selmenga Road. Notwithstanding damage the caused her on that occasion, she was back in action for the main event the following day:

'When trouble was announced at Borok, the Navy soon set to work and banged shell after shell into the village. The result of that shoot was exceedingly beneficial to the infantry, who were not having too pleasant a time in front of Borok. All through the afternoon the guns of the Navy dropped shells on to points selected for special treatment. They enjoyed the hurricane bombardment of Seltso amazingly ... as one Naval officer described it, "A pleasing sight was to see Seltso on fire, the whole sky glowing a beautiful red. I suppose this was an everyday sight for the Army, but I must confess it impressed us vastly, as it seemed such a fitting climax." '

The offensive was a complete success, the enemy suffering some 3,700 casualties in addition to the loss of considerable quantities of military supplies. But in the subsequent evacuation of the Altham's Flotilla, the river level became so low that M 25 and M 27 ran aground, could not be re-floated, and had to be destroyed. For her own part, the M 33 reached Archangel at the month's end.

Freemantle departed her at the same time and is noted on his service record as being 'Don on passage' from then until 27 October 1919.

Subsequent career

Remaining a regular between the wars, and having enjoyed several seagoing appointments, he was pensioned ashore at the end of his second period of employment in August 1939.

Instantly recalled, Freemantle joined St. Vincent, the signalling school, followed by an appointment in Pegasus from April 1941 to August 1943, when he appears to have been demobilised for a final time.

Pegasus was converted to a fighter catapult ship at the end of 1940 and, at the time of Freemantle joining her, hosted three Fulmars from 804 Squadron. By July 1941, when she reverted to use as a Fleet Air Arm seaplane training ship, she had sailed in the defence of nine convoys.

Freemantle died at Eastney, Portsmouth in August 1975.

Postscript

Today, it is possible to follow in Freemantle's footsteps aboard M 33, for having been acquired by the National Museum of the Royal Navy at Portsmouth, she has been restored to her wartime specifications and colours and is open to the public.

She is one of just three surviving ships of the Royal Navy to have seen action in the Great War, although some smaller auxiliary vessels also survive.

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Sold for
£380

Starting price
£160