A Collection of Awards to Merchant Seamen and D.E.M.S. Gunners

Six: Chief Engineer J. Tornquist, who lost his life on the occasion the S.S. Nova Scotia was torpedoed and sunk in November 1942

British War and Mercantile Marine War Medals 1914-18 (James Tornquist); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; War Medal 1939-45, the first with officially re-impressed naming, extremely fine (6) £140-180

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Awards to Merchant Seamen and D.E.M.S. Gunners.

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James Tornquist, who was born at West Hartlepool in May 1882, served in the Mercantile Marine in the Great War, latterly aboard the Sierra Morena. In September 1933, he joined the S.S. Nova Scotia, then a vessel of the Johnston-Warren Line, and he remained similarly employed for the rest of his career.

Taken over as a troopship in early 1940, the Nova Scotia was employed carrying South African troops, in addition to Italian P.O.Ws, and it was on a similar voyage on 28 November 1942 that she was torpedoed and sunk by the U-177 off Durban - the latter was commanded by Robert Gysae, a top U-Boat ace and holder of the Knight’s Cross.

Aged 60 years, Tornquist left a widow, Sarah, who was then residing at Birkenhead, and is commemorated on the Merchant Navy Memorial at Tower Hill, London.