Description

BATTLE OF JUTLAND WW1 & WW2 ROYAL NAVY MEDALS ERA1 M236 ROBERT GERALD DRISCOLL

Offered is a group of 7 medals to Chief Engine Room Artificer First Class R. G. Driscoll, Royal Navy, who served in H.M.S. Bellerophon during the Battle of Jutland. He further served between the wars in Hong Kong, seeing service aboard gunboats in the China Station and further served during WW2

1914 – 15 Star, impressed named M.236. R.G. DRISCOLL. E.R.A.2.R.N.; British War and Victory Medals (1914 – 18), impressed named M236 R.G. DRISCOLL. R.A.2. R.N.; 1939 – 45 Star, British Defence and War Medals all un named as issued; Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct medal (G.V.) impressed named M.236 R.G. DRISCOLL. C.E.R.A.2 H.M.S. WOOLWICH. Court mounted for display. Comes with copies of service records WW1 & WW2 and medal rolls.

Chief Engine Room Artificer 1^st Class Robert Gerald Driscoll was born on the 27/9/1885 at Truro, Cornwall. A boilermaker by trade, he enlisted into the Royal Navy as an acting Engine Room Artificer 4^th Class 21/3/1908 finishing as a 1st Class E.R.A. He served on a variety of H.M. ship and shore bases including Vivid II, Cornwallis, Leander (depot ship for torpedo boat destroyers), Irresistible.

During WW1 he served aboard Bellerophon (dreadnought) 28/6/1913 – 28/11/1917. During the Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916, Bellerophon was part of the Grand Fleet and the fourteenth ship from the head of the battle line after deployment. The ship fired intermittently on the crippled light cruiser SMS Wiesbaden and may have engaged the German dreadnoughts but did not claim to have hit anything. Later she opened fire at the battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger and scored one hit that glanced off the conning tower. The only significant damage that the armour-piercing, capped (APC) shell caused was from a splinter that destroyed the rangefinder in ‘B’ turret. About ten minutes later, Bellerophon engaged several German destroyer flotillas with her main armament without result. She fired a total of 62 twelve-inch shells and 14 shells from her four-inch guns during the battle.

Further served aboard Vivid II 29/11/1917 – 14/4/1918. Foresight (Forward-class scout cruiser) 15/4/1918 – 3/6/1919 serving in the Aegean. Post war he served on the Tamar (Hong Kong), Moorhen (China river gunboat), Tormentor, Ramillies, Seraph.

Promoted to Chief Engine Room Artificer 1^st Class 1/4/1925 and received his L.S. & G.C. Medal 13/10/1928 whilst serving as S.O. Reserve Fleet Devon Port. He was discharged to pension but appears re-entering the service 5/5/1936 and served in WW2. He is also recorded as receiving a War Gratuity for service in the Second World War, in H.M.S. Drake II.