Naval Medals from the Collection of the Late Jason Pilalas (Part I)

The Yangtze incident group of six awarded to Leading Seaman T. S. Mullins, Royal Navy, who was ‘blown clean off’ the gun platform of X-Gun aboard H.M.S. Amethyst but immediately ‘jumped back on’ to continue the fight

1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Pacific Star; War Medal 1939-45; Naval General Service 1915-62, 1 clasp, Yangtze 1949 (D/JX129448 T. Mullins. Ldg. Smn. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue (JX. 129448 T. S. Mullins. A.L.S. H.M.S. Drake) mounted as worn, good very fine (6) £3,000-£4,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Naval Medals from the Collection of the Late Jason Pilalas.

View
Collection

Thomas Stanislaus Mullins was born in Queenstown in November 1911, and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in September 1924. Gaining advancement to Ordinary Seaman in September 1929 and to Able Seaman in May 1931, he served throughout the Second World War, his ship appointments including the Battleships Rodney and Duke of York. Further advanced to Acting Leading Seaman in late 1942, and awarded his L.S. and G.C. Medal in October 1944, Mullins joined the Ship’s Company of the Frigate Amethyst in March 1948. An experienced Rating, he was appointed to the command of X-Gun, his subsequent services in the Yangtze Incident earning him a Commendation for ‘courage and devotion to duty’ from the Naval C.-in-C. (Special Order of the Day 22 December 1949 refers). Very probably this distinction stemmed from his bravery on 20 April 1949 during the initial Communist bombardment, as recorded by Lawrence Earl in his book Yangtze Incident:

‘Shells were thudding into the ship all the time. There seemed to be a great deal of disorganized running to and fro on the decks and passage ways ... X-Gun, firing independently, had got away 30 rounds. Boy Dennis Roberts, a Plymouth lad, had taken cover underneath the Bofors gun on the port side, just behind the funnel. He was looking aft when he saw the bright yellow flash of a hit on the X-Gun flare. Leading Seaman Mullins was blown clean off the gun-platform and on to the deck by the blast. Astonishingly, he was unhurt. He jumped back on to the gun. Several Ratings were handing out ammunition to supply the gun. The automatic hoist wasn’t working. Roberts later reported: “I saw the shell burst directly on X-Gun then, and splinters flew around like hail”. That second hit on the gun killed Ordinary Seaman Dennis Griffiths and Ordinary Seaman Battams, X-Gun’s trainer. Splinters wounded Albert Rimmington, Amos Davies and Gwilyn Stevens. One of the men was killed where he sat, his hands frozen to the training-handle. He appeared to still be on the job. “Train around!” Mullins yelled at him. “Train around!” Then he saw that the man was dead. There was a cloud of black smoke shrouding X-Gun and it was out of action for good’.

Sold with contemporary Post Card photograph captioned ‘Amethyst after action’, Dockyard Pass ‘on the occasion of the return to Devonport of H.M.S. Amethyst from China on 1st November 1949’, and copied record of service including ‘Special Order of the Day’ mentioned above; together with related mounted group of six miniature medals.