Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A scarce ‘Archangel Command’ Albert Medal for Sea awarded to Able Seaman M. Thompson, Royal Navy, who helped extricate trapped and wounded seamen from a burning munitions ship in the Port of Archangel, 8 November 1916, despite small arms ammunition exploding all around him

Albert Medal, 2nd Class, for Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea, bronze and enamel, the reverse officially engraved ‘Presented by His Majesty to Malcolm Thompson Able Seaman for Gallantry in saving life from the burning S.S. “Earl of Forfar” after the explosion at Bakaritsa on the 8th November 1916.’, in case of issue, central cypher loose, otherwise very fine £5,000-£6,000

A.M. London Gazette 9 July 1918, Able Seaman Malcolm Thompson, jointly listed with Captain G. P. Bevan, C.M.G., D.S.O., R.N. (awarded the Albert Medal, 1st Class for Saving Life at Sea), and Lieutenant E. H. Richardson, R.N.R., 2nd Engineer C. Watson and Able Seaman J. D. Henry (all awarded the Albert Medal, 2nd Class for Saving Life at Sea):
‘On the 8th November, 1916, a series of fires and explosions occurred at Bakaritsa, Port of Archangel, on merchant ships and on the wharves. The S.S. Baron Dreisen had blown up at 1 p.m. and part of the S.S. Earl of Forfar forty minutes later. The latter ship, with a cargo of explosives, was on fire, and might have blown up at any moment, and explosions were continually taking place in the immediate vicinity. The ship was alongside the main fire on shore, and burning embers were constantly showered over her. Lieutenant Richardson, 2nd Engineer Watson, and Able Seamen Henry and Thompson, of the Tug Sunderland, nevertheless volunteered to board the Earl of Forfar and affected the rescue of a considerable number of wounded and helpless men who would otherwise have perished. They displayed the utmost gallantry and disregard of their own personal safety in saving the lives of others.’

Malcolm Thompson served during the Great War as an Able Seaman in the Royal Navy Tug Sunderland. Posted to the Province of Archangel, it was whilst unloading munitions destined for the Russian front that, ‘disaster struck on 8 November 1916 at Bakarista, Port of Archangel, North Russia when the merchant ship S.S. Baron Driesen blew up at 1.00 p.m. Desperate attempts were made to move other ships away but at 1.40 p.m. the after part of S.S. Earl of Forfar also exploded. Before that ship’s master, Captain James Campbell Hurry, tried to return to his vessel but, being unable to do so, helped other vessels in danger of being burned. While doing so he heard voices coming from his own ship which was burning and exploding furiously so he led volunteers aboard and saved several men, having to lift live shells as he went. Ten minutes later the deck blew up. The ship was a mass of flame and burning embers from fires blazing ashore were being showered on her. A one-hundred-ton floating crane was moored between the quay and the ship and, after dark, cries were heard coming from the crane. To reach it, it was necessary to cross the ship which had a cargo of explosives aboard but, as Captain George Parker Bevan and Lieutenant-Commander Maurice McMahon were doing so they heard moans coming from under the smouldering debris of the forecastle. Helped by the crew of the tug Sunderland Lieutenant Edward Henry Richardson, Second Engineer Christopher Watson and Able Seamen James Dixon Henry and Malcolm Thompson, all of whom had volunteered, they set about extricating the casualty. Ignoring the intermittent explosions from small arms ammunition they cleared away the wreckage and freed the mate of the Earl of Forfar - his arm, leg and collar bone broken - and passed him to the tug. Lieutenant-Commander McMahon then crossed to the crane on a single plank and finding the ship’s carpenter under the crane together with two Russian members of its crew rescued them all.’ (Heroic Endeavour, by D.V. Henderson, G.M., refers).

Note: The Albert Medal group awarded to Lieutenant Richardson sold in these rooms in May 2017.