The rare Great War Baltic operations submariner's D.S.M. group of six awarded to Stoker...

The rare Great War Baltic operations submariner’s D.S.M. group of six awarded to Stoker Petty Officer H. W. Aldridge, Royal Navy, who was also twice decorated by the White Russians for his gallant deeds in the E-19 under Lieutenant-Commander F. N. A. Cromie, D.S.O.; by the time of Cromie’s murder by a Checka Guard on the steps of the British Embassy at Petrograd in August 1918, Aldridge was serving in the G-7, in which he was lost in the North Sea just 10 days before the Armistice Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (222882 H. W. Aldridge, Sto. P.O. Submarine Service 1917.); 1914-15 Star (222882 H. W.Aldridge, Act. L. Sto. R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (222882 H. W. Aldridge. S.P.O. R.N.); Russia, Empire, Cross of St George for Bravery, 3rd Class, officially numbered ‘No 72 128’; Russia, Empire, Medal of St George for Bravery, 4th Class, officially numbered ‘No 269703’, together with Memorial Plaque (Henry William Aldridge) nearly extremely fine (7) £4,000-£5,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- D.S.M. London Gazette 2 November 1917: ‘For services in submarines in enemy waters.’ The recommendation states: ‘H.M. Submarine E19, H.M.S. Dolphin and H.M.S. Ascot. Submarine service 1917. For long and arduous service and successful action with enemy armed vessels.’ Henry William Aldridge was born in Camberwell, London on 24 January 1887 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in December 1902. Transferring as a Stoker 1st Class to the submarine branch in October 1912, he likely joined the E-19 on her commissioning in the summer of 1915, although his service record makes no individual mention of E-19 until an entry dated 4 August 1916. It is not unusual for submarine depot ships to be used for seagoing appointments on such records, besides which Aldridge’s D.S.M. reflected ‘long and arduous service and successful actions against enemy armed vessels.’ In September 1915, under her famous skipper Lieutenant-Commander F. N. A. Cromie, D.S.O., E-19 was one of the last five submarines to manage the passage through the Oresund into the Baltic Sea, where she went on to sink several enemy vessels. Most notably, south of Oland on 11 October, she sank four German freighters within a few hours of each other, a memorable ‘bag’ which commenced with the Weston Leongardt, bound from Lulea to Hamburg with iron ore. She was sunk with a charge of guncotton after the crew had been taken off by a Swedish vessel. Two hours later, E-I9 was chasing the Germania, bound with iron ore for Stettin. She refused to stop and was driven ashore, whereupon E-I9 went alongside to take off her crew, but they had already scrambled over the rocks to safety. Cromie then tried to tow the Germania off in order to sink her, but failing in this he left her so damaged that she could never sail again. Just an hour later, E-19 set off in pursuit of the Gutrune, whom she caught after two hours. She, too, was loaded with iron ore and sent to the bottom, E-I9 taking off her crew and transferring them to another Swedish ship. The next ship stopped was the Swedish Nyland, but her papers showed her bound for Rotterdam and she was allowed to proceed. Ten minutes later, however, E-19 caught the Direktor Rippenhagen, yet another iron ore ship and she too followed her predecessors to the bottom. Cromie embarked her crew in E-19 until he was able to stop a Swedish ship bound for Newcastle, whose captain agreed to take the German crew with him. Next on the list was the Nicodemia, the largest of the lot and carrying a very full cargo of iron ore from Lulea to Hamburg. On sighting E-I9 she turned and made for the Swedish coast, hoping to reach the safety of territorial waters before being caught. Two shots across her bows brought a change of mind, and E-I9 sent across a boarding party. The crew was ordered into the boats and a scuttling charge placed on board, which sent her and her cargo of 7,000 tons of ore to the bottom. The submarine then towed the boat loads of survivors to the coast. Early the following morning, E-I9 intercepted the Nike. She was Swedish, but being bound to Stettin with iron ore was a legitimate prize as she was trying to run the blockade with contraband. Cromie put a prize crew aboard, consisting of one Lieutenant and two men, and sent her to Reval to be condemned in prize and her cargo confiscated. In the following month, on the 7th, for good measure, E-19 claimed the S.M.S. Undine. On that occasion, the detonation of E-19’s first torpedo stopped the enemy cruiser and set her ablaze, but to ensure total success Crombie dived under the Undine and came up on the other side, from whence he delivered a second torpedo strike just abaft the enemy’s mainmast, a devastating strike which ignited Undine’s main magazine. It was small wonder that the Germans began to call the Baltic ‘Horton’s Sea’ after the submarine branch’s distinguished commander, for the gallant work of E-19 and her consorts lead to British domination in the region for at least two years. Aldridge returned to the U.K. in August 1917, shortly before the award of his D.S.M. was gazetted, to which he added his two ungazetted Russian decorations, the Cross of St. George being verified by other official sources. Then in September 1918, he joined the G-7, tragically a short-lived appointment, for she was lost to causes unknown in the North Sea just 10 days before the Armistice. Aged 22, he was the son of Florence Aldridge of 13 Riga Terrace, Landport, Hampshire and his name is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. Sold with copied record of service and other research.