METCALF, Commander John Savile Dent DSC RD MiD Spanish Lifeboat Society Gallantry medal

Commander John Savile Dent Metcalf DSC RD MiD Spanish Lifeboat Society Gallantry medal

Royal Navy Reserve

by Robert Simpson

Commander John Savile Metcalf DSC, RD, RNR

Photos taken 8^th August 1935 by Madame Yevonde at 28 Berkeley Square, London.

John Savile Dent Metcalf was born on 7^th December 1895 in Ilkley Yorkshire England. He was the only son to William Day Metcalf and Annie Louisa Towse who had been married on 5^th June 1892 in Oulton Yorkshire. He also had a sister, Mary Grace Day Metcalf, born on 16 March 1893 in Leeds Yorkshire. William had been born illegitimately in 1863 with his mother Sarah Metcalf marrying a Major Sheldon in 1880 (his name not a rank, he was a miner and he died in 1882). In the 1901 census they were living at 57 Weaste Rd in Pendleton and John was at school. William had various occupations mainly involved with being a clerk, but by 1911 he owned and ran a pub in Yorkshire. Annie was a schoolmistress in the 1891 census. John was educated at Carlisle Grammar School. He was admitted in the Summer Term of 1906 on 2^nd July and left in July 1908. His father was listed as living at Old Brewery House in Bridge Street Carlisle. In 1910 he was apprenticed to the Runciman Line and by the time of the outbreak of the war in 1914 he had been appointed as a Third Officer.

On 27^th January 1915 John was a probationary Midshipman (appointed 3^rd July 1914) in the Royal Naval Reserve on the Triumph with seniority from 1^st July 1914 and number 2037. The Triumph was a pre-dreadnought battleship. After action near China and a refit in Hong Kong she was sent to the Dardanelles where, with other ships, she was involved in bombarding the Turkish forts in the straits. On the morning of the 25^th April his steamboat was to pick up number 2 tow from the Queen Elizabeth, which he did at 3.20 a.m. All the ships and tows moved east towards the coast in the dark. Instead of being 150 yards apart they were only 50 yards and could just see each other then. When instructed to go ahead of the Queen he moved ahead after a second call, even though the first tow boat had not sped up. Getting closer he determined they were too close to Gaba Tepe where Turkish troops could enfilade them, so he altered course two points to port and 15 minutes later, seeing the other tows had followed, he altered course one and a half points to port again. This alteration meant the landings were not where they were supposed to be (about a mile off target, south of Ari Burnu), but probably saved a lot of lives initially. There is also discussion of the Turks shifting a British landing-buoy one mile to the north of where it had been positioned and the ships started in the wrong position. John was wounded in subsequent trips, receiving a severe wound to the right forearm, and was evacuated to Alexandria. He was mentioned for service in connection with the landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25^th -26^th April 1915. The listing has his full name but then his middle name except for the S is crossed out and an e is added to his surname. The entry originally had him as RN, which was crossed out and RNR written in. It lists him as being on the Triumph and he was recommended by the Vice Admiral Commanding the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron and notes he “was in command of one of Triumph’s boats during the landing at Z beach”. The award of a Distinguished Service Cross was made on 16^th August 1915. It was promulgated in the London Gazette on 16^th August 1915, with the King graciously pleased to give orders for the award in recognition of his service “as mentioned in the foregoing despatch”.. The Edinburgh Gazette of 17^th August 1915 lists him for Special Recommendation from Vice-Admiral John M. de Robeck as “Midshipman John Savile Metcalf, R.N.R. H.M.S. “Triumph”.” He also got a copy of the listing from Admiralty noting he “was mentioned in Despatches in recognition of distinguished services during the War”. The Triumph was torpedoed a few weeks later, and sunk with a significant loss of life, while he was still in hospital. He was appointed Midshipman on 22^nd March 1916.

HMS Triumph.

Picket boat from HMS Triumph.

He was on the HMS Faulknor, a flotilla leader class of destroyer as an Acting Sub-Lieutenant in 1916. The Faulknor was present at the Battle of Jutland. During the battle she engaged the SMS Grosser Kurfurst while passing down the German line with her 4 inch guns (without causing serious damage) and delivering a torpedo attack. While on her, he met Admiral Jellico in December 1915. Jellico asked him if he would accept a commission in the Royal Navy, but he declined due to financial grounds. His Captain on the Faulknor and the Saumarez, A J B Stirling, gave him a reference saying he served on those ships “under my command, from the 4^th day of September 1915 to the 13^th day of May, 1917 during which period he has conducted himself entirely to my satisfaction. He has carried out his duties zealously and efficiently and he is a reliable Officer-of-the-Watch at sea.” He was appointed Sub-Lieutenant on 28^th February 1917 with number 002846 and seniority from 28^th January 1917. John then served on other destroyers until the end of the war and was demobilised as a Lieutenant in June 1919. He also received other references from those Captains, all pointing out his ability and zeal and some note he was “strongly recommended for promotion”. His address during the war was listed as Boston Spa, Yorks. He had been appointed Lieutenant on 6^th March 1919 with seniority from 28^th January and number 02271.

As 4^th Mate on the Orvieto (of the Orient Line), he left London in late 1919, arriving in Sydney on 15^th December. This was despite being issued with certificates of competency for Second Mate (for foreign-going steamships only) on 12^th April 1919 and Master on 4^th June 1919 in the Merchant Service by the Board of Trade. He was also listed in the Navy List in 1919 in the RNR as an Acting Lieutenant with Seniority date of 28^th January 1917 and he was serving on the Gabriel, a Marksman Class destroyer. He was listed in the Merchant Navy Seaman register as Rating 5 Officer with a Grade of B/T Certificate of Master, number 0012655. His Identity Certificate was number 21313 and included his picture. In late 1921 he departed London on the Orcades as 3^rd Mate, and arrived in Sydney on 23^rd November. From 1921 to 1927 he was on the Royal Naval Reserve Active List as a Lieutenant with seniority from 28^th January 1919. Another Merchant slip has him with the rating of 2^nd Mate in 1926 and also lists on the back the ships he was on from 1922 to 1934. Another card dated 1932 has his rating as 1^st Mate and said the original Certificate of Discharge was reported lost. It also listed his description as height 5 foot 11 inches, grey eyes, brown hair, medium complexion and no distinguishing marks. On 1^st July 1928 John was awarded the Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve (Reserve Decoration or RD), an award to officers with at least fifteen years of active duty. In 1930 he was listed in the Merchant Navy Seaman’s Records which stated his birth year and 1895 and place as Yorkshire. The 1931 Navy List has John as a Lieutenant-Commander in the RNR with seniority from 28^th January 1927 and he was appointed to that rank on 4^th February 1927. It was also published in the London Gazette on 15^th February 1927 in the list of RNR Lieutenants to be Lieutenant-Commanders. His service record between the wars lists all the ships and appointments he had for the Orient Line and for the naval training he had. It also acknowledges he was suitable for training and recommended for promotion in due course. His records also show the courses of Voluntary Training he did and service in H. M. Ships when called out and is quite detailed and filled out. His conduct was always satisfactory and his ability average or above average. Some of the courses he did were signals, gunnery and torpedo.

Photo of him from Merchant Seaman register in 1921.

In 1924, he applied for a patent for “improvements in or relating to means for securing hats on the head of a wearer”. His 1914-15 star and Oak Leaves were issued to him in May 1926 while he was with HMS Pembroke.

In 1927 he was awarded a Spanish Lifeboat Society’s Gallantry Medal which is in Spanish. Unfortunately no record is with it to say what it was for or when and where the event was.

In mid-1933 his mother, Annie Louisa passed away in Tadcaster Yorkshire.

In late 1935 he married Dora Stuart Primrose Greene in Holborn Middlesex. Dora had been born in Madras India on 11^th March 1892, and also baptised there. Her father, George Percy Greene (born 1862 in Ireland) was the Superintendent of Madras Survey and had passed away in 1900 at the age of only 39 in India. He had married Eleanor Emily Ernestine Burton in India on 30^th October 1890. They had three children, including Dora. After he passed away the family returned to England where they are shown on the 1901 census as living in Bedford St Peter. She attended Bedford School from 1901, leaving at Christmas time in 1911. Dora was listed in a passenger record for the Highland Princess, leaving London bound for South American ports on 17^th September 1932 as a secretary (an error). She was a founder and company director of British Tabulating Machine Company. Another record shows her returning to England in 1^st Class on the Andalucia Star from Buenos Aires on 6^th October 1932 as a Director of a Private Company. The electoral registers from 1936 to 1938 listed Dora as living at 4 Great Ormond St Holborn.

In late 1940, having being appointed to the command of the Orient Line’s Ormonde and used the ship to help evacuate the British troops at Narvik and St. Nazaire, where due to his skilful manoeuvring he avoided the bombers that had targeted the ship and returned the troops safely to England.

John is listed in the Navy Lists from 1939 to 1942 as Commander with seniority from 31^st December 1934. In the 1944 list he was noted as the same with Acting Captain noted afterwards. The lists from 1945 to 1948 have him listed as RNR Captain with seniority from 30^th June 1944. In World War 2, John was originally posted as Commodore of East Coast Convoys at Southend. From 7^th August 1941 to early 1942 he was on the HMS Lady Blanche (FY014), an armed yacht, as Commodore. In 1942 he was placed in charge of auxiliary patrols at Scapa Flow. Also in 1942 he volunteered for “Force X”, a dummy convoy which was set up to draw the Tirpitz away from convoy P.O.17. The weather was not good and covered them so much in fog that the German reconnaissance could not detect them and the plan was rendered entirely useless. In late 1942 he was appointed Commodore of the Atlantic Convoys at Belfast. He was then on HMS Ranee (D03), an escort carrier, as Acting Captain from 10^th October 1943 to April 1944. The carrier was built in America and supplied to Britain under the lend-lease agreement. Modifications and sea trials occurred late 1943 and early 1944 off Vancouver. When all completed in February she called into San Francisco to pick up aircraft which were then delivered to India in March after first stopping at Wellington and Freemantle. She then returned to Vancouver in March (with some American war brides from Australia) before travelling on the Pacific Ocean to Canada for a refit in April. He then handed the ship over in May 1944. The London Gazette of 7^th July 1944 lists John as being promoted on 30^th June 1944 from Commander to Captain in the Royal Naval Reserve. Then he was on HMS Guardian (T89), a netlayer, from 5^th November 1944 until late 1945, based in Sydney. She was with the British Pacific Fleet in its actions against the Japanese in the Pacific and was present at the signing of the Japanese surrender in Hong Kong in September 1945.

William Day Metcalf passed away on 12^th August 1944 with his effects of over 600 pounds going to his daughter, Mary Grace Day Metcalf, who was a spinster. He had been living in The Old Vicarage Church, Fenton near Tadcaster in Yorkshire; an address John sometimes used on his service records.

John was released from the Royal Naval Reserve in March 1946. From 1948 he was employed by British Tabulating Machine Company as a Personal Relations Officer as he could find no suitable naval job. Dora had and gotten him a job there when he left the navy in 1946. He also stated he would be a volunteer for an early recall in the event of an emergency.

On 1^st July 1950 John retired, but was employed at the Admiralty in the 1950’s in connection with the Royal Naval Mine-watching Service, which was a part time job. His service record stated he was ineligible for step up in rank after retirement. He spent from October 1950 to June 1951 in Westminster Hospital due to major operations in connection with a perforated appendix.

The electoral registers from 1952 to 1956 show them living at 3 Oakwood Mansions in Kensington. According to his service records they were there from 1949 to 1959. The 1960 and 1961 registers have them at 3 Abington Gardens in Kensington South and the 1961 register has him listed as a Captain. He was also there in 1962 as recorded on his service record and then they moved to Swordsland Lodge in 1963. They both retired at the end of 1962.

In early 1975 John Metcalfe passed away in Wharfedale, West Yorkshire.

His sister Mary Metcalf remained a spinster until her death in late 1980.

Dora passed away on 17^th October 1982 in Leeds Yorkshire and the Times had in her death notice that she was the wife of Captain J S Metcalf.

His second middle name, Dent, is only mentioned in his entrance to Carlisle Grammar School and as an initial D on the 1901 census. It is mentioned nowhere else. To confirm it would need his birth certificate. The school also has his date of birth recorded as 5^th December 1895, which is different to all other records.

The Imperial War Museum has a collection of his papers which mainly relate to his naval career.

He was an ardent Mason and was also associated with other clubs and associations.

His medals are Distinguished Service Cross, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal with MID clasp, 1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star, North Africa Star, Pacific Star with Burma Clasp, 1939-45 War Medal, Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve and Spanish Lifeboat Society’s Gallantry Medal.

Close up of his Spanish Lifeboat Society’s Gallantry Medal.

ANZAC Biographies

On our website you will find the biographical details of ANZAC (as well as British) servicemen & women

whose medals or other memorabilia form part of the collection belonging to the

Maryborough Military & Colonial Museum,

Maryborough, Queensland, Australia.