The very good Great War North Sea Harwich Force and Dover Force Destroyer Operations Action of 24 April 1916 Distinguished Service Medal and long service group awarded to Chief Stoker W.H Gitsham, D.S.M., Royal Navy. From Whitstone, Devon, he saw continuous service in the navy between July 1899 and July 1921. With the War, he had tow active periods, the first being with the minesweeper Circe and operating with the Grand Fleet and keeping the Pentland Firth free of mines. On 18 November 1914 Circe and the gunboat Skipjack were about to start a minesweeping run in the channel between Fair Island and North Ronaldsay when Skipjack's commanding officer sighted the conning tower of the German submarine U-22. The two gunboats set off at full speed in pursuit, but the submarine outpaced them and dived to safety after a chase of 45 minutes. Having the joined newly commissioned destroyer Melpomene with the 10th Destroyer Flotilla of the Harwich Force, he was most actively engaged and was firstly in action on 23 August 1915 at the bombardment of the German-held port of Zeebrugge. It was however on 24 April 1916 that he won his Distinguished Service Medal for his actions in keeping his ship going and float after she was hit in the engine room by a shell. Three German torpedo boats, V47, V67 and V68, had attempted to interfere with the drifters laying the nets off Zeebrugge, and Melpomene, together with Milne, Medea and Murray, engaged the three torpedo boats, which retreated towards Zeebrugge with the four British destroyers in pursuit. The British destroyers came under heavy fire from German shore batteries. Melpomene was hit in the engine room by a shell, which although it did not explode, caused extensive flooding and eventual loss of power, she managed to keep steaming for 20 minutes after the hit, with the turbines awash and eventually submerged. Melpomene was taken in tow by Milne. The three German torpedo boats then returned to attack the British ships, and hit Medea three times but were driven off by 12-inch fire from the monitor Prince Eugene. Melpomene was towed in Dunkirk. Gitsham was gazetted with his award on 25 October 1916, and went on to see a number of further actions with this destroyer before ending the war aboard the battlecruiser New Zealand.
Group of 5: Distinguished Service Medal, GVR Adm. bust; (292716. W.H. GITSHAM, ACT.CH.STO. H.M.S. MELPOMENE. 24. APL.1916.); 1914-1915 Star; (292716. W.H. GITSHAM. A. CH. STO., R.N.) British War Medal and Victory Medal; (292716 W.H. GILSHAM. CH.STO. R.N.); Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, GVR Adm. bust; (292716. W.H. GITSHAM, CH. STO. H.M.S. DIDO.), mounted swing style as worn.
Condition: light contact wear, lightly polished, about Good Very Fine.
Sold together with an old printed and bound copy of the section of the book ‘Endless Story’ by Lieutenant Commander Taprell-Dorling, that details the action of 24 April 1916. Also a copied image, this alleged to be of the recipient.
William Henry Gitsham, surname incorrectly spelt Gilsham on the British War Medal and Victory Medal, was born on 14 June 1881 in Whitstone, Devon, and having worked as a labourer, then joined the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class (Devonport No.292716) with Vivid II from 12 July 1899, being then rated as Stoker on 14 June 1900 whilst with Magnificent. Gitsham was then advanced to Stoker 1st Class on 1 July 1906 whilst with Blake, and promoted to Leading Stoker on 22 July 1909 whilst with Indus, before being promoted to Stoker Petty Officer on 14 September 1909 whilst with Vivid II.
With the outbreak of the Great War he was aboard the minesweeper Circe and serving with the Grand Fleet employed on carrying out daily sweeps of the Pentland Firth that separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness on the north coast of Scotland. On 22 October 1914, as a result of several suspected sightings of submarines in the main fleet anchorage of Scapa Flow, the 1st and 4th Battle Squadrons of the Grand Fleet moved to Lough Swilly on the east coast of Northern Ireland, which was considered more secure against submarine attack. On 27 October, the battleship Audacious struck a mine off Tory Island, north-west of Lough Swilly, and despite efforts to tow her to safety, sank later that day. Circe, which along with sister ship Leda was already at Lough Swilly, was used to clear a safe channel through the minefield. On 18 November 1914 Circe and the gunboat Skipjack were about to start a minesweeping run in the channel between Fair Island and North Ronaldsay when Skipjack's commanding officer sighted the conning tower of the German submarine U-22. The two gunboats set off at full speed in pursuit, but the submarine outpaced them and dived to safety after a chase of 45 minutes.
Gitsham was still aboard Circe when he was appointed to Acting Chief Stoker on 1 April 1915, and he was then posted to Vivid II from 16 May 1915, before being posted to the destroyer depot ship Dido from 11 August 1915 for service aboard the new Medea-class destroyer Melpomene. Gitsham formed part of her first crew following her commissioning, and served with her as part of the 10th Destroyer Flotilla and patrolling the North Sea. Melpomene was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Hubert De Burgh.
On 23 August 1915, the Dover Patrol bombarded the German-held port of Zeebrugge, with Melpomene one of twelve destroyers from the Harwich Force attached to the Dover Patrol for this action. While at the time, the British believed that the bombardment was successful, in fact, little damage was done. On 30–31 October 1915, Melpomene took part in a sweep by the Harwich Force of the German Bight. The Swedish steamer Ostersund was stopped and sent back to the Humber as it was suspected that its cargo of iron ore might be contraband, but no German shipping was encountered. On 25 December 1915, Melpomene was one of eight destroyers from the Harwich Force that were ordered with the leader Nimrod to the Channel as a result of attacks by the German submarine U-24. As there was no sign of the submarine by the time they reached Portsmouth, they were sent on to Milford Haven, where poor weather kept them largely confined to harbour.
Gitsham was awarded the Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal on 1 February 1916.
From 24 April 1916, the Dover Patrol carried out a large-scale operation off the Belgian coast to lay mines and nets, in an attempt to limit use of the ports of Ostend and Zeebrugge to German U-boats. Melpomene was one of twelve destroyers of the Harwich Force that took part in escorting the operations. On the afternoon of 24 April, three German torpedo boats (V47, V67 and V68) attempted to interfere with the drifters laying the nets off Zeebrugge, and Melpomene, together with Milne, Medea and Murray, engaged the three torpedo boats, which retreated towards Zeebrugge with the four British destroyers in pursuit. The British destroyers came under heavy fire from German shore batteries. A full account of this action is recounted in the book ‘Endless Story’ by Lieutenant Commander Taprell-Dorling.
Melpomene was hit in the engine room by a shell, which although it did not explode, caused extensive flooding and eventual loss of power (she managed to keep steaming for 20 minutes after the hit, with the turbines awash and eventually submerged).
The book ‘Endless Story’ by Lieutenant Commander Taprell-Dorling, and describing the work of the Destroyers during the Great War takes up the story: ‘We were told afterwards that at about 3.40 she had been hit in the engine-room by a ricocheting 4.1-inch shell, one of the last fired by the enemy destroyers before we broke out of the action. This projectile, entering the ship sideways, had happily not burst. If it had, th ship would probably been lost. As it was, it made a hole in the ship’s side below the waterline, through which the water poured in a torrent. The engine-room filled up and the men were finally forced to abandon it, but for twenty minutes the ship had managed to steam with her turbines awash, and then entirely under water. Her speed dropped fast. At last, she came to a standstill. The sea was flat calm…’
Milne attempted to take Melpomene under tow, but fouled her port propeller with the tow cable, so Medea went to assist with the tow.
The three German torpedo boats then returned to attack the British ships, with Medea hit three times by German shells, but were driven off by 12-inch fire from the monitor Prince Eugene. The minefield probably caused the loss of one U-Boat, UB-13, although at the time it was thought that four or five German submarines had been sunk. Melpomene underwent initial repair at Dunkirk before more permanent repair work in a British dockyard.
It was for his gallant and distinguished service in the aftermath of Melpomene being damaged in the action on 14 April 1916 that Gitsham was put up for his award of the Distinguished Service Medal, this being awarded to him and published in the London Gazette for 25 October 1916, ‘in recognition of services when the Melpomene was damaged in action on 24 April 1916’.
On the night of 22 July 1916, two light cruisers and eight destroyers of the Harwich Force set out on a patrol to prevent German torpedo boats based in Flanders from interfering with shipping traffic between Britain and the Netherlands. One group, consisting of the light cruiser Carysfort and four destroyers, was to patrol off the Mass estuary, while the second group, led by the cruiser Canterbury and including Melpomene, was to patrol off the North Hinder light vessel. Seven German destroyers of II Flotilla had set out from Zeebrugge on a mission to lay lines near the North Hinder light vessel, and at 00:15 on 23 July, Carysfort's group sighted the German force, which turned away and escaped under the cover of a smoke screen and a rain storm. The Canterbury group, including Matchless, was ordered to proceed to the Schouwen Bank to intercept the Germans. They encountered the Germans at about 01:45, and set off in pursuit. Matchless could not keep up with the chase and lagged behind, while Milne kept station with the lagging Matchless, leaving the chase to Melpomene and Morris. The two destroyers were recalled by Canterbury, but Melpomene did not respond to the recall order and continued the chase alone. The German destroyers managed to reach the safety of minefields and coastal defences near Zeebrugge, and the British broke off the chase. Melpomene was hit by a German shell which killed one and wounded two more of her crew.
Gilsham was promoted to Chief Stoker on 1 August 1916.
On 19 August, the German High Seas Fleet carried out a raid into the North Sea, with the intention of bombarding Sunderland and luring the British battlecruisers into an engagement with superior forces. The British were warned of the German sortie by radio intercepts, and as part of the British response, the seaplane carrier Vindex put out from Harwich with Melpomene as escort, but the weather was too poor for aircraft operations and Vindex returned to harbour.
On the night of 23/24 January 1917, the Harwich Force was ordered to intercept a German torpedo boat flotilla that was being transferred to Zeebrugge, with Melpomene part of a group of destroyers patrolling off the River Maas. The German torpedo boats ran into a cruiser division, with the torpedo boat V69 heavily damaged, but the Germans managed to escape, and some of the British destroyers, including Meteor dispersed from their patrol positions after hearing the noise of the engagement, allowing the German ships to slip through. One German straggler, S50 encountered a British destroyer patrol and sank the destroyer Simoom before escaping. On 29 January 1917, as a response to intelligence of a sortie of units of the German High Seas Fleet, (in fact the German light cruiser Geaudenz; with torpedo boats of II and IX Torpedo-Boat Flotilla sortied to the Hoofden), Melpomene was one of 12 destroyers led by the flotilla leader Grenville ordered to patrol between Lowesoft and Harwich to guard against German raids. The British destroyers saw nothing, although several British submarines on patrol in the North Sea sighted German torpedo boats, and E29 unsuccessfully attacked four torpedo boats.
Gitsham was still with Melpomene when she transferred from the Harwich Patrol to the Dover Patrol on joining operations under Attentive II at Dover from 1 March 1917 as part of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla.
On 23 March 1917, Melpomene was returning to Britain in company with the destroyers Laforey, Laertes, and Lark, after escorting transports from Folkestone to Dieppe, when Laforey struck a mine and quickly sank, with only 18 of the 76 aboard surviving. On 8 June 1917, the patrol boat P.50 attacked a suspected submarine off Cap Gris-Nez with depth charges, bringing up large quantities of oil. Melpomene and Mansfield joined in the search for the submarine two hours after P.50's attack, and noted an oil slick several miles long, and that oil was still coming to the surface. P50 was credited with "possibly destroying" the submarine.
On the night of 14/15 February 1918, Melpomene, together with the destroyers Termagant, Zubian and Amazon was patrolling on the East Barrage Patrol, one of two standing patrols protecting the Dover Barrage, while two more carried out the West Barrage Patrol and three more destroyers and a light cruiser were on standby in the Downs when seven German destroyers, in two groups attacked the Dover Barrage. The Germans sank one trawler and seven drifters while severely damaging a further one trawler, five drifters and the minesweeper Newbury. One of the German groups encountered Melpomene's group and was spotted by Amazon. Amazon challenged the Germans, three times, but despite receiving no response, still assumed they were friendly ships, allowing the Germans to escaped unhindered.
Gitsham was posted off Melpomene and back to Vivid II from 11 April 1918, and therefore missed out on the Raid on Zeebrugge on 23 April 1918. He was next posted to the battlecruiser New Zealand from 15 July 1918, and saw service aboard her for the rest of the war when a part of the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron with the Grand Fleet. During September and October, New Zealand and the 2nd BCS supervised and protected minelaying operations north of Orkney. He was posted off her and back to Vivid II from 11 February 1919, and having briefly seen service aboard the light cruiser Glasgow from 15 to 23 April 1919, then saw service aboard the light cruiser Dartmouth from 24 April 1919 to 31 December 1920 when present out on the North America and West Indies Station, before being posted finally to Vivid II and pensioned ashore on 23 July 1921.
Gitsham, who went on to work as a watcher for Customs and Excise, latterly lived in Sea Mills, Bristol, and died on 15 August 1947, leaving behind a widow, Margaret Ellen Gitsham.
