The fascinating Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Second World War North Africa and Burma theatres and post war Near East service and post-war Hydrographic Branch group awarded to Captain J.D. Winstanley, C.B.E, Royal Navy, whose Second World War service would include participating in the sinking of the German submarine U-39 whilst aboard HMS Kingston in November 1939 where his Captain noted in his report that great assistance was derived throughout from the Plot, which was kept by Midshipman J.D. Winstanley R.N.R. His accurate forecast of the movements of the submarine contributed considerably to the success of the operation. He would later see service off Somaliland where he was present at the recapture of Berbera and would subsequently see service in both the Mediterranean and Atlantic , being aboard HMS Bullen when it was torpedoed and sunk on 6th December 1944. Having seen service with the Eastern Fleet towards the end of the war, he would be present during operations in South East Asia concerning the reoccupation. Post war he would begin his long association with the Royal Navy’s Hydrographic Survey branch, participating in surveying duties in both the Mediterranean and Red Sea. He would be command of HMS Dalrymple during the Suez Crisis Dalrymple stayed on under the UN flag for several weeks more. By November 1956, he commanded HMS Dalrymple, later participating in the Suez operations and took a major part in the work of clearing obstructions preventing access to the Canal. Seven of the known 23 wrecks were removed by Dalrymple staff.
Winstanley would later receive a gold watch from the Norwegian government for his part in a rescue at sea whilst in command of a new survey ship, HMS Hecate. Outward bound from Plymouth on her maiden voyage, on 19 April 1966 Hecate was called to the assistance of the Norwegian tanker Benstream. An engine room explosion had injured seven of her crew and left her wallowing, without power, in heavy seas. Hecate’s helicopter transferred her medical officer and his assistant to the tanker, then winched off the casualties in a south-westerly gale and transferred them to hospital in Brest. Five journeys were required. Later that year Commander Winstanley, his two medics and two helicopter crew were presented with gold watches by the Norwegian government in thanks for the assistance rendered. The incident also earned the commendation of the Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth. He would subsequently be appointed a Commander in the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the 1977 New Years Honours List, shortly after he retired, for his work at the Admiralty as Assistant Director (Naval) to the Hydrographer of the Navy.
Group of 7: The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, C.B.E., (Military) Commander’s 2nd type, neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with full neck riband; 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star, with clasp North Africa 1942-43; Burma Star; War Medal 1939-45; Naval General Service Medal 1915-62, Elizabeth II issue, 1 clasp: Near East (LT. CDR. J.D. WINSTANLEY. R.N.)
The campaign awards mounted loose for wear
Condition: Good Very Fine
John Davenport Winstanley was born at Southampton on 17 December 1921, the son of Archibald Winstanley, Master Mariner. He was educated at Bournemouth Collegiate School and the Thames Nautical Training College, HMS Worcester. While initially embarking on a career as an officer of the Merchant Navy, he also volunteered for the Royal Naval Reserve and was appointed Midshipman in May 1938. He was called to full-time naval service shortly before the outbreak of war, being appointed to the newly-commissioned destroyer HMS Kingston on 29 August 1939.
His wartime career was of a highly active nature from the outset. In November 1939 HMS Kingston was credited with the destruction of the German submarine U-39 off the Shetlands. Kingston’s captain (Lt. Cdr. Philip Somerville) received the DSO for this action; in his report he wrote “great assistance was derived throughout from the Plot, which was kept by Midshipman J.D. Winstanley R.N.R. His accurate forecast of the movements of the submarine contributed considerably to the success of the operation.”
Kingston was transferred to the Red Sea in 1940, where she saw further action against Italian submarines and destroyers, and was present at the recapture of Berbera, British Somaliland. Later in 1941 Kingston was heavily engaged in the Battle of Crete, where ships of the Royal Navy came under sustained air attack during their attempts to support and then evacuate the land forces, and in some of the earliest convoys to Malta. This frantic year continued with operations off the coasts of North Africa and Syria.
Promoted Acting Sub-Lieutenant in December 1941, Winstanley joined the Mediterranean-based anti-submarine trawler HMS Amber the following month. His next ship, in November 1942, was the destroyer HMS Burwell, employed on North Atlantic escort duty. In October 1943 he went to the frigate HMS Bullen as navigating officer and was further promoted Lieutenant, RNR, at the New Year of 1944. In an Imperial War Museum oral history interview with a former shipmate he is remembered for his kind and affable nature and his uncanny skill as a navigator. Still employed on Atlantic escort duties, his time in HMS Bullen came to an abrupt end when she was torpedoed off Strathy Point in the Pentland Firth on December 6 1944. Of the 168 crewmembers on board, 71 went down with the ship.
In January 1945 Lieutenant Winstanley transferred to a permanent commission in the Royal Navy. His final wartime appointment was to the destroyer HMS Petard, which joined the Eastern Fleet shortly before the Japanese surrender, and was thereafter employed in various operations around South East Asia concerned with the reoccupation.
Post war he began his long association with the Royal Navy’s Hydrographic Survey branch, appointed Assistant Surveyor in HMS Seagull in April 1947. At the end of 1948 he joined HMS Dalrymple and spent the next two-and-a-half years on survey duties around the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf. Promotion to Lieutenant-Commander came in January 1951, and further commissions followed in HMS Scott (1951-54) and HMS Cook (1954-56) before returning to HMS Dalrymple in June 1956, this time in command. The ship participated in the Suez operations later that year, and took a major part in the work of clearing obstructions preventing access to the Canal. Seven of the known 23 wrecks were removed by Dalrymple staff. After all RN warships were withdrawn in December 1956, Dalrymple stayed on under the UN flag for several weeks more.
After promotion to Commander at the end of 1958, Winstanley was appointed to the Admiralty for the first time, as an Assistant in the Hydrographic Department. He went back to sea in July 1960 with command of HMS Dampier, and took her out to Singapore to embark on a two-year commission that saw her employed on survey work all around the Far East.
A second stint at the Admiralty (1962-65) was followed by command of a new survey ship, HMS Hecate. Outward bound from Plymouth on her maiden voyage, on 19 April 1966 Hecate was called to the assistance of the Norwegian tanker Benstream. An engine room explosion had injured seven of her crew and left her wallowing, without power, in heavy seas. Hecate’s helicopter transferred her medical officer and his assistant to the tanker, then winched off the casualties in a south-westerly gale and transferred them to hospital in Brest. Five journeys were required. Later that year Commander Winstanley, his two medics and two helicopter crew were presented with gold watches by the Norwegian government in thanks for the assistance rendered. The incident also earned the commendation of the Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.
John Winstanley was promoted Captain at the end of 1967 and returned to the Admiralty as Assistant Director (Naval) to the Hydrographer of the Navy. He retired at the end of 1976 and was appointed C.B.E. in the 1977 New Year’s Honours. He died in Somerset in January 1992
