I came across a thumbnail image of TLt. J. O. Thomas RNVR, the commander of the 1st ML Flotilla, and ML 222, from September 1944 (see below).
- TLt. James Owen Thomas RNVR.JPG (3.3 KiB) Viewed 36007 times
Although the image is small, it enables his identification in the main photograph of the Officer’s of the 1st ML Flotilla (see original post). As you would expect, he is standing in the very centre of the photograph with his most senior officers standing besides and behind him. He is also clearly wearing medal ribbons on his uniform. Ribbons are also being worn by three, possibly four, of his senior officers and two or three of the sub-lieutenants, although some of these appear darker and may well be oak leaves indicating MID awards.
A closer look at the ribbons provides an indication of who else is standing in the photograph. The following explanation is rather convoluted, so please bare with me!
Enlarging the original image reveals that TLt. J. O. Thomas, is wearing at least two ribbons with possibly an oak leaf below them. The ribbon on the left has the appearance of a DSC, having two dark stripes with a light coloured central stripe. Seedie’s List of Awards to Coastal Forces indicates that TLt. J. O. Thomas was awarded the following:
DSC – 30th November 1943
MID – 28th November 1944
Bar to DSC – 26th June 1945
The above dates correspond to the notification of the awards in the Gazette. Looking at a magnified image of the ribbons reveals a bright spot to the centre of the DSC, which could well be a silver rosette indicating the bar to the award but it is impossible to be certain of this. However, if it is a rosette, it would place the date of the photograph after June 1945. Examination of the ribbons of the other officers, suggests at least two of them are also wearing ribbons indicating the award of DSC. Records show that a number of officers of the flotilla were, indeed, awarded the DSC during WW2. I have included the names of these officers below, together with the dates between which they served and the date that notification of their award of DSC appeared in the Gazette:
TALt.-Com H. Leslie DSC, RNVR. ML 206 (from 27 Dec ’42 to 23 Aug ‘44) – DSC awarded 2nd October 1942.
TLt. W. M. Hicks-Beach DSC, RNVR. ML 207 (from 16th Feb’ 42 to no latter than Dec ‘44) – DSC awarded 28th November 1944.
TLt. J. O. Thomas DSC & bar, RNVR. ML 222 (from 4th Sep ’44 to at least Jul ‘45) – DSC awarded 30th November 1943. Bar to DSC awarded 26th of June 1945.
TLt. G. A. Ramsay DSC, RANVR. ML 187 (from 15 Nov ’42 – no later than 3rd Jun ‘45) – DSC awarded 28th November 1944.
TLt. J.R. Armstrong DSC, RNVR. ML 450 (from 23rd Mar ’43 – at least Jul ‘45) – DSC awarded 26th June 1945.
The fact that Tlt. John Veale, the commanding officer of ML 207 from December 1944, has already been identified as being in the photograph (see original post) , excludes both TALt.-Com H. Leslie and TLt. W.M. Hicks-Beach from being in it - both of these officers had left the flotilla before John Veale took up his post. This leaves TLt. J.O Thomas, TLt. G. A. Ramsay and TLt. J.R. Armstrong.
So it would seem that the two officers standing to the left of Lt. Thomas’s are in fact TLt. G. A. Ramsay TLt. J.R. Armstrong. However, the dates of each officer’s DSC awards, together with their dates of service with the flotilla, present a bit of a puzzle; TLt. G. A. Ramsay and TLt. J. R. Armstrong should not both be wearing DSC ribbons and be in the same picture of serving officers of the 1st ML Flotilla. According to the July Navy list of 1945, TLt. Ramsay was replaced by on 3rd June ’45 by TLt. D. Meyler and, according to the Gazette, TLt. J. R. Armstrong did receive his DSC until 26th June ’45. There is also the question of the officer standing at the back. fifth from right. with his head mostly obscured. He also appears to be wearing some form of ribbon, possibly a DSC.
Of course, it could be that the photograph was taken during some form of reunion and so includes former officers of the flotilla or that some of the ribbons mentioned are not those of a DSC. There is also the possibility that more officers received gallantry awards than is indicated in Seedie’s list of awards to Costal Forces or that some of the service dates included in the published Navy List of the time are incorrect. It may also be that the officers in question are wearing the ribbons before the Gazette dates – I’m not sure when those given an award are actually notified themselves or when they become entitled to wear the associated ribbons. It could well be before publication in the Gazette – perhaps someone could clarify this.
All of the above information leads me to conclude that the photograph of the officers in the original post was taken towards the end of the date range expected and probably after June 1945. If this is the case, then TSLt. John Gwilym Frances, the second in command of ML 207, would probably not be in the photograph; he was replaced by TSLt. D. B. Miller on June 1945. So the person I thought I had identified as J. G. Frances in my original post would actually be D. B Millar. I have amended my original post accordingly.
There are a couple of further points to mention. There is only one midshipman in the photograph, he is standing to the extreme right of the picture, and there are also some officers missing - which I hardly surprising. There was a minimum of 23 officers serving in the 1st ML flotilla during the time the photograph was most likely taken; there are only 19 in the picture.
As regards the Midshipman, the probable date of the photograph means that he is likely to be one of three people: TMid. R.M. Candler of ML 571; TMid. P. V. Wood of ML 207 and TMid. O. G. Channer of ML 185. There are only three Midshipman shown as serving with the flotilla in the April 1945 and July 1945 Navy Lists. The later July list shows that both Wood and Candler are then serving as ATSub-Lts and that Channer joined the flotilla on 11th June 1945.