The rare Great War Lake Nyasa operations D.S.M. group of five awarded to Chief Petty...

The rare Great War Lake Nyasa operations D.S.M. group of five awarded to Chief Petty Officer E. C. Mitchell, Royal Navy, who having survived the loss of H.M.S. Pegasus in her famous clash with the Konigsberg in September 1914, was seconded to the Lake Nyasa Flotilla, in which he ‘displayed much ability in drilling the native boat crews to a very creditable state of efficiency’ in the ex-missionary steamer Gwendolen Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (204906 E. C. Mitchell. P.O. H.M.S. Gwendolen.); 1914-15 Star (204906 E. C. Mitchell. P.O. R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (204906 E. C. Mitchell. P.O. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (204906 E. C. Mitchell Act. C.P.O. H.M.S. Hyacinth) edge bruising and contact marks, otherwise nearly very fine (5) £2,400-£2,800 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Spink, April 2004. D.S.M. London Gazette 24 February 1916. The original recommendation states: ‘H.M.S. Gwendolen Lake Tanganyika, whose shooting was of a very high standard rendered the redoubt untenable in the morning engagement, and hampering the enemy’s movements during the afternoon engagement. Petty Officer Mitchell displayed much ability in drilling the native boat crews to a very creditable state of efficiency, and it was largely due to his efforts that a rapid and safely conducted embarkation was achieved.’ Ernest Charles Mitchell was born in Plymouth, Devon on 3 February 1884 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in June 1899. By the outbreak of hostilities, he had been advanced to Petty Officer and was serving in the cruiser H.M.S. Pegasus, and he was likewise employed at the time of her memorable action with the Konigsberg off Zanzibar on 20 September 1914. In the lead up to her final action, Pegasus had bombarded the customs house at Bagamoyo in German East Africa, when the port authorities refused to agree to a truce. Less than a month later, on 20 September 1914, her consorts Hyacinth and Astraea having been called away, she was undergoing repairs at the port of Zanzibar when she fell victim to a surprise attack launched by the Konigsberg. Deeds That Thrill the Empire takes up the story: ‘For twenty-five minutes the Konigsberg poured in her relentless broadside, steaming slowly in until she had reduced the range from nine thousand to seven thousand yards; and still the shells of the Pegasus failed to reach her. The shot fell harmlessly into the water hundreds of yards short of the enemy cruiser. The poor little Pegasus was in a bad way from the start. The enemy’s shooting was not good, but with the advantage of range they were able to take their own time, and the British ship soon began to suffer severely. One of the first to be hit was the gunnery officer, Lieutenant Richard Turner, whose legs were shattered by a shell. As he lay stricken and bleeding to death his thoughts were all for the honour of his ship and his service “Keep it up, lads,” he said to his men. “We’re outclassed and done for; but d--- them, and keep it up!” So, having asked for brandy and a cigarette, Lieutenant Turner died; but the men “kept it up.” In fifteen minutes all the guns of the Pegasus had been silenced and not one of their shells had reached the enemy, whose guns had a range greater by two thousand yards. The cruiser’s flag was shot away from its staff. Instantly a Marine ran forward, seized the flag, and waved it aloft; and when he was struck down another came and took his place. The flag flew until the end. There was no braver man that day than the medical officer of the Pegasus, Staff-Surgeon Alfred J. Hewitt. Nearly all the casualties occurred on deck, and there he was from the start to the finish, giving what help he could to the wounded men. On one occasion he was holding a ruptured artery in the neck of one man, and, with his other hand, stanching the flow of blood in the leg of another, while his assistants went for bandages. He could do nothing to help in the fighting, but there was certainly no braver man in the ship. When she had fired about two hundred shells, the Konigsberg withdrew, leaving the Pegasus a battered and fast sinking wreck. At the beginning of the action there were 234 officers and men on board the British vessel, and of these 35 were killed and 53 wounded … ’ In a controversial decision, Commander R. Ingles, R.N., Pegasus’s captain, had in fact struck her colours to avoid further bloodshed, but his action was ignored by the Konigsberg. Among the survivors, Mitchell was borne on the books of the Hyacinth and selected for special duties on Lake Nyasa. The lake had already witnessed the first naval engagement of the Great War, when H.M.S. Gwendolen, an ex-missionary steamer which had hastily been converted for use as a gunboat, attacked the German gunboat Hermann von Wissmann on 14 August 1914. The latter was on a slipway at Sphinxhafen and sustained serious damage. Mitchell was otherwise occupied aboard the Pegasus at that time, but he was clearly present in future actions fought on the lake, the first of them following the arrival of Lieutenant-Commander G. H. Dennistoun, R.N.V.R., who took command of a budding British flotilla, including the captured German tug Helmuth. And that action took place on 30 May 1915, after local fishermen reported that the Hermann von Wissmann was under repair. Gwendolen landed a detachment of Askaris, who secured the area, prior to charges being placed on the enemy gunboat, and further action being taken by way of gunfire. The recommendation for Mitchell’s D.S.M. certainly appears to fit this action, rather than a later quoted date in December 1915 on Lake Tanganyika. Be that as it may, the Germans once more set about restoring the von Wissmann to operational fitness, thus resulting in another visit by the Gwendolen to their lake shore base at Spinxhafen. A boarding party of Askaris found the enemy gunboat unmanned and, taken in tow by Gwendolen, it was re-christened ‘H.M.S. King George V’ of the Royal Navy’s Nyasa Flotilla. Dennistoun and the flotilla remained actively employed until his return home in 1918, assisting in the transportation of supplies for our land forces. He was awarded the D.S.O. For his own part, Mitchell was gazetted for his D.S.M. in February 1916, added the L.S. & G.C. Medal to his accolades in September 1917, and appears to have remained actively employed on the East Africa station until returning to an appointment in Vivid in June 1918. He was finally pensioned ashore in February 1924. Sold with an original letter from the recipient, written in January 1964, in which he explains the background to the Lake Nyasa operations, and his part in them.