Beschreibung:

Exceptional Naval and Polar Awards from the Collection of RC Witte The outstanding Kronstadt raid D.S.C. group of four awarded to Acting Lieutenant-Commander R. N. O. Marshall, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, late Royal Naval Reserve: an early recruit to Agar V.C’s clandestine C.M.B. operations in the Baltic, he participated in several hair-raising operations and was credited as being the best Lewis-gunner in the Flotilla Distinguished Service Cross, G.V.R., hallmarks for London 1919; 1914-15 Star (Mid. R. N. O. Marshall, R.N.R.); British War and Victory Medals (Mid. R. N. O. Marshall, R.N.R.), mounted as worn, together with a set of related miniature dress medals, the whole contained in an old Garrard & Co. leather case, very fine and better (8) £6000-8000 Footnote D.S.C. London Gazette 11 November 1919: ‘For distinguished services in H.M. Coastal Motor Boat No. 7 in the attack on Kronstadt Harbour on 18 August 1919. This boat piloted two other boats into the harbour through the forts, under a very heavy fire, and then patrolled the mouth of the harbour to cover their withdrawal.’ The original recommendation states: ‘A volunteer in C.M.B. No. 7 in the attack on Kronstadt Harbour on the morning of 18 August 1919, which passed through the forts under heavy fire, piloting two boats to the entrance to Kronstadt harbour, and afterwards fired a tropedo at the vessels in the Military harbour.’ Richard Nigel Onslow Marshall was born at Newent, Gloucestershire, in August 1899, and was appointed a Midshipman in the Royal Naval Reserve in August 1915. Joining the armed merchant cruiser Almanzora in the following month, he remained similarly employed until removing to the battleship Queen Elizabeth in December 1916, in which latter capacity he served until transferring to Coastal Motor Boats (C.M.Bs) in May 1918. Recruitment for secret operations Subsequently ordered to the C.M.B. base on Osea Island in the estuary of the River Blackwater in Essex, Marshall was recruited by Lieutenant Augustus Agar, R.N., for clandestine operations in the Baltic, a daring initiative best summarised by Captain Kenneth Langmead, D.S.C., in The Blind Eye: ‘It had been suggested that a small naval team headed by Lieutenant Agar should travel clandestinely to the Baltic, take with them two C.M.Bs and, making use of the boats' advantage of amazing speed, attempt to ferry newly recruited couriers to and from Petrograd using a neutral base, preferably in the Gulf of Finland. In the event of a grave emergency they were to go in and try to rescue ST 25 himself. This assignment required that the Lieutenant with his men should be transferred to the Secret Service (Agar was to be allocated the code number ST 35) and officially the Government would know nothing about them. The team was to work under the guise of agents for a boat building concern: the boats, ostensibly pleasure-craft, were to be passed off as samples. There was a lot more to the scheme than has been outlined here, but the foregoing was the gist of it. Agar's emotions were at once a nice balance between pride at being considered suitable for the job and excitement at the prospects for the future: he accepted the appointment unconditionally and, having been given two days in which to prepare, he returned to Osea Island to collect his men and the boats. So far as the personnel were concerned, he invited Sub. Lieutenant Sindall, Midshipmen Hampsheir and Marshall, and two mechanics, Beeley and Piper, to join him, all of whom proved to be keen volunteers for unspecified special service abroad - as for the boats, Agar selected Nos. 4 and 7. Forty-eight hours later Agar paid a return visit to 'C' and explained his preliminary plans. By this time he had been given the code numbers of two British secret agents operating in Finland (ST 30 and ST 31) and Agar now stated that he intended to despatch the C.M.Bs - suitably disguised - by steamer to Abo in Finland: their transit would be handled by Sindall and the two