The fine Second World War Birthday Honours 1941 and Hunt for the Bismarck British Empire Medal, Great War and long service group awarded to Able Seaman W. Marshall, B.E.M., Royal Navy. From Nottingham, he saw continuous service between April 1918 and September 1945. Towards the end of the Great War he was with the battleship Bellerophon as part of the 4th Battle Squadron with the Grand Fleet, and went on to see service aboard various vessels during the 1920’s and 1930’s, being with the aircraft carrier Eagle when he received his long service medal in January 1934. On the outbreak of the Second World War he was with the destroyer Maori and took part in operations in the North Sea and during the Norwegian Campaign when his vessel partook in the evacuation of Nasmos in April 1940 and survived two near misses by bombs from enemy aircraft. Under Commander H.T. “Beaky” Armstrong D.S.C., Maori then played as distinguished role in the pursuit and destruction of the Bismarck in May 1941, with Marshall being aboard for this major action. While escorting Convoy WS-8B to the Middle East, Maori, along with the destroyers Cossack, Sikh and Zulu broke off on 26 May and headed towards the area where Bismarck had been reported. They found her that evening, and after creeping up at 25 knots on the enemy’s port quarter, under fire, and delivering several torpedo attacks in the evening and into the next morning. No hits were scored but they kept her gunners from getting any sleep, making it easier for the battleships to attack her the next morning. One of Maori’s crew later described the moment Bismarck’s shells started to find their range: ‘Armour piecing shells. each weighing a ton, splashed on all sides sending up large plumes of water. One passed under the wireless aerials between the funnels, and, as Maori gathered speed Bismarck changed to shrapnel, shells exploding in the air, fragments passing through the superstructure..’ Maori then rescued some of the survivors from Bismarck after the battleship sank. Marshall was awarded the British Empire Medal in the 1941 King’s Birthday Honours List, the award being published in the London Gazette for 1 July 1941, and subsequently presented to him in an investiture held on 3 March 1942.
Group of 7: British Empire Medal, GVI 1st type cypher, Military Division; (A.B. WILLIAM MARSHALL. D/J.82586. R.N.); British War Medal and Victory Medal; (J.89686 W. MARSHALL. ORD. R.N.); 19390-1945 Star; Atlantic Star; War Medal; Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. GVR Coinage bust; (J.89586. W. MARSHALL. A.B H.M.S. EAGLE.)
Condition: Good Very Fine.
Together with an old photograph of H.M.S. Maori, this signed on the reverse by 25 people, presumably all members of her crew.
William Marshall was born on 30 October 1900 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, and having worked as an iron monger, towards the very end of the Great War he joined the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class (Devonport No.J.89586) with Powerful from 30 April 1918, being still with the training establishment when rated as a Boy 1st Class on 26 July 1918, and then joined the battleship Bellerophon from 27 August 1918, for service with the 4th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. He was aboard her when rated as an Ordinary Seaman on 30 October 1918, and then posted back to Vivid I from 5 February 1919.
Posted aboard the light cruiser Glasgow from 15 April 1919, he then transferred to the light cruiser Dartmouth from 24 April 1919, when she was assigned to the North America and West Indies Station, being rated as an Able Seaman whilst aboard her on 26 February 1920. H was posted off her in February 1920. Present aboard the sloop Harebell between October 1922 and September 1923, and aboard the battleship King George V later that year, he was aboard the destroyer Walker between August 1925 and January 1926, and the destroyer Wren in the Mediterranean from April to September 1926. Marshall then saw service aboard the survey vessel Ormonde between February 1927 and November 1930 when he transferred to the destroyer Viscount as part of the Mediterranean Fleet through to December 1931.
Marshall was serving aboard the aircraft carrier Eagle when he was awarded the Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal on 4 January 1934, and having seen service aboard the destroyer Witch and the battleship Rodney, was posted aboard the destroyer Maori in November 1938, and saw service with her in the Mediterranean between January and July 1939, but was with her in home waters on the outbreak of the Second World War. Until April 1940, Maori, commanded by Commander Noel Brewer, when she patrolled the North Sea and also took part in the Norwegian Campaign. During the evacuation of Nasmos in April 1940 the Maori had two near misses by bombs from enemy aircraft which caused extensive damage and wounded 20 her crew, five mortally. In June 1940 she sailed to Iceland looking for German warships and also served briefly in the Faroe Islands. Commander H.T. “Beaky” Armstrong D.S.C., then assumed command.
In May 1941, she participated in the pursuit and destruction of the German battleship Bismarck. While escorting Convoy WS-8B to the Middle East, Maori, along with the destroyers Cossack, Sikh and Zulu broke off on 26 May and headed towards the area where Bismarck had been reported. They found her that evening, and after creeping up at 25 knots on the enemy’s port quarter, under fire, and delivering several torpedo attacks in the evening and into the next morning. No hits were scored but they kept her gunners from getting any sleep, making it easier for the battleships to attack her the next morning. One of Maori’s crew later described the moment Bismarck’s shells started to find their range: ‘Armour piecing shells. each weighing a ton, splashed on all sides sending up large plumes of water. One passed under the wireless aerials between the funnels, and, as Maori gathered speed Bismarck changed to shrapnel, shells exploding in the air, fragments passing through the superstructure..’ Maori then rescued some of the survivors from Bismarck after the battleship sank. Maori’s commanding officer was awarded the Second Award Bar to the Distinguished Service Cross for this action.
Marshall was serving as an Able Seaman aboard Maori for the pursuit and destruction of the Bismarck in May 1941 and it was for his services aboard Maori that he was awarded the British Empire Medal in the 1941 King’s Birthday Honours List, the award being published in the London Gazette for 1 July 1941, and subsequently presented to him in an investiture held on 3 March 1942.
Having been posted off Maori and to Drake I on 15 July 1941, Marshall was posted to Kestrel from 26 August 1941, this being the General Service Establishment at Worthy Down, near Winchester. He is next shown as having been advanced to Acting Leading Seaman whilst with the anti-aircraft cruiser Columbo on 10 August 1944, and was pensioned from service on 24 September 1945.
