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Auction: 24003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 148

(x) A fine Second World War Coastal Forces B.E.M. group of nine awarded to Chief Engine Room Artificer H. Foster, Royal Navy: a much-engaged veteran of the Battle of Jutland and the evacuation of Dunkirk, he served in the 1st Steam Gun Boat Flotilla from 1942-44

British Empire Medal (Military), G.VI.R. (C.E.R.A. Henry Foster, C/M. 12128); 1914-15 Star (M. 12128 H. Foster, Act. E.R.A. 4, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (M. 12128 H. Foster, E.R.A. 4, R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 2nd issue (M. 12128 H. Foster, E.R.A. 1, H.M.S. Shropshire), the last with minor official correction, the Great War awards polished, thus fine, the remainder generally very fine or better (9)

B.E.M. London Gazette 1 January 1945.

Henry Foster was born at Stratford, London on 1 December 1893 and entered the Royal Navy as an Acting Engine Room Artificer 4th Class in July 1915.

Jutland

One of his first seagoing appointments was the destroyer H.M.S. Shark, which won enduring fame under Loftus Jones, V.C., at Jutland. But by the time of that memorable battle, Foster had removed to the light cruiser Chester.

As part of the 3rd Battle Cruiser Squadron, Chester ran into the German 2nd Scouting Group. Officer's Steward 1st Class Reginald Gulliver takes up the story:

'The first shot put out all the lights and we were in total darkness. After a lull in the fighting, we were let out to the upper deck and what a sight - which will remain in my memory forever. An officer was lying dead with both legs severed in sea boots. I stepped over a body that had been disembowelled. I had to hold a seaman's foot while the Doctor cut it off as it was just hanging. We laid the bodies side by side and were told to turn them over on their stomachs …'

In fact, according to Captain Lawson, Chester's decks were 'littered with mutilated men'. And one of her signalmen is said to have seen a man's hair stand on end - 'a thing I never thought possible'. In total Chester took 17 direct hits, had three guns put out of action and suffered casualties of 29 killed and 49 wounded: among the mortally wounded was 16-year-old Jack Cornwell, who received a much-publicised posthumous award of the V.C.

Today, tangible evidence of Chester's gallant part in the battle of Jutland survives in national collections, including the 5.5-inch gun manned by Jack Cornwell, V.C. at the Imperial War Museum and one of her battle ensigns at the National Maritime Museum.

Foster - who remained aboard the Chester until March 1919 - was advanced to E.R.A. 1 in January 1928 and awarded his L.S. & G.C. Medal in March 1930.

Dunkirk

Having then been pensioned ashore in February 1937, he was recalled in the summer of 1939, when he joined the minesweeper Halcyon. He quickly saw action, Halcyon being attacked by enemy aircraft off Swarte Bank in the North Sea on 7 October 1939 and again, off Invergordon, on 30 January 1940. On the latter occasion she was straddled by 20 bombs and three men were wounded. In April 1940, Foster removed to another minesweeper, the Niger, and it was in this capacity that he witnessed action off Dunkirk's beaches in May-June 1940.

Niger in fact played a significant role in Operation 'Dynamo', having first been called to the beaches at La Panne on the 30 May 1940. On that occasion she sent her motor boat and two whalers inshore to commence ferrying awaiting troops but they were swamped in the surf. Nonetheless, Niger still managed to embark around 200 troops via awaiting yachts, prior to returning to Dover. Meanwhile, Niger's Lieutenant R. P. Hichens, R.N.V.R., was left behind to make improvements to the embarkation process, an objective achieved by his mooring two yachts as pontoons.

Niger returned to the beaches on the 31st, one of her boats picking up 30 troops. Her crew's heroic efforts were further rewarded as they worked into the early morning hours of 1 June, so much so that they managed to collect another 300 troops. And the exertions of Hichens and others on her third trip resulted in the rescue of like numbers, who were disembarked at Ramsgate. Finally, on 3 June, Foster and his shipmates swept up no less than 700 French troops from Dunkirk's east pier, which event nearly ended in disaster when Niger was rammed by a French vessel. An altercation with the latter's skipper led to him being turned over to the military authorities when Niger arrived at Folkestone.

Among the resultant awards was a D.S.C. for Hichens, an officer who would become a household name by way of his subsequent - remarkable - achievements in Coastal Forces. As it happened, Foster was destined for a similar role, for, in July 1941, he was posted to Attack, the Coastal Forces base at Portland.

Coastal Forces - 1st S.G.B. Flotilla

From Attack, Foster was sent to Spartiate in Scotland in September 1941, his service record noting as additional for Steam Gun Boats (S.G.B.s). This makes complete sense, for four S.G.B.s were laid down and completed in Scotland. At Yarrows in Scotstoun, S.G.B.s 3 and 4 were launched in August-September 1941, and at Denny's in Dunbarton, S.G.B.s 7 and 8 were launched in September-November 1941.

After undertaking trials, all four boats journeyed south, joining their consorts at Newhaven, then known as H.M.S. Forward but later aptly renamed Aggressive. Foster's service record states that he arrived at Newhaven in August 1942, and there he remained until February 1944, when the flotilla - known as the 1st S.G.B. Flotilla - moved to Portland's Attack to work-up in readiness to support the American landings on Utah and Omaha on D-Day.

In the early days of its existence the flotilla was commanded of Lieutenant-Commander Peter Scott, D.S.C., R.N.V.R., son of the famous Antarctic explorer and himself a noted pre-war artist and Olympic yachtsman. It was Scott who won Admiralty approval to grant the numbered S.G.B.s proper names, since at a length of 156 feet they just qualified for the accolade - hence a bevy of names influenced by the natural world, in lieu of the Flotilla C.O.'s other area of expertise. Sadly we do not know which of the four 'Scottish boats' Foster served in, but they were duly christened Grey Fox, Grey Seal and Grey Wolf; S.G.B. 7 was lost in a ferocious action off the Seine in 1942, so she did not survive long enough to named.

The boats were armed to the teeth and much respected by enemy E- and R-Boats: by 1944, S.G.B.s boasted a 6-pounder, power-mounted gun forward, a 3-inch hand operated gun aft, four sets of 20mm. twin-Oerlikon guns (either side of the bridge and aft), six sets of twin-Vickers .303 machine-guns (pairs on the bridge, below the bridge and by the torpedo tubes), two 21-inch torpedoes, and 4 depth-charges for good measure - and were still capable of a maximum speed of 30 knots.

As Leonard Reynolds concludes in his Dog Boats at War, S.G.B.s were involved in numerous actions that indicated 'an enormous amount of gallantry and of attacks pressed home whatever the odds'. Casualties in the Flotilla were indeed high, as were the number of decorations awarded to the 30-strong crews.

As a long-served Chief Engine Room Artificer, Foster's input was clearly much valued. Awarded his B.E.M. while borne on the books of Attack - which distinction he received at a Buckingham Palace investiture in October 1945 - he was released 'Class A' in the same year; see Peter Scott's Battle of the Narrow Seas for the action-packed story of the 1st S.G.B. Flotilla.

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

Sold for
£700

Starting price
£400