The Douglas-Morris Collection of Naval Medals (Part 2)

Ten: The Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) 2nd type; Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (225290 J. Corby, P.O. Gallipoli Opns. 1915-16); Naval General Service 1915-62, 1 clasp, Persian Gulf 1909-1914 (225290 J. Corby, Lg. Sean., H.M.S. Perseus); 1914-15 Star (225290 J. Corby, P.O., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (Gnr. J. Corby R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Defence and War Medals, generally good very fine (10)

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Douglas-Morris Collection of Naval Medals.

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O.B.E. (Military) London Gazette 1 January 1946 (New Year’s Honours).

D.S.M. London Gazette 15 May 1916 ‘The following awards have been approved in recognition of services rendered by Petty Officers and Men of the Eastern Mediterannean Squadron between the time of the landing in the Gallipoli Peninsula in April 1915 and the evacuation in December 1915 and Janaury 1916.’

In the Christmas booklet published by the Cadet Training Ship T.S. WELLESLEY there is a photograph of Petty Officer Corby with the following caption: ‘P.O. John Corby D.S.M., H.M.S. BACCHANTE. Awarded the D.S.M. for good services on the beach at Anzac, Gallipoli Peninsula. His Commanding Officer said of him “He showed an excellent example and was always at the forefront when it was necessary to work under fire.”’

John Corby was promoted to Acting Gunner on 22 September 1918, and joined H.M.S. STUART on 9 April 1920. He was later confirmed in the rank of Gunner with senority 13 June 1918, promoted to Commissioned Gunner on 13 June 1928 and retired in 1937. A somewhat unusual note in the Retired List of 1938 states ‘serving in H.M.S. MANCHESTER’. Following the outbreak of World War II he was promoted to Lieutenant and continued to serve in H.M.S. MANCHESTER as a Gunnery Officer. He was apppointed on 16 October 1941 to the Royal Navy Ordnance Department, borne on the books of H.M.S. PRESIDENT, and joined H.M.S. KING ALFRED Officers’ Training Establishment, Hove, as an Gunnery Instructor on 9 March 1942. He was promoted to Acting Lieutenant Commander in October 1942 and confirmed in this rank in 1945, and continued to serve at H.M.S. ROYAL ALFRED until his sudden death from natural causes in 1946. He was awarded the O.B.E. (Military) in the 1946 New Year’s Honours List, the decoration being posted to his sister Mrs M. J. Cutter on 19 October 1946.

The Evening Chronicle of 24 July 1969 carries an article on Lieutenant Commander Corby from which the following extract is taken: ‘Behind the bar of the Three Horseshoes public house in Horton, near Blyth, is a magnificant piece of silver plate which never fails to excite curiosity in the casual visitor. The beautifully worked salver is inscribed “Do Ministeria da Guerra de Portugal. Ad 1. Tenete J. Corby D.S.M. da Marinha Real Inglesa...” and was presented to Mr Cutter's uncle, Lieutenant Commander John Corby, by the Portuguese Government in appreciation of work that was a closely guarded secret.’

‘Commander Corby, who joined the Royal Navy as a boy of 16 and trained in the old wooden Training Ship WELLESLEY on the Tyne, rose to become one of Britain’s leading naval gunnery experts. At a time when it was feared that the German armies might sweep through France and into Spain and Portugal, he was sent to Lisbon to supervise the assembly and installation of pieces of ordnance at strategic points in Portugal as a precaution against invasion. “The guns went out in bits. They were carried in planes and trawlers, and the whole thing was a real cloak and dagger affair. My uncle got an O.B.E. for his part in the operation to add to the D.S.M. he had won in the 1914-18 war for landing troops at Gallipoli” said Mr Cutter.’