The extremely rare ‘Sino-Japanese Conflict 1938-39’ D.S.C. group of six awarded to Surgeon-Lieutenant V. J. R. Sheridan, Royal Navy; after service in the river gunboats of the China Fleet, he joined Lord Louis Mountbatten’s famous destroyer Kelly, flagship of the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, and was killed in action when Kelly was bombed and sunk by German dive-bombers off Crete in May 1941

Distinguished Service Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated 1940 and hallmarked London 1940; 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, together with named Admiralty enclosure (Surg. Lieut. V. J. R. Sheridan DSC RN’, mounted court style for display, good very fine (6) £3,000-£4,000

D.S.C. London Gazette 1 January 1940: ‘For services in the Sino-Japanese Conflict.’

Two D.S.Cs and two D.S.Ms were awarded for this conflict.

Vincent Joseph Redmond Sheridan was born in 1915, the son of John Brady Sheridan and Evelyn May Sheridan. His father was also a member of the Royal Navy. He graduated with Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degrees from Edinburgh University and was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1937.

Gunboats in China

He served as surgeon in the gunboats Mantis, Grasshopper and Sandpiper, of the China Fleet. In the summer of 1938 he was in Sandpiper at Changsha, capital of Hunan province, which lay on the Xiang River, a tributary of the Yangtse. The Sino-Japanese War was raging and at that time the Japanese were attempting to capture the nearby city of Wuhan, which was defended with great tenacity. Endless columns of refugees passed through Changsha and many inhabitants of the city left. Sandpiper was alone in protecting British interests in the Changsha area, her captain, Lieutenant-Commander W. E. J. Eames, doubling up as British consul. Japanese air-raids increased in intensity and on 6 September 1938, Japanese bombers attacked the shipping on the river. Bombs fell around Sandpiper which, because of her shallow draught, swayed at her anchors ‘like a novice water-skier’. There were no direct hits and no injuries other than minor cuts and bruises. Commander Eames subsequently reported to his Admiral:
‘Six Japanese bombers dropped a number of bombs around SANDPIPER. Two cabins and sickbay wrecked. Considerable damage to superstructure but no underwater damage. No casualties. Consider attack deliberate.’

A ferry-boat loaded with refugees which had anchored only thirty yards away received a direct hit and sank, and several junks were also sunk. Sandpiper sent away her boats to rescue survivors. Commander Eames also recorded in his report, ‘I would like to comment on the cool and excellent conduct of my officers and ship’s company, who did splendid work in saving the lives of a large number of people. Surgeon Lieutenant Sheridan is particularly deserving of high commendation.’

Sandpiper had twenty-five locally enlisted Chinese crewmen, and their families had established a miniature village near the ship. Sheridan’s duties included supervision of the hygiene of this settlement.

Shortly before Christmas 1939, the ship’s company was notified that Sandpiper was to be laid up and the ship’s company evacuated. The journey from the interior of China was not a straightforward matter, as the Sino-Japanese war raged across much of the country. The overland route to Ningpo was selected following publication of missionary’s account of a successful journey using this route. Many preparations had to be made, including destruction of all the ammunition and packing of nearly seven tons of stores which had to be brought out.

The sailors were dressed in civilian clothes and all had grown beards to disguise their identity as naval personnel. They left Changsha at 6 a.m. on 15 January 1940 in junks and sampans. The journey to Shanghai took fifteen days and employed many modes of transport - boats, lorries, train, buses, and at one time rickshaws. On five or six nights they found accommodation in local hotels, the other nights were spent on lorries or trains. It was bitterly cold.

Their arrival in Shanghai was followed by a celebration. The ship’s company then travelled to Hong Kong from where they took passage in the P&O liner Viceroy of India to England, where they disembarked at the end of March 1940.

H.M.S. Kelly

Sheridan was next posted to the destroyer Kelly, flagship of the dashing aristocrat Lord Louis Mountbatten, who commanded the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla. At the end of April 1940 Kelly participated in the evacuation of British troops from Namsos in Norway. She came under sustained air attack from dive-bombers but returned safely to Scapa Flow.

On the night of 9 May 1940, she was involved in a night battle with E-boats in the North Sea, being torpedoed in the boiler room and very nearly sunk. Despite the loss of all electrical power and further air attacks, the ship was taken in tow and brought back to Tyneside in a 90-hour ordeal. Throughout this period Sheridan remained in the wrecked sickbay and treated the wounded by torch-light.

After extensive repairs almost amounting to reconstruction, she was recommissioned at the end of the year, and spent the first three months of 1941 patrolling the Western Approaches. She spent a great deal of time at sea off the French coast and was bombed on several occasions, including while in Plymouth harbour. She was also visited by Lord Mountbatten’s cousin, King George VI.

In April 1941 Kelly sailed for the Mediterranean, and for three weeks was based at Malta, patrolling between the embattled island and the North African coast. On 21 May 1941, she was directed to Crete to assist Commonwealth forces defending the island against the German invasion. In the mid-afternoon she encountered an unwary German submarine on the surface and sank it. In the evening of that day she encountered and sank two small German troopships, and bombarded Maleme aerodrome, enabling the New Zealanders to mount a successful counter-attack.

Kelly and Kashmir then turned for Alexandria but, shortly after dawn on the 23rd May, both ships were bombed and sunk by German dive-bombers. Kelly sank with more than half her crew, including Surgeon Lieutenant Sheridan. Survivors from both vessels were picked up by H.M.S. Kipling, 128 from Kelly and 159 from Kashmir. Lord Mountbatten was among the survivors, and seven weeks after the loss of his ship he inserted the following obituary for Sheridan in The Times:

‘He had more small ship experience than most medical officers having gained his D.S.C. in China gunboats. He was very popular both in Kelly and the 5th Destroyer Flotilla generally. When the Kelly was torpedoed in the German minefield on 9 May 1940 the sickbay was wrecked and all lights failed. Doctor Sheridan tended the wounded under great difficulty by the light of a torch. Off Crete the Kelly went too quickly to enable him to help once more with the wounded. His loss will be keenly felt by his many friends.’

Post script: Surgeon Lieutenant Sheridan, who was aged 26, is commemorated by name on the Chatham Naval Memorial. In 1942 H.M.S. Sandpiper was presented to the Chinese government and renamed Ying Hao (British hero). Together with the named Admiralty enclosure, the group is accompanied by six small photographs taken at Changsha, one annotated on the reverse ‘H.M.S. Sandpiper Nov 1938. City is burning in background’; a contemporary Press photograph of H.M.S. Lelly after being torpedoed in May 1940; an old copied photograph of Kelly’s officers at Malta in May 1941, including Mountbatten and Sheridan; together with some more recent copied photographs, including one of Sheridan with Commander Eames, some copied news cuttings and other research.