A fine Second War ‘V.C. Submarine’ D.S.M. group of seven awarded to Petty Officer Telegraphist A. R. Clarke, Royal Navy, decorated for his services in H.M. Submarine Torbay at the bombardment of Apollonia and the subsequent landing there of a party of Commandos under Lieutenant-Colonel Keyes with the sole intention of capturing or killing Rommel at his Headquarters

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (JX.136048 A. R. Clarke. P.O. Tel.) impressed naming; 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star, 1 clasp, North Africa 1942-43; Italy Star; War Medal 1939-45; Police Exemplary Service, E.II.R., 2nd issue (Const. Arthur R. Clarke) mounted court-style as worn, together with a Fleet Regatta prize, being a miniature silvered scull, the blade engraved, ‘A. R. Clarke, H.M.S. Eagle, 1939’, good very fine (8) £1,400-£1,800

Spink, December 1997.

D.S.M. London Gazette 7 April 1942: ‘For courage, skill and coolness in successful Submarine patrols.’

Seedies Roll confirms award for services aboard H.M. Submarine Torbay during Mediterranean War Patrols from August to November 1941, when she bombarded Apollonia, Libya on 15 October 1941 and landed a party of Commandos near Apollonia on 14 November 1941 to raid Rommel’s Headquarters.

Arthur Roy Clarke joined H.M.S. Dolphin from H.M.S. Glory in November 1940, and was posted to H.M. Submarine Torbay immediately after her launching and ‘working up’ period. Over the next 12 months she would achieve enduring fame, not least for the daring and notoriety of her C.O., Lieutenant-Commander Anthony Miers, who won the V.C. and a brace of D.S.O.s while with her. Clarke was present throughout all of these operations, not being transferred until her return to Portsmouth in June 1942.

Torbay’s first brush with the enemy took place during her patrols in the Northern Aegean between May and June 1941, and the South Western Aegean between late June and mid-July the same year. In the former region she made a number of determined attacks which resulted in the destruction of three Caiques, a Schooner and a ‘probable’ enemy Destroyer; in the latter region she accounted for a U-Boat, a Tanker, three Schooners (two of which were heavily laden with German troops and stores), one Motor-Vessel and five more Caiques. On her next Mediterranean patrol, carried out in the Gulf of Sirte and the Aegean between August and November 1941, her tally continued to rise, including a heavily laden Schooner which was taken out off Cape Matapan. She also executed a successful bombardment of Apollonia and landed the party of Commandos, comprising Lieutenant Keyes with two officers and twenty-five other ranks, who carried out the famous raid on Rommel’s H.Q. with the intention of killing or capturing Rommel himself. It was for services in this latter patrol that Arthur Clarke was awarded the D.S.M.

Torbay’s next three patrols, completed between December 1941 and March 1942, resulted in a number of running battles with varying degrees of success. Among more notable achievements were the destruction of three sailing vessels by gunfire in Navarino Harbour; a torpedo strike on a Destroyer; and the completion a ‘special military operation’ in the Gulf of Taranto. However, it was Lieutenant-Commander Miers’ extraordinarily daring raid on Corfu Harbour that gained him, and his command, the Victoria Cross.

Over a hair-raising 17-hour period, and at the mercy of a well-defended anchorage, Miers carried out two successful torpedo strikes on ships. In response, as on so many other occasions, the Torbay had to endure a protracted depth-charge attack - on this occasion at least 40 were dropped within close proximity. As Miers later commented, he was often ‘extremely frightened’ on such occasions, but his crew never failed to impress him: ‘they almost seemed to enjoy themselves keeping a scoreboard of the number of enemy depth charges dropped’. On hearing the news that he had been awarded the V.C., Miers made it clear that he wished the honour could have been awarded to the whole of the ship’s company. It must have been of some consolation, therefore, when on 7 July 1942 - immediately upon Torbay’s triumphant return to Portsmouth - that an unprecedented Investiture was held by the King, and some thirty odd crew members received a backlog of decorations. Among their number was Arthur Clarke.