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

The Second War submariner’s D.S.M. group of five awarded to Chief Petty Officer G. H. Wilkes, Royal Navy, who served as Coxswain to Commander J. W. ‘Tubby’ Linton, V.C. in the Turbulent and was among those lost when she was mined off Sardinia in March 1943

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (JX.125656 G. H. Wilkes, C.P.O.); Naval General Service 1915-62, 1 clasp, Palestine 1936-1939 (JX.125656 G. H. Wilkes. P.O. R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star, 1 clasp, North Africa 1942-43; War Medal 1939-45, mounted for display, extremely fine (5) £2,800-£3,400

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

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D.S.M. London Gazette 15 September 1942.

The original recommendation states:

‘As Coxswain this rating has shown outstanding ability and devotion to duty. His efficient working of the after hydroplanes has greatly assisted in making attacks. His organisation of the ship’s company has been excellent.’

George Harold Wilkes was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire on 6 October 1909 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in January 1926.

Having then volunteered for submarines in December 1932, he was serving as a Petty Officer in the Odin on the outbreak of hostilities in September 1939, but he had come ashore to Medway by the time of her loss in June 1940. It was, however, his next submarine that would lead to his appointment as Coxswain to Commander J. W. ‘Tubby’ Linton, R.N., for, in August 1941, he joined the recently launched Turbulent, then undertaking her sea trials under Linton.

Turbulent departed for the Mediterranean in February and between then and her loss off the coast of La Maddalena, Sardinia in March 1943, she was estimated to have sunk ‘some 100,000’ tons of enemy shipping, in addition to taking out three trains by gunfire. In the words of the citation for Linton’s posthumous V.C., ‘In the last year he has spent two hundred and fifty-four days at sea, submerged for nearly half that time, and his ship was hunted thirteen times and had two hundred and fifty depth charges aimed at her.’ It was, by any standards, an unsurpassed record of gallantry and achievement, and a record well-known to Wilkes.

Turbulent’s first list of awards was announced on 15 September 1942, when Linton received the D.S.O., two of his officers the D.S.C. and Wilkes and seven others the D.S.M., amongst whom Linton placed Wilkes first in his order of precedence for an award. At that stage she had completed four war patrols and her successes included the sinking of a U-boat, a destroyer, four supply ships, two auxiliaries and six armed schooners. She had also seriously damaged three other schooners ‘in an exceptionally keen series of attacks.’

Wilkes and his shipmates would undertake five further war patrols before Turbulent’s loss, including special forces’ operations and, it is said, her ‘Jolly Roger’ had no space left to represent future outings and successes.

The award of Linton’s posthumous V.C. was announced in May 1943, the citation referring to his ‘many and brilliant successes’. One of them occurred in Turbulent’s fourth war patrol:

‘On one occasion, for instance, in H.M.S. Turbulent, he sighted a convoy of two merchantmen and two destroyers in mist and moonlight. He worked round ahead of the convoy and dived to attack it as it passed through the moon’s rays. On bringing his sights to bear he found himself right ahead of a destroyer. Yet he held his course till the destroyer was almost on top of him, and, when his sights came on the convoy, he fired. His great courage and determination were rewarded. He sank one merchantman and one destroyer outright and set the other merchantman on fire so that she blew up.’

In his role as Coxswain, we may be sure Wilkes played a crucial role throughout. Having no known grave, he is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial. His service record shows additional entitlement to a R.N. L.S. & G.C. Medal.

Sold with Admiralty condolence slip in the name of ‘George H. Wilkes’; (damaged) D.S.M. case of issue, and O.H.M.S. card forwarding box for his campaign medals, addressed to ‘Mrs. F. Hudson’ in Belfast