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Auction: 23111 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 1031

(x) Royal Fleet Reserve L.S. & G.C., G.V.R. (SS.11588 [Ch.19760] T. H. Swigg. A.B. R.F.R.), minor contact wear, very fine

Thomas Henry Swigg was born at Bermondsey, Surrey on 13 February 1903 and enlisted in the Royal Navy on 7 September 1921 with the service number SS11588. Posted to Pembroke I on 1 September 1921, his only service afloat was with the battleship Repulse on 7 January 1922. Leaving her for Pembroke he joined the Royal Fleet Reserve on 6 September 1926.

Recalled for service first during the Munich Crisis and then later for service in the Second World War, he joined the Battleship Warspite on 21 November 1941. This ‘Grand Old Lady’ of the fleet had recently been undergoing repairs in the United States after suffering damage in the Battle of Crete.

Despite this she was not to sit idle for the rest of the war, first posted to the Indian Ocean. Missing the Japanese Fleet during the Battle of Ceylon she was present for Operation Stab, the feint attack on the Andaman Islands intended to distract from the American invasion of Guadalcanal. She later took on the role of invasion support, first at Madagascar and later back in the Mediterranean for Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. It was here that Admiral Cunningham coined her nickname with the famous signal:

‘Operation well carried out. There is no question when the old lady lifts her skirts she can run.’

After further action during the Salerno Landings Warspite headed back to North-Western Europe taking part in D-Day and later at Brest and in Holland. Swig was released from service on 24 October 1945, he died at St. Pancras, London in 1977; sold together with copied service papers and a medal roll.

Subject to 5% tax on Hammer Price in addition to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium.

Sold for
£35

Starting price
£20