Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Second Engineer B. J. Pearce, Mercantile Fleet Auxiliary, who was killed in action when H.M.S. Albyn was bombed by German aircraft off Dunkirk on 2 September 1917

British War and Victory Medals (Engr. B. J. Pearce. M.F.A.) good very fine (2) £70-£90

Bertram James Pearce served with the Mercantile Fleet Auxiliary during the Great War (also entitled to a 1914-15 Star), and was killed in action in H.M.S. Albyn during an enemy bombing raid on Dunkirk on the night of 2-3 September 1917. Albyn was a Dover patrol paddle minesweeper that was lying with other minesweepers alongside the quay at Dunkirk, the main minesweeper base only 12 miles from the German lines, when they were subjected to the enemy air bombing raid, and Albyn took a direct hit on the stern, with the after part burned-out and seriously damaged. Both the Captain, Lieutenant C. King, R.N.R., and the Second Engineer (Pearce) were killed, and several of the crew were wounded. Albyn was towed to the Thames, where she underwent a six month repair and refit, before returning to Dunkirk. Pearce is buried in Dunkirk Town Cemetery, France.

Sold with copied research