The emotive Dunkirk 'little ships' D.S.M. awarded to Engineer Fred Barter, H.M. Yacht Ankh,...

The emotive Dunkirk ‘little ships’ D.S.M. awarded to Engineer Fred Barter, H.M. Yacht Ankh, who, under heavy fire, assisted in ferrying 400 troops from the beaches; it is said that he also delivered a no-nonsense broadside of his own, when Lord Gort, V.C., apparently tried to jump the queue to his boat, a broadside of the four-letter variety Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (F. Barter, Yacht Engn. H.M.Y. Ankh.) impressed naming, contact marks, otherwise nearly very fine £1,000-£1,400 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Jeffrey Hoare Auction, April 2000. D.S.M. London Gazette 16 August 1940: ‘For good services in the withdrawal of Allied Armies from the beaches at Dunkirk.’ Requisitioned by the Admiralty, H.M. yacht Ankh was taken over by Captain J. M. Howson, R.N., as a temporary H.Q., when she arrived off Dunkirk on the morning of 31 May. She was manned by a handful of naval personnel and civilians. Howson had charge of nine yachts, which he divided between the beaches at Bray and La Panne, but owing to their deep draft they were unable to get close inshore, thereby necessitating the use of small launches and rowing boats to collect the awaiting troops from the beaches. One such boat was manned by Fred Barter and Able Seaman W. F. ‘Frank’ Lunn, R.N., a boat with a capacity for eight people but in which they proceeded to embark 20 at a time. During one return trip to the yachts, the boat was capsized by a near miss bomb, leaving the embarked soldiers floundering in water in full kit. Barter and Lunn swam over a mile to the yachts to collect another boat, and, under fire, returned to the beaches. In fact, they continued their gallant work throughout the day, eventually ferrying a total 400 troops to safety. In an article published in The War Graves Photographic Project Newsletter in the Spring of 2017, Barter’s grandson recalled how Fred never really spoke of his experiences off Dunkirk. He also recalled how he came across an amusing anecdote concerning Field Marshal Lord Gort, V.C. Apparently Gort appeared on the beach and tried to jump the queue to Fred’s boat, an endeavour that was smartly curtailed when the latter told him to “**** off!” Barter may have been a modest man, but he did manage to say a few words to The Hampshire Telegraph and Post, when interviewed in March 1941: ‘Barter shared charge of a rowing boat which was sent ashore to pick up soldiers. Normally the boat held only six, but Barter and his companion got in 20, and towed rafts carrying several other soldiers. “We were sunk by enemy action and had to swim for it,” said Barter. “Many of the B.E.F. men returned to the shore, but Lunn and I swam over a mile back to the yacht, took another boat, and carried on with the good work. Eventually we got nearly 400 soldiers safely on to our yacht.” ’ He received his D.S.M. from King George VI at Buckingham Place on 16 July 1940.