Beschreibung:

A rare Great War Arabian Coast operations C.G.M. group of six awarded to Able Seaman F. G. Noble, Royal Navy, who was decorated for his gallant part in the capture of Salif in June 1917 Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, G.V.R. (205234 F. G. Noble, A.B., H.M.S. Topaze, Salif, 12 June 1917); 1914-15 Star (205234 F. G. Noble, A.B., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (205234 F. G. Noble, A.B., R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (205234 Francis G. Noble, A.B., H.M.S. Excellent); France, Medaille Militaire, silver, silver-gilt and enamel, edge bruising and contact marks, and enamel damage to the last, nearly very fine or better (6) £6000-8000 Footnote C.G.M. London Gazette 11 August 1917: ‘For conspicuous gallantry at the capture of Salif on 12 June 1917. When a Private of Marines was fatally wounded, and was lying in an exposed position, Noble went out from cover and brought him in. His behaviour was most praiseworthy.’ Francis George Noble was born at St. Helier, Jersey in the Channel Islands in April 1884 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in July 1899. Having then been advanced to Able Seaman and fulfilled his 12 years of continuous service, he was discharged ashore in April 1914 and enrolled in the Royal Fleet Reserve. Quickly mobilised on the advent of hostilities, he joined the battleship H.M.S. Glory, in which capacity he served on the North American Station and in the Dardanelles; during one bombardment in support of the Gallipoli operations, Glory was hit by Turkish fire. Noble came home to an appointment in Portsmouth in April 1916 but returned to sea with an appointment in the cruiser Topaze in the Mediterranean that October. In early 1917, Topaze was ordered to the Red Sea and it was here, in June, that Noble won his C.G.M. for the landings at Salif. The Navy Everywhere takes up the story: ‘The village of Salif is situated on a peninsula, of which the northern end is merely a mud flat, covered by the sea at high tide. To the east of the village is a hunch-back of a hill, which is doubtless of volcanic formation, and in fact has a hollow in it suggesting the relics of a crater. It was in this hollow that the Turkish garrison had taken up their position when, at daybreak on 12 June 1917, our ships approached Salif. The enemy's position was well chosen, for nothing could be seen of it from the sea, and only the high-angle fire of a howitzer could be expected to drop shells into it. Captain Boyle ordered the Espiegle to go northwards round the end of the peninsula, and enter the inlet between peninsula and mainland, possibly with the idea that the Turkish position might be more accessible from the eastern side of it. In any case the presence of a ship on that side would subject the enemy to a cross-fire, which is always disconcerting. The only danger to be avoided was that of the Espiegle's gunlayers, in an excess of enthusiasm, plumping shells right over the hill into the other ships; but fortunately no contretemps of this kind occurred. The Northbrook anchored close inshore at the southern end of the peninsula, while Minto, Topaze, and Odin made a line to the north of her. They all kept as near to the shore as the depth of water would allow, in order that the landing parties might have as short a distance as possible to cover in the boats. As it turned out, the Topaze and Odin unconsciously followed the example of Lord Charles Beresford in the Condor at the bombardment of Alexandria, when he ran his ship in so close that the enemy ashore could not depress their guns sufficiently to hit him. The Turks in their hollow were in exactly the same predicament. They had two Krupp mountain-guns and three one-inch Norden-feldts, with which they blazed away persistently, but their shells, in clearing the sides of the crater, also cleared our ships, and they did not score a single hit, though they occasionally dropped near enough to create an uncomfortable feeling on board. The Northbrook’s men landed at the so