Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Lieutenant-Commander I. McLaren, M.B.E., Royal Navy, who was Mentioned in Despatches for his services in H.M.S. Gloucester during the First Gulf War, almost certainly for the part he played in the shooting down of a Silkwork Missile fired at the U.S.S. Missouri by firing off a salvo of Sea Dart missiles; the first successful missile verses missile engagement at sea in combat by the Royal Navy

South Atlantic 1982, with rosette (Lt I Mc.Laren HMS Fearless) an official replacement, the edge stamped ‘R’; Gulf 1990-91, 1 clasp, 16 Jan to 28 Feb 1991, with M.I.D. oak leaf (Lt Cdr I Mc.Laren RN); Oman, Sultanate, Peace Medal, bronze, with Omani crown emblem on riband, mounted court-style as worn, edge bruising to first, good very fine and better (3) £1,000-£1,400

M.B.E. London Gazette 15 June 1996.

M.I.D. London Gazette 29 June 1991:
‘In recognition of service during the operations in the Gulf.’

Ian McLaren joined the Royal Navy and served as a Lieutenant in the amphibious assault ship H.M.S. Fearless during the Falklands War; Fearless was quickly in the thick of the action in San Carlos Water, successfully landing her embarked forces on 21 May 1982, and subsequently undertook tasks such as ferrying Welsh Guards around the coast. McLaren is also recorded as serving ashore as part of Naval Party 2160, and was given command of the MV Monsunen, a Falkland Islands coastal vessel used for inter-island use, that had originally been captured in the course of the Argentine invasion, and was requisitioned by the Royal Navy after the Battle of Goose Green.

Advanced Lieutenant-Commander, McLaren saw further service during the First Gulf War, as Operations Officer in H.M.S. Gloucester, and was Mentioned in Despatches, almost certainly for the part he played in the shooting down of a the Silkwork Missile fired at the U.S.S. Missouri by firing off a salvo of Sea Dart missiles; the first successful missile verses missile engagement at sea in combat by the Royal Navy. Remaining in the Royal Navy, he was created a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1996.