Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Six: Petty Officer J. R. Bell, Royal Navy, who was killed in action on 27 August 1943 when his ship, H.M.S. Egret became the first Allied warship to be sunk by a guided missile

Naval General Service 1915-62, 1 clasp, Palestine 1936-1939 (J.106432 J. R. Bell. A.B. R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, Africa Star, 1 clasp, North Africa 1942-3; War Medal 1939-45; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue (J.106432 J. R. Bell. A/L.S. H.M.S. Ilex.) nearly extremely fine (6) £240-£280

Joseph Rendell Bell, of Skegness, Lincolnshire, joined the Royal Navy and served during the Second World War as a Petty Officer in H.M.S. Egret. He was killed in action on 27 August 1943 when Egret, under the command of Commander J. V. Waterhouse, D.S.O., and in company with other sloops and frigates of 1st Support Group, was attacked by a squadron of Dornier Do 217 bombers 30 miles west of Vigo, Spain. The bombers carried Henschel Hs-293A guided bombs, one of which was launched at H.M.S. Egret. She was hit and sank with the loss of the entire crew of 194, the first Allied warship to be sunk by a guided missile. Bell is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

Sold with named Admiralty enclosure for the Second War awards, and a photograph of H.M.S. Egret.