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Auction: 26003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 345

Sold by Order of a Direct Descendant

A Tigris Gunboats 1916 D.S.O. attributed to Commander G. E. Harden, Royal Navy

Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamel, top riband bar adapted for mounting, good very fine

D.S.O. London Gazette 25 October 1916:

'Lieutenant Harden was temporarily in command of the river gunboat Comet during the attack on Ctesiphon and the subsequent withdrawal to Kut-el-Amara, and behaved with great coolness during the whole period. On the 1st December, 1915, when H.M.S. Firefly had grounded and been abandoned, he took a boat over from the armed launch Sumana under very heavy fire, and brought off the Firefly's crew.'

M.I.D. London Gazette 5 April & 13 July 1916.

George Elliott Harden was the son of the Lieutenant-Colonel G. Harden (late Sussex Regiment) and Mrs Harden (nee Angelo) and was born at St. Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex on 1 August 1889. He was educated at Hillbrow and Rugby Schools and then went to Britannia as a Naval Cadet in May 1904. Promoted Midshipman in September 1905 and Sub-Lieutenant in November 1908, Harden passed for Lieutenant with six 'firsts' in 1909 and was confirmed as Lieutenant in 1910. He took part in earlier operations in the Shatt-el-Ara River as navigator on Espiegle and was present at the actions at Abadan and Zain and also assisted in the capture of Kurna on the 4-9th December 1914. In 1915 he was fighting on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and took part in an attack on a Turkish position above Kurna on 31 March 1915. Subsequent to the attack, he chased the Turkish gunboat Marmaris up the Tigris and succeeded in sinking it on the night of 1-2 June 1915. He assisted in the capture of Amara with a small force under General Townshend, in the river gunboat Comet, and his conduct on this occasion earned him a Mention in Despatches. Promoted Commander on 30 November 1917, Harden was appointed to the Royal Naval Staff College in 1919 and died on 13 March 1943. He is commemorated upon the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

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Estimate
£600 to £800

Starting price
£500