Orders, Decorations and Medals

The Second World War anti-U-boat operations D.S.M. awarded to Stoker 1st Class W. Mockridge, Royal Navy, who was decorated for his part in the destruction of six U-boats in 10 days, when serving as a dynamo operator under “Walker, R.N.”, the legendary Escort Group leader and winner of four D.S.Os, in H.M.S. Starling

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (Sto. 1st W. Mockridge, D/KX. 120530), nearly extremely fine £2000-2500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Ron Penhall Collection.

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Wilfred “Blondie” Mockridge, a native of Ashton-under-Lyne, clearly played a vital part in the destruction of at least one of these U-boats - the U-592 on 31 January 1944, in a position W.S.W. of Fastnet - or certainly according to the following extract taken from Alan Burns’ Fighting Captain:

‘The long series of twenty-six explosions started and continued at five second intervals as the heavy charges rumbled down the rails and curved out from the throwers on either quarter.

A few seconds after the fourteenth charge disappeared over the stern, there were two almost simultaneous explosions: the first was part of the normal pattern, set to explode seven hundred feet down was not very dramatic. The second was far more frightening, heavy, inexplicable and totally unexpected, throwing up a huge hill of water, ten yards from Starling’s starboard quarter.

The great mass of water climbed higher than the ship’s masthead and seemed to hang for seconds over the quarterdeck. The ship jerked unnaturally as if she had come up all standing on a rock. A fully primed depth-charge was hurled over the side and another fell five feet onto the deck. Neither exploded. All electrical switches were thrown in the power room.

Tons of solid green water began to descend on top of the depth-charge crews. As the water cascaded over the side, they emerged soaked, shaken, some badly bruised but still pushing out the remainder of the pattern.

Starling shook herself. The quarterdeck emerged from the water. Depth-charges continued to leave the ship in the strict pattern of the creeping attack. There was no hitch or delay to the drill. At 1132 John Filleul was able to report that the pattern had been fired. He didn’t sound excited or upset, but at the time he didn’t know that the explosion had shattered the contents of the wardroom wine store ... This was a remarkable effort by the depth-charge crews carrying out their drill amidst feet of swirling water thrown on board by the explosion. But the successful completion of the attack was only made possible by the gallantry of Stoker Wilfred Mockridge, battened down below in the bowels of the ship in the power room with the watertight doors shut all round him. The shock knocked him off his feet: when he got up he saw by the dim emergency lighting that the main electrical switches had been thrown open by the shock. On his own initiative he immediately put them all back and so restored the ship to normal in a few seconds.

Three minutes later the Asdic team reported a heavy underwater explosion, just before Wild Goose’s follow-up pattern started to explode.There were tapping and banging noises and two more explosions. Oil, wood, coats, books, clothes and human remains came up to the surface, to be collected by Wild Goose. The Asdic echo faded as the remains of U-592 and its crew went on its long journey to the ocean bed 2500 fathoms below.’

One witness to Mockridge’s gallantry was Edward Freestone, himself a D.S.M., who in writing to Ron Penhall in December 1983 stated:

‘I was personally instrumental in his getting the D.S.M. for keeping the starboard turbo-generator “on the board” during a very severe depth-charge attack ... As you probably know, both Blondie’s’ hands were extremely badly injured - in fact I believe he lost two or three fingers as a result of this. I personally very highly recommended him to the Engineer Officer, Mr. Bramble, and was delighted to learn that my effort on Blondie’s behalf had borne fruit.’

The U-592 was the first of six U-boats claimed by the Starling and her consorts in this single patrol. The last of them, the U-264, was sunk by point-blank gunfire, Starling getting in five 4-inch hits and many more besides with her Oerlikons - unusually, too, all of the enemy crew were subsequently rescued. In between, meanwhile, Starling had been “in at the kill” of the U-238 and the U-734 and a momentous reception awaited the Second Support Group on its return to Liverpool, among the subsequent Honours and Awards being a Third Bar to Walker’s D.S.O., in addition to Mockridge’s D.S.M.

Sold with original Admiralty letter notifying Mockridge of the award of his D.S.M., dated 28 June 1944, and a crayon drawing of H.M.S. Starling’s crest.

Provenance: Sotheby’s, 30 June 1983 (Lot 460).