NOT SOLD (BIDDING OVER)
0.00USD+ applicable fees & taxes.
This item WAS NOT SOLD. Auction date was 2016 Mar 18 @ 10:30UTC-04:00 : AST/EDT
DUNKIRK EVACUATION - H.M.S. MEDWAY QUEEN COMPASS AND AZIMUTH CIRCLE
A superb relic from the crucial early-war evacuation of the besieged British Expeditionary Force from France, the separately cased Admiralty-issued compass and azimuth circle issued by the Royal Navy to the paddle steamer H.M.S. MEDWAY QUEEN, a "little ship" which earned the nickname "The Heroine of Dunkirk". The battleship-gray compass is fitted within a 11" x 11" x 8" mahogany box which has been adapted to fit the compass. The compass, a three-way gimballed type, requires fluid but may still be operable. When we removed the compass from the box, a pencil note became visible in the in the bottom of the box: "Ships compass which was on board during [?] many trips to Dunkirk when she rescued many troops from the French beaches 26/8/64". Additionally, a small brass plaque crudely stamped: "DUNKIRK 1940" has been affixed to the underside of the case lid. "Medway Queen" has also been written in ink next to the brass plaque. Externally, the case base the painted with the model number of the original compass held within, prior to the evacuation. Also present is the cased azimuth circle which accompanied the compass, "Pattern 1950" in a 9 3/4" x 9 3/4 x 5 1/2" case. This case also bears a metal plaque: "DUNKIRK 1940 MEDWAY QUEEEN" and likewise has the vessel's name penned upon the lid. Finally, included is a color postcard of the vessel, and a 72pp. illustrated book issued by the vessel's preservation organization describing the ship's history. Four pieces. The Medway Queen was built in 1924 for river and Thames Estuary service. In 1939 she evacuated Kent children from Gravesend to East Anglia, and was later refitted with her aft modified to take minesweeping gear. In October 1940 Operation Dynamo was launched to rescue the retreating British Army soldiers from Dunkirk in northern France. HMS Medway Queen became part of the flotilla of "little ships". The vessel was fitted with a 12-pounder gun and two machine guns. On her first trip, soldiers were taken off the beaches in lifeboats and ferried to the ship. On her return to Dover, her arrival coinciding with an air raid. She shot down a German aircraft outside the harbor, and rescued survivors from a foundering vessel. On her second trip she took the soldiers directly off the beach, and on later trips, the Medway Queen penetrated the damaged Dunkerque port and took off men from a concrete jetty. On June 3, Medway Queen made her seventh trip. She was at the mole in Dunkirk when an explosion smashed her starboard paddle box. She finally limped back to Dover with 400 French soldiers on board. Medway Queen gained four awards for gallantry, having shot down three enemy aircraft, making seven crossings and rescuing 7,000 men. The vessel today lies in drydock, preserved as a historical treasure from the war years. Provenance: From the collection of the late Malcolm Smith, the long-time assistant secretary to the Battle of Britain Association; The War Museum.
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98 Bohemia Ave Ste 2, Chesapeake City, Maryland, 21915, United States
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| From (Incl.) | To (Excl.) | Premium |
| 0.00 |
Infinite |
24.5% |
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