Beschreibung:

The rare Great War ‘Irish Rebellion’ D.S.C. group of four awarded to Lieutenant W. H. A. Bee, Royal Naval Reserve, who was awarded a D.S.C. and an M.I.D. for his gallant command of H.M.T. Lord Heneage, which ship played a vital part in the capture of the German Auxiliary Cruiser Aud off the south-west coast of Ireland where she was due to rendezvous with Sir Roger Casement to deliver her cargo of 20,000 rifles, 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition and ten machine-guns to aid the imminent Easter Rising - In the event Sir Roger Casement was captured and subsequently executed for treason and as one report stated ‘With the loss of the arms ship all hope of [a Sinn Fein] military victory vanished. Had the arms been landed and successfully distributed the flag of the Republic might have floated over a large part of the country by Monday night’ Distinguished Service Cross, G.V.R., hallmarked London 1918; 1914-15 Star (Lieut. W. H. A. Bee. R.N.R.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaf (Lieut. W. H. A. Bee. R.N.R.) some contact wear, therefore nearly very fine (4) £3000-3600 Footnote D.S.C. London Gazette 27 June, 1917: The original recommendation submitted by the Vice-Admiral at Queenstown states: ‘Assisted in the capture of the S.S. Aud on 21/22 April 1916.’ M.I.D. London Gazette 21 April 1917. The original recommendation states: ‘Capture of German auxiliary off coast of Ireland on 21 April 1915. Did good work in keeping the vessel in sight until she was brought to by the Bluebell.’ The Capture of The German Auxiliary Cruiser Aud In April 1916, information had been received at the Admiralty that a landing of arms was to be expected on the west coast of Ireland for the Sinn Feiners, and that Sir Roger Casement was believed to be on his way to meet with the arms ship. Casement, the ex-British official who was the prime instigator of German supported rebellion, was bound for Ireland in U22 to rendezvous with the steamer Aud, a German ship disguised as the Norwegian steamer of the same name. The rendezvous where Aud had arranged to meet Casement's submarine was one mile north-west of Inishtooskert, an uninhabited island at the north-west end of Tralee Bay, Co. Kerry, and here the steamer, with her cargo of arms arrived in the late afternoon of 20 April, 1916. Here the Aud waited and waited but nothing happened. No submarine. No Casement. Finally, at 1.30 am, Aud anchored in the shadows of Inishtooskert to await the dawn of Good Friday. Meanwhile, on the Thursday night Lieut-Commander Weisbach in U22 with Casement reached the Inishrooskert rendezvous, and from a distance sighted the dark outline of the anchored Aud, however, unfortunately for them, the submarine mistook this outline for a British destroyer and withdrew. Finally, Casement despairing of Aud's arrival acted independently and was landed with two companions on the beach by means of a small collapsible boat which had been secured to the submarine's upper deck. Early on Good Friday the deserted boat, wherein lay revolvers and ammunition was discovered by a local man and within hours Casement had been captured. Meanwhile, earlier that morning the Aud was approached by the armed trawler Setter II (Skipper John Donaldson R.N.R.) which came alongside and boarded. Unfortunately, Donaldson was bluffed by Lieut. Karl Spindler of the Aud and his subsequent search revealed only pots and pans as shown in the cargo manifest. Soon after 1 pm Spindler had another shock when he saw a small steamer approaching at speed with a gun on the forecastle. This was the armed trawler Lord Heneage, commanded not by a skipper, but by Lieutenant W. H. A. Bee, R.N.R., a 56 year-old veteran of the Merchant Service. Bee had learnt from Loop Head signal station that a steamer was hovering suspiciously about the entrance of Tralee Bay and flying the signal ‘Stop at once’ immediately gave chase to the Aud which had hurriedly weighed anchor and got under way to the westward in something of a panic. Th