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Auction: 23001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 177

A poignant group of five awarded to Petty Officer E. R. Ellis, Royal Navy, who lost his life in the frigid waters of the Barents Sea after the sinking of H.M.S. Kite on 21 August 1944 - he had previously shared in the famous 'six in one trip' of earlier that year when a half-dozen U-Boats were sunk

1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Arctic Star, in its box of issue, this named 'PO E R Ellis JX106404'; War Medal 1939-45; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R. (J.106404 E, R. Ellis. L.S. H.M.S. Rodney.), this last mounted as worn, good very fine (5)

Edward Ralph Ellis was born at Devonport on 9 February 1906 and was a gardener upon his joining the Royal Navy on 2 November 1922. Having been issued a Hurt Certificate on account of a broken left clavicle which he suffered at Vivid I in 1926, his L.S. & G.C. Medal was awarded on 6 February 1939.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, Ellis served aboard Caradoc and would have shared in the voage with some £2,000,000 of gold bullion carried across the Atlantic to safety in Halifax, Nova Scotia in October 1939. He joined the books of Kite on 17 February 1943 and began what would be an action-packed posting. She shared in the sinking of five U-Boats with sister ships:

24 June 1943 U-449 was sunk near Cape Ortegal, Spain by the sloops Wren, Woodpecker, Kite and Wild Goose.

30 July 1943 U-462 was sunk in the Bay of Biscay by a Handley-Page Halifax aircraft and Wren, Kite, Woodpecker, Wild Goose and Woodcock.

30 July 1943 U-504 was sunk near Cape Ortegal by Kite, Woodpecker, Wren and Wild Goose.

6 November 1943 U-226 was sunk east of Newfoundland by Starling, Woodcock and Kite.

9 February 1944 U-238 was sunk south-west of Ireland by Kite, Magpie and Starling.

These actions earned her Skipper, the famous Captain Frederic John Walker, a Second and Third Award Bar to his Distinguished Service Order, whilst Ellis was also Commended locally by the Commander-in-Chief of Western Approaches on 7 December 1943, probably for his good work in her first three 'kills'.

On 20 August 1944 Kite was escorting the aircraft carriers Vindex and Striker, which in turn were escorting convoy JW 59 when they were sighted in the Barents Sea by German aircraft. Soon a pack of U-boats attacked the convoy, with one U-boat sunk by Fairey Swordfish aircraft from one of the carriers. Two more were sunk by other destroyers.

At 0630hrs on 21 August, Kite slowed to 6 knots to untangle her "foxers" (anti acoustic torpedo noise makers, towed astern). The decision to do so, rather than severing the foxers' cables and abandoning them, was made by her temporary commander, Lieutenant-Commander Campbell, a submariner. At that speed Kite was a sitting duck, and she was hit by two torpedoes from U-344, which was commanded by Oberleutnant Ulrich Pietsch.

Of the crew of 10 officers and 207 ratings, 60 survived the attack, but from the freezing Arctic water only 14 sailors were picked out alive by Keppel. Five of the rescued died on board Keppel, leaving only nine to make it to shore. Ellis was not in those lucky few and is commemorated upon the Plymouth Naval Memorial.

Sold together with his Buckingham Palace Memorial Scroll, in the name of 'Petty Officer E. R. Ellis Royal Navy' and seven sporting Medals and fobs, three named to the recipient, these a large silver Medal of the Junior Imperial Challenge Shield, the edge engraved 'E. Ellis R.N. B.B.B. 1920.', a H.M.S. Malaya football Medal, a Royal Tournament bronze Medal engraved 'R.M. Amalgamated Command 1924 Bayt. V Bayt. Marine Ellis.', besides a silver and gold fob engraved 'E.R.E.' and the reverse 'O.L.A.C. Winners 1930-31'.

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Sold for
£1,100

Starting price
£420