British Groups

Lot 5687    Session 18 (2.30pm Friday)    British Groups

Estimate $7,000
Bid at live.noble.com.au

GROUP OF FIVE: Distinguished Service Cross (GRI); 1914-15 Star; British War Medal 1914-18; Mercantile Marine War Medal 1914-18; Victory Medal 1914-19. First medal unnamed, Lieut. H.W.Furnival, R.N.R. on second, third and fifth medal, Horace W.Furnival on fourth medal. All named medals impressed. Court mounted, in fitted storage case, extremely fine.

An early war 'Dover Patrol' Great War DSC Group of Five to Observer Lieutenant H.W.Furnival, RNR attached No.1 Wing, RNAS. DSC LG 22/6/1916 Supplement, p.6212 Citation: 'In recognition of their services as aeroplane observers and continuous good work whilst attached to a Wing of the Royal Naval Air Service at Dunkirk.' Recommendation: 'This officer was employed as Observer at No.1 Wing, Dunkirk, from 27th June 1915 until 1st February 1916, and during that time was continuously employed on reconnaissance under heavy shell fire. He has since, however, been appointed to sea service on his own application, owing to the nerve strain, but during the period at Dunkirk, carried out his duties with great zeal and ability.' Horace W Furnival, commissioned Temporary Sub-Lieutenant, Royal Naval Reserve, 3 May 1915; attached as Observer to No.1 Wing RNAS, St.Pol, Dunkirk, 1915-16; Flew in daily patrols, as part of the Dover Patrol, reporting on enemy shipping and submarine activity in and around the ports of Ostend and Zeebrugge, supported the naval bombardment of enemy batteries and forces on the Belgian coast and spotted for the front line; the aircraft used were poorly armed, often only with a rifle, and unreliable and the cold was frequently intense; Sub-Lt Furnival flew in Avros, Moranes and Nieuports; By early 1916 Sub-Lt Furnival, one of the initial class of Observers, had succumbed to combat fatigue and applied for sea service; appointed to HMS Surley, torpedo boat destroyer on 3 February 1916 as second-in-command until early 1919; Temporary Lieutenant 3 May 1917. With research including a small privately made-up book on Furnival and RNAS operations in the Dover Patrol, copies of Daily Reports of No.1 Wing operations involving Furnival; photos and details of the types of aeroplanes that Furnival flew in; excerpt from the book, Concise Story of the Dover Patrol, by Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon.