Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A particularly fine Second War D.S.M. group of six awarded to Lieutenant-Commander J. A. W. Kellar, Royal Navy, who was decorated for bravery when the Monitor H.M.S. Terror was sunk by enemy aircraft on 24 February 1941, and was later commended for distinguished services on shore in connection with the planning and execution of operations for the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (MX.48211 J. A. W. Kellar. E.R.A.3. H.M.S. Terror.) officially impressed naming; 1939-45 Star; Africa Star, 1 clasp, North Africa 1942-43; Burma Star; Italy Star; War Medal 1939-45, mounted as worn; together with the related miniature awards, these similarly mounted, very fine and better (6) £1,200-£1,600

D.S.M. London Gazette 29 July 1941:
‘For courage and devotion to duty when H.M.S. Terror was lost.’

A contemporary letter which accompanies the lot from the Secretary of Mutley Baptist Church (Plymouth) to the recipient, dated 25 September 1941, adds:
‘Dear John. I am requested to write and tender you the heartfelt congratulations of our Church [regarding] the honour conferred on you by H.M. the King, for bravery at the post of duty amidst terrible danger... We rejoice that your life was spared and that your devotion to duty amidst great peril has been recognised.’

John Albert William Kellar was born on 23 November 1914 and educated at Plymouth Trinity College. An engineer by profession and Fellow of the Royal Institute of Marine Engineers, he won 1 of seventy-two yard and shipwright apprenticeships (Civil Service Commissions) at Devonport Dockyard in April 1930, and later served with the Royal Navy as Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class at the commencement of hostilities.

Posted aboard H.M.S. Terror, Kellar spent the early months of 1941 operating in close support of the North African land campaign which aimed to drive Italian forces from Libya. On 21 January 1941, she provided naval gunfire to assist ANZAC troops during their advance towards Tobruk. A short while later Terror was deployed off Benghazi and upon departure on 22 February 1941 was slightly damaged by two mines which detonated as she left harbour. The following day Axis forces launched sustained air attacks upon Terror; struck repeatedly by shrapnel, the ship sank as a result of underwater damage which effectively ‘broke her back’ and flooded the large machinery spaces - her demise intentionally accelerated by the Commanding Officer who ordered depth charges to be dropped near her.

Returned home to Devon, Kellar later caught the attention of the Western Morning News on 9 March 1945 under the headline: ‘“D” Day Services. Westcountry Officers Commended’ - where he was commended for his valuable work the previous year as Warrant Engineer at H.M.S. Drake (Devonport). Raised Lieutenant 1 April 1945 and Lieutenant-Commander 1 April 1953, Kellar retired from the Royal Navy on 23 November 1959 and died in 1997; sold with a fine portrait photograph of the recipient in naval uniform; two further family snapshots; a letter of congratulations regarding the D.S.M.; and extensive copied research.