A ‘Zeebrugge’ D.S.M. group of four awarded to Gunner Norman McI. McPhee, Royal Marine Artillery, who commanded one of the starboard howitzers on board H.M.S. Vindictive in the St George’s Day Raid 1918

Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (J.4125 Gunr. N. McI. McPhee, R.M.A. Nl. Bde. Zeebrugge-Ostend. 22-3. Apl. 1918); 1914-15 Star Trio (R.M.A.14125 Gr.) together with H.M.S. Vindictive cap tally and original signed portrait photograph of Captain A. F. B. Carpenter, V.C., R.N., the reverse affixed with signed letter ‘Please accept this little memento as a token of friendship and as a reward for your exemplary behaviour, from your 10-day guardian, 25.11.18.’, very fine (4) £1000-1200

D.S.M. London Gazette 23 July 1918: ‘For services during the operations against Zeebrugge and Ostend on the night of 22nd-23rd April, 1918.’ One of only two D.S.M’s awarded to the Royal Marine Artillery for Zeebrugge.

Gunner Norman McIntosh McPhee was born in Morven, near Oban, Scotland, and enlisted into the Royal Marine Artillery at the outbreak of the war. He was in charge of a howitzer on the starboard side of H.M.S. Vindictive which landed the Naval and Marine storming parties for the capture of the harbour mole at Zeebrugge. Although all of his gun crew were either killed or wounded, McPhee carried on throughout the action. His D.S.M. was presented by King George V personally at Buckingham Palace.

The following narrative is taken from The Blocking of Zeebrugge by Captain Alfred F. B. Carpenter, V.C., R.N.:

‘As soon as the ship had been securely anchored the howitzer guns manned by the R.M.A., in charge of Captain Reginald Dallas-Brooks, R.M.A., commenced to bombard the targets specially assigned to them. The German batteries on the mainland were shelling our position at the Mole for all they were worth, but their efforts must have been hampered by the continuous fire of our howitzers. The presence of such weapons on board ship was, to say the least of it, most unusual. Vindictive’s nature had undergone an unusual change as soon as she was secured to the Mole. Our position was known to within a few yards. Both direction and range of the enemy’s batteries had been worked out beforehand for any position alongside the wall. We were, therefore, in the novel situation of being able to drop heavy howitzer shell upon the enemy’s batteries less than a mile away, a decided change from ordinary battleship target practise where ranges of 10 to 15 miles were the order of the day.

The 7.5-inch howitzer gun on the forecastle could not be used. A heavy shell had burst amongst the original gun’s crew and had killed or disabled them all. A second crew was sent from one of the naval 6-inch guns in the battery and was just being detailed to work the howitzer when another shell killed, or disabled, all but two men. Soon after opening fire the midship 7.5-inch howitzer was damaged by another shell which killed some of the crew, but the remainder repaired the gun under great difficulty and managed to resume the firing later on. The 11-inch howitzer on the quarter-deck was extremely well handled. This gun fired at a steady rate throughout the proceedings in spite of the darkness, the fumes, the difficulty of man-handling such large projectiles in a cramped-up space and the battering that the ship was receiving around them. The behaviour of the R.M.A. throughout was fine; they worked with a will which may have been equalled elsewhere, but which has certainly never been surpassed; the example set by Captain Brooks was altogether splendid.’