The rare and outstanding Great War D.S.O. and Bar group of four awarded to Commander W....

‘The advance continued and wherever the enemy showed fight, our men made immediate dashes at him and put him out of action or - in a few cases - sent him back as prisoners. The men’s blood was up and few prisoners were taken. Owing to our having suffered pretty badly in the enemy’s wire the men had little mercy …I feel that I am not exaggerating when I estimate the enemy’s casualties at two thousand. We were firing at them continually all the time we were up there - the fire was well controlled and splendid effects were seen - The artillery was magnificent. The enemy was thoroughly butchered and we enjoyed every moment of it all … ’ So stated Commander W. Sterndale-Bennett, Drake Battalion, Royal Naval Division, in his report on the attack on Gavrelle on 24-25 April 1917. The rare and outstanding Great War D.S.O. and Bar group of four awarded to Commander W. Sterndale-Bennett, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, one of the Royal Naval Division’s youngest Battalion C.O.s - and a recipient of Churchillian praise - who was mortally wounded at Passchendaele in November 1917, aged just 24 Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamels, with 1st laurel type Second Award Bar and integral top ribbon bar; 1914 -15 Star (Ty. Sub. Lieut, W. S. Bennett, R.N.V.R.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Commr. W. Sterndale-Bennett. R.N.V.R.) some chipping to green enamel wreath of D.S.O., otherwise extremely fine (4) £5,000-£7,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Spink, May 2003. One of just four “Double D.S.O.s” awarded to the Royal Naval Division. D.S.O. London Gazette 26 January 1917: ‘For conspicuous gallantry in action. He assumed command of and handled his Battalion with marked courage and ability. He personally collected a party and bombed the enemy out of part of their second line, where they might have held up the attack.’ Bar to D.S.O. London Gazette 18 July 1917: ‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. On discovering the wire uncut except in a few places he went forward himself and led his Battalion through the partially cut gaps. He finally gained his objective and held on against very strong resistance. The success of the operation was almost entirely due to his personal example.’ Walter Sterndale-Bennett was born in Derby on 15 July 1893, the son of James Robert Sterndale Bennett, Headmaster of Derby School, and a grandson of Sir William Sterndale Bennett (1816-75), one of the most celebrated British composers of the nineteenth century, Professor of Music at Cambridge and latterly Principal of the Royal Academy of Music. It is thought that young Walter attended St Paul’s School, Hammersmith, and possibly studied at the Slade School of Fine Art. More certain is the fact he was subsequently apprenticed to the Merchant Navy and qualified for his 2nd Mate’s certificate in December 1913. Upon the outbreak of hostilities in the following year, he enlisted in the ranks of the 28th Battalion, London Regiment (Artists’ Rifles) in which he undertook basic training. But in February 1915 he obtained a commission as a Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and was drafted to Drake Battalion in the Royal Naval Division. And it was in this capacity that he first saw action, in Gallipoli from mid-August 1915, where he was also appointed Adjutant of the battalion and ‘one of the last to slip away’ from the peninsula on its evacuation. He was duly mentioned in despatches by Sir Charles Munro (London Gazette 13 July 1916, refers) and advanced to Temporary Lieutenant. Embarked for France from Mudros in May 1916, Sterndale-Bennett and Drake Battalion were soon heavily engaged on the Somme, his D.S.O. stemming from the above cited deeds in the assault on Beaucourt on 13-14 November 1916, in which the battalion advanced in ‘the fog and mist of the Ancre Valley’ and suffered a loss of 14 officers and nearly 200 men killed or wounded. Owing to those casualties, he assumed command of the battalion as an Acting Lieutenant-Commander. Having then returned to the U.K. to attend a senior officer’s course, he rejoined Drake in France as an Acting Commander in April 1917, the same month in which he won a Bar to his D.S.O. for the above cited deeds in the famous action at Gavrelle, east of Arras. Jerrold’s history of the Royal Naval Division states: ‘The enemy were in strength and though they suffered under our barrage, their first wave being almost wiped out, they reached, and at one point on the Howe front actually penetrated, our posts. The prompt and energetic action of Commander Bennett and his officers on the Drake front, and of Lieutenant Mackinlay and Sub-Lieutenant Lawrie of the Howe Battalion prevented, however, any loss of ground and inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy. The success, from first to last, was largely due to the initiative of the newly-appointed leaders of the Hood and Drake Battalions. This is not to say that the plans for the attack were bad. It was once more, however, made clear that the most careful preparations, the most precise instructions go only a small way, and sometimes no way at all, towards the final goal. But for the timely variations made in the original plans, and for the exceptional resolution of many individuals, the success would certainly not have been achieved. The chief honours went without a doubt to Commander Asquith and Commander Bennett.’ In October 1917, Drake moved to Passchendaele, where, on the 5th, he was mortally wounded by enemy shellfire. As recalled by one of his men, Frank Andrews, ‘Commander Bennett was badly wounded at about 4.30 p.m. on November 4th 1917. I was attached to H.Q. at the time and we were caught right in the middle of a very fierce bombardment which the enemy had a nasty habit of putting over every evening at the same time … I was about fifty yards away when that particular shell dropped but was fortunately not hit myself although several of my mates were killed.’ Another witness was Lieutenant-Commander Charles Hayfair of Hawke Battalion, who stated: ‘A shell had struck him in the legs, severing one between the knee and ankle and I believe shattering the other foot. Although he received prompt treatment he sank very rapidly. I was greatly surprised and shocked as, when he took over, the line was quiet except for casual shelling.’ Sterndale-Bennett died on 7 November 1917 at 61st Casualty Clearing Station, Dozinghem, Westvleteren and was buried at Dozinghem Military Cemetery with full military honours. Present were the Divisional General, members of Divisional and Brigade staffs, battalion commanders of 189th Brigade and 15 officers and 120 men representing Drake Battalion. His replacement as Battalion Commander wrote to his parents: ‘I do not think I am saying more than the accurate facts when I say that he was universally recognised as the best Commanding Officer in the Division. We shall miss him more than I can say, but his example and training will – I am certain – live in the Battalion for a long time. He was always cheerful and optimistic and absolutely fearless. His men would have gone anywhere and done anything he asked them with the most complete confidence.’ Posthumously mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 7 December 1917, refers), Sterndale-Bennett’s gallant deeds – from the Somme to Passchendaele via Gavrelle – found further recognition in the words of...