Orders, Decorations and Medals

A post-war B.E.M. group of ten awarded to Chief Petty Officer W. P. Joyce, Royal Navy

British Empire Medal, (Military) G.VI.R., 1st issue (C.P.O. William P. Joyce, P/JX. 112422), with its card box of issue; Naval General Service 1915-62, 1 clasp, Palestine 1936-1939 (J. 112422 W. P. Joyce, P.O., R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Burma Star; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Coronation 1937; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue (J. 112422 W. P. Joyce, C.P.O., H.M.S. Ramillies), good very fine and better (10) £350-400

B.E.M. London Gazette 1 January 1947. The original recommendation states:

‘After outstanding war service at sea in H.M.S. Ramillies between 1941 and 1945, this Chief Petty Officer has given exceptional services in H.M.S. Excellent during the extremely difficult post-war period. Since May 1945, he has been the Senior Instructional Chief Gunnery Instructor and has been chiefly responsible for the organisation and smooth running of all ratings’ training in the Gunnery School. He is strongly recommended for the award of a decoration for his outstanding service over the last 15 months.’

William Patrick Joyce would have witnessed extensive active service during his time as a C.P.O. (Gunnery) in the battleship H.M.S. Ramillies 1941-45, most memorably perhaps in her encounter with the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau while escorting convoy HX-106 in February 1941 - luckily for all concerned, and no doubt aware of the potential of Ramillies’ 15-inch guns, Admiral Lutjens chose to follow Hitler’s directive not to engage enemy capital ships. Then in May 1941, she was ordered to intercept the Bismarck, but fate intervened when the latter was damaged by the Prince of Wales and turned instead for France.

One year later, Ramillies lent valuable assistance to Allied invasion of Madagasgar, but, on 20 May 1942, after being spotted by Japanese aircraft in Diego Suarez harbour, she was attacked by two enemy midget submarines and severely damaged by a torpedo. Having then undergone temporary repairs in Durban, and a refit in the U.K., she returned to an operational footing in June 1943 and was, by the summer of 1944, bombarding enemy positions in Normandy - on D-Day itself she knocked out several guns, while on the following day she repelled an attack made by two enemy destroyers, when five torpedoes missed her, followed by another attack launched by a pack of six E-boats. In fact, she remained actively employed off Normandy until the end of the month, in which period she fired over 1,000 15-inch shells, thought to be the most powerful bombardment delivered by a single ship to that time.

Sold with a fine array of Naval prize medals (16), many of then named, covering the period 1929-48, the majority for gunnery or shooting, with six in silver, one in silver and enamel, and the remainder in base metal, three mounted for wearing, but otherwise in their leather or card boxes of issue.