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Auction: 22003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 381

'In H.M.S. Achilles at about the same time, a similar spirit of courage and fortitude was being displayed. An 11-inch shell had burst just short of the ship, spraying the bridge and gunnery control position with white-hot fragments of metal. Four gunnery ratings were killed, the Captain slightly wounded and the gunnery officer stunned. For a few minutes the secondary control position took over. Then the survivors in the main position resumed, although some of them, including a Royal Marine sergeant, were seriously wounded. Amid a scene of death and destruction, they continued the battle with great coolness, and a seaman boy, with the courage of Jack Cornwell, found time to deny emphatically a rumour that was spreading round the ship that he had been killed … '

High drama aboard H.M.S. Achilles off the River Plate on 13 December 1939; The King's Cruisers, by Gordon Holman, refers.

The Royal Navy L.S. & G.C. Medal awarded to Able Seaman R. T. Downer, Royal Navy, who was loaned to the New Zealand Navy on the eve of hostilities and was subsequently present in H.M.S Achilles at the celebrated battle of the River Plate in December 1939

Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue (J. 109474 R. T. Downer, A.B., H.M.S. Verity), good very fine (3)

Reginald Thomas Downer was born in Gosport, Hampshire on 1 September 1908 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in February 1924.

In January 1939, in the rate of Able Seaman, he was loaned to the New Zealand Navy, in which capacity he joined the cruiser H.M.S. Achilles in the same month.

The River Plate

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Achilles began patrolling the west coast of South America in search of German merchant ships and, on arriving at the Falkland Islands in late October 1939, she was assigned to the South American Division under Commodore Henry Harwood in H.M.S. Exeter.

In the early morning of 13 December 1939, a force consisting of Achilles, Ajax and Exeter detected smoke on the horizon, which was confirmed at 0616 to be a German pocket battleship, thought to be the Admiral Scheer but which turned out to be Admiral Graf Spee.

A fierce battle ensued, at a range of approximately 20 kilometres and, as cited above, Achilles suffered resultant casualties and damage. The range reduced to about four nautical miles at around 0715 and Graf Spee broke off the engagement around 0745 to head for the neutral harbour of Montevideo, which she entered at 2200 that night, having been pursued by Achilles and Ajax all day. Graf Spee was forced by international law to leave within 72 hours. Faced with what he believed to be overwhelming odds, her captain, Hans Langsdorff, famously scuttled his ship rather than risk the lives of his crew.

As retold in countless histories, Achilles had played a crucial role in the battle by dividing Graf Spee's fire power, in addition to her vital pursuit of the enemy pocket battleship in the wake of the immediate battle. Indeed, Admiral Harwood made special mention of Achilles - and her largely New Zealander crew - in his subsequent despatch, when he stated:

'The honour and pleasure I had in taking one of H.M. ships of the New Zealand Division into action and fully concur with the Commanding Officer of H.M.S. Achilles' remark that 'New Zealand has every reason to be proud of her seamen during their baptism of fire.' '

An ensign flown by Achilles during the battle of the River Plate was donated to Christ Church Cathedral at Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands and is still on display there, hanging on the south wall of the Cathedral. Following the battle, Achilles returned to Auckland, New Zealand, on 23 February 1940, where she underwent a refit until June.

Downer returned to the U.K. in October 1940, when he joined the destroyer Verity, and he was likewise employed at the time of receiving his L.S. & G.C. Medal in July 1941.

He was released 'Class A' in October 1948.

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Sold for
£450

Starting price
£220