Beschreibung:

A rare Korea operations D.S.C. group of ten awarded to Commander M. W. B. Craig Waller, Royal Navy, who, having seen much action in the 1939-45 War, including the Altmark incident, was decorated for his gallant command of the frigate H.M.S. Whitesand Bay in 1952-53 Distinguished Service Cross, E.II.R., the reverse officially dated ‘1953’, hallmarks for London 1952; 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Burma Star, clasp, Pacific; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, M.I.D. oak leaf; Korea 1950-53 (Cdr. M. W. B. Craig Waller, D.S.C., R.N.); U.N. Korea 1950-54; Coronation 1953; United States of America, Legion of Merit, Legionnaire’s breast badge, gilt and enamel, with ‘V’ riband fitment, mounted court-style as worn, the 1939-45 Stars sometime gilded, generally very fine or better (10) £4000-5000 Footnote D.S.C. London Gazette 19 May 1953: ‘For distinguished service in operations in Korean waters.’ U.S.A. Legion of Merit London Gazette 15 February 1955: ‘For distinguished service during operations in Korea.’ Michael Waller Beaufort Craig-Waller was born in Allenstown, Meath, Eire, in April 1911, the son of Captain Arthur Craig-Waller, R.N., who would be advanced to Vice-Admiral and awarded a C.B. for his command of the battleship H.M.S. Barham at Jutland. Assistant Gunnery Officer - the “Altmark” incident Young Michael was appointed a Midshipman in the Royal Navy in September 1929 and, by the outbreak of hostilities in September 1939, was serving as a Lieutenant and Assistant Gunnery Officer in the destroyer Cossack, then under Commander R. St. V. Sherbrooke, R.N., who would win a V.C. for the Battle of Barents Sea, but later still under Captain Philip Vian, R.N. And it was with Vian in command on 16 February 1940 that Cossack hit the headlines for her part in boarding and capturing the German auxiliary Altmark in Josing Fjord, Norway - the latter’s holds being crammed with some 300 British merchant seamen. As a result of the unfortunate delays caused by the implications of the Altmark being in neutral waters, and the presence of two Norwegian torpedo-boats ordered to prevent British intervention, Vian had patiently awaited Admiralty orders before embarking on his desperate mission, but when they arrived, with all the hallmarks of the First Sea Lord, Winston Churchill’s hand upon it, he moved swiftly. Vian’s account takes up the story: ‘Having placed Cossack in a position from which our pom-poms could play upon Norwegian decks, whilst their torpedo tubes were no instant menace to us, I said we could parley no longer, and must board and search the Altmark forthwith, whether we fought them or not. Kjell’s captain decided that honour was served by submitting to superior force, and withdrew. On rounding the bend in the fjord, Altmark at last came into view. She lay bows inshore, encased in ice, her great bulk standing black against the snow-clad mountains. Thoughts of the six-inch guns with which the Altmark was said to be armed were naturally in our minds. Though our own guns were manned we were obviously an easy target, and the enemy’s first shots might well immobilise us at once. There was nothing for it, however, but to go ahead and get to grips as quickly as possible. The Altmark Captain was determined to resist being boarded. On sighting Cossack, he trained his searchlight on our bridge to blind the command, and came astern at full power through the channel which his entry into the ice had made. His idea was to ram us. Unless something was done very quickly the great mass of the tanker’s counter was going to crash heavily into Cossack’s port bow. There followed a period of manoeuvring in which disaster, as serious collision must have entailed, was avoided by the skill of my imperturbable navigator, McLean, and by the speed with which the main engine manoeuvring valves were operated by their artificers. Lieutenant Bradwell Turner, the leader of the boarding party, anticipated Cossack’s arrival alongside Altmark with a leap which became famou