Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Family group:

Five: Commander H. L. Rendel, Royal Navy, a distinguished Great War submariner who was commended for his bravery on the occasion of the loss of the K. 1 off Denmark in November 1917, in addition to gaining a “mention” and the Italian Order of the Crown for like services as a submarine C.O. in the following year
1914-15 Star (Lieut. H. L. Rendel, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Lieut. H. L. Rendel, R.N.); Defence Medal 1939-45; Italy, Order of the Crown, Chevalier’s breast badge, gold and enamel, slightly polished but otherwise generally very fine

Four: Lieutenant R. A. Rendel, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, who having survived the loss of the cruiser Edinburgh in 1942 was killed in action off Cherbourg in 1944
1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, clasp, France and Germany; Africa Star; War Medal 1939-45, together with an original portrait photograph in uniform, framed and glazed, good very fine

Pair: Midshipman G. D. Rendel, Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, who saw action on the Arctic run in the closing months of the war
War Medal 1939-45; U.S.S.R., 40th Anniversary Medal 1945-85, together with related certificate of award, dated July 1991, good very fine (Lot) £400-500

Herbert Leopold Rendel was born in April 1894, the son of an engineer, and entered the Royal Navy as a Cadet in January 1907. Appointed a Midshipman in September 1911, he was advanced to Sub. Lieutenant a few weeks after the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, when he transferred to the submarine branch.

Active service having ensued in the B. 6 in the period June 1915 until October 1916, some of that time in the Dardanelles, he was advanced to Lieutenant and joined the K. 1 in the following month, in which latter capacity he was commended by Their Lordships on the occasion of her loss after a collision with the K. 4 off Denmark in November 1917, ‘for remaining in the control room, which was full of chlorine gas, after the crew had been ordered on deck, shutting off valves and breaking switches until he fainted.’

On his recovery he joined H.M.S. Fearless, recently appointed as leader of the 12th Submarine Flotilla in the Grand Fleet, while in April 1918 he assumed command of the E. 25, in which latter submarine he remained employed until April 1919.

He had meanwhile been mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 16 April 1918, refers), and appointed a Chevalier of the Italian Order of the Crown (London Gazette 7 August 1918, refers).

Placed on the Retired List as medically unfit in February 1920, Rendel was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander (Retd.) in October 1923 and to Commander (Retd.) in April 1934, and was recalled in September 1938. Initially given an appointment in the Operations Division at the Admiralty, he renewed his number with the submarine branch on being appointed to Dolphin in May 1941, and remained employed in that capacity until June 1945.


Reginald Aubrey Rendel was born in February 1922, the elder son of Commander H. L. Rendel, R.N., and was educated at Winchester. Entering the Royal Navy as an Ordinary Seaman in the course of 1940, he served in the battleship H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth in the Mediterranean before returning home to attend the “Wavy Navy” training establishment King Alfred.

Duly commissioned as a Sub. Lieutenant, R.N.V.R., in early 1942, he returned to sea with an appointment in the cruiser H.M.S. Edinburgh, and was similarly employed at the time of her loss on the Arctic run later in the same year - wounded on the same occasion, he spent some time in hospital in Russia. But he returned to active duty in the cruiser Scylla in the following year and, in addition to further service on the Arctic run, was present off Normandy on D-Day. His final appointment, in the frigate Capel, ended in his demise off Cherbourg in December 1944, when she was torpedoed by the U-486 - his captain, eight other officers and 67 ratings were lost on the same occasion. An officer of ‘warm sympathies and great charm, always unselfish and thoughtful of others’, he was 22 years old; sold with copied Wykehamist Roll of Honour extract.


Guy Rendel was the younger son of Commander H. L. Rendel and briefly saw service as a Midshipman in the R.N.V.R. in the final year of the war, namely with an appointment in the escort carrier H.M.S. Nairana in early 1945. Thus his participation in Arctic convoys JW. 064 and RA. 064, when the Nairana repulsed a number of air attacks, but owing to the short period of his service at sea he did not qualify for the Atlantic Star.