A rare Great War Coastal Forces D.S.C. group of eight awarded to Lieutenant R. W. Bateman,...

A rare Great War Coastal Forces D.S.C. group of eight awarded to Lieutenant R. W. Bateman, Royal Naval Reserve, who was taken P.O.W. after his gallant actions in C.M.B. 42 off Terschelling in August 1918 Distinguished Service Cross, G.V.R., the reverse hallmarked London 1918 and privately inscribed ‘Lieut. R. W. Bateman. R.N.R.’; 1914-15 Star (Lieut. R. W. Bateman. R.N.R.); British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. R. W. Bateman. R.N.R.); 1939-45 Star; Pacific Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, the stars all lightly gilded, otherwise very fine (8) £2,000-£2,400 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- D.S.C. London Gazette 29 November 1918: Honours for Operations off Terschelling on the 11th August, 1918. ‘In recognition of gallantry during a reconnaissance of the West Frisian coast on the 11th August, 1918: Lieut. Robert William Bateman, R.N.R. For the exceptional gallantry and courage shown by him. In the middle of the fight Lieut. Bateman, who was serving in the Senior Officer's boat, stripped down and reassembled a gun in an endeavour to bring it into action. He undoubtedly saved the boat by spotting bombs as they left enemy aircraft. One bomb exploded close to the boat and blew a hole in her hull, and would have destroyed her if Lieut. Bateman had not warned his commanding officer in time for course and speed to be altered.’ One of three D.S.Cs awarded for this action. Robert William Bateman was commissioned as a Sub Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve in April 1915, in which month he joined the armed merchant cruiser H.M.S. Andes. In April 1916, however, he commenced his time in Coastal Motor Boats, when he was appointed to the command of C.M.B. 6. A period of training appears to have ensued on the Thames, when he was quartered at Winchester House at Putney, and his subsequent commands included C.M.B.s 18 and 45, the latter in a flotilla based in Osea Island, Essex. But it was in an another Osea Island boat, C.M.B. 42 under Lieutenant-Commander A. L. H. D. Coke, R.N., that he distinguished himself in a spirited action off Terschelling on 11 August 1918. On that occasion, six of our C.M.B.s came under sustained attack from enemy aircraft, three of them either being destroyed or scuttled, and their crews captured and interned. C.M.B. 42 was seriously damaged in her hull by a near miss bomb. And from Coke’s report of the action, it is clear Bateman distinguished himself throughout, by stripping down and reassembling a gun and by his commentary on incoming bombs, thereby allowing his skipper to alter course and speed as required: ‘It is considered that he behaved with exceptional gallantry and courage under most trying conditions.’ C.M.B 42 was severely damaged and later sank, the crew being interned in Holland. A good account of the action was published in the 1920s by Commander C. R. L. Outhwaite, R.N. For his own part, Bateman had to endure three months of internment in Holland, prior to returning home to collect his D.S.C. Demobilised as a Lieutenant in December 1919, he stated that he intended to travel to Hong Kong. That intention might be of significance in respect of his future entitlement for the Pacific Star. He married Olga Kornikova in Shanghai in the early 1920s and appears to have been a prisoner of war of the Japanese after the fall of Singapore. He is listed as a Marine Superintendent and Shipping Manager at different times, in 1947 with Matheson & Co. His P.O.W. card gives his wife’s address in Kowloon. At the time of his death on 7 July 1954, he was Marine Superintendent with the Indo China Steam Navigation Company.