Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Second War B.E.M. awarded to Able Seaman J. Holman, Merchant Navy, for his bravery after his ship the S.S. Earlston, as part of Convoy PQ 17, had been torpedoed and sunk in the Barents Sea 5 July 1942; he helped steer the open life boat containing 33 survivors for seven days before making landfall in Russia

British Empire Medal, (Civil) G.VI.R., 1st issue (Jeremiah Holman) good very fine £400-500

B.E.M. London Gazette 6 October 1942:
‘When his ship was sunk, the Second Officer [D. M. L. Evans - awarded an M.B.E.] took charge of the navigation of a crowded boat and brought her people to land after seven days. When he himself was prostrate with illness, the handling of the craft was carried on by Able Seamen Folwell, Holman, and Hooper. It was largely due to their untiring efforts and example that the lives of the 33 survivors were saved.’

Jeremiah Holman, a native of Newfoundland, served during the Second World War as an Able Seaman in the Merchant Navy, and was awarded the B.E.M. for his gallantry after his ship, the S.S. Earlston (7,195 tons) was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-334 in the Barents Sea on 5 July 1942, whilst sailing from Iceland to North Russia as part of Convoy PQ 17. 23 of her crew and 3 passengers were lost, and the convoy as a whole lost 24 of its 35 Merchant Vessels - the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, later described the event as ‘one of the most melancholy naval episodes in the whole of the War.’