The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
War hero’s medals to be auctioned in Montrose
Glasgow-born captain’s Second World War awards available plus other possessions
A special collection of Second World War medals will be going under the hammer in Montrose next week.
Taylor’s Auction Rooms, in Brent Avenue, will be auctioning medals awarded to captain Herbert Walkinshaw next Saturday.
The Royal Navy captain’s decorations include his OBE, the Greek Distinguished Service Medal with 1940 bar, and six Second World War campaign stars and medals.
The Glasgow-born war hero first served on the HMS Vivien, which escorted convoys in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.
After promotion to lieutenant he was transferred to the Greek destroyer HMS Adrias as naval liaison officer. While conducting operations off the coast of the Greek island Kalymnos, the Adrias struck a mine and the ship’s bow was blown off. The ship’s captain was wounded, but managed to beach the ship on the Turkish coast.
The captain then, unusually, handed over command of the ship to Walkinshaw rather than to the first lieutenant, which would have been the normal practice.
Despite his first captaincy lasting only 24 hours, while in command he made a quick recovery and the ship was made watertight.
Even without the bow, the crew managed to sail the 700 miles to Alexandria under their own steam.
This incident led to Walkinshaw being mentioned in dispatches.
On his return from the war he rejoined the Royal Naval Reserve and served as commander of the Clyde division with the rank of captain.
Also included in the lot are various letters, his naval officer’s sword and midshipman’s dirk.
Mr Walkinshaw died in February 2004 at the age of 84.
Lot 1677 will go under the hammer “mid-afternoon”, and will be streamed on the thesaleroom.com.
It is estimated to fetch between £1,000-£1,500.
Jonathon Taylor, salesroom manager, said: “We get a lot of First World war and 19th Century medals in, but to have a Second World War medal with this amount of detail and backstory is quite unusual.
“It’s also unusual for a British officer to be given the Greek medal.
“It’s things like that which make it interesting and what the collectors want. We’re always pleased to sell medals like that and the collectors are always keen to have them.
“They always attract quite a lot of interest and we hope it goes well on the day.”