Description
British War & Victory Medal Pair, Africa General Service Medal, GV, bar Somaliland 1920, Painter Thomas Young, HMS Ark Royal, Royal Navy, an American Sailor born in New Jersey, USA.
WW1 Pair officially impressed: “M.20538 T. Young. Ptr. 4. R.N.”
AGS officially impressed: “M.20538 T. Young. H.M.S. Ark Royal.”
All 3 medals confirmed on the medal rolls
Only about 149 clasps were issued to the Ark Royal Aircraft Carrier.
The ship that took over the RAF Squadron “Z Unit” for service in the war, along with all their planes.
Includes various original documents detailing his service, including his original parchment service papers, as well as photographs in uniform from post cards, letters, telegrams, certificates etc.
Thomas Young was born in the city of Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States of America on 12th November 1894.
At the time of World War 1, he was living at 80 Glebe Park in Kirkcaldy, Fifeshire, where he worked as a House Painter and Decorator.
He joined the Royal Navy on 16th May 1916, signing on initially until the end of the war, but later extended for another year on 1st March 1919, which led to him taking part in the Somaliland 1920 campaign.
He took on the familiar rating of Painter in the Royal Navy.
Seeing service on the following ships:
“HMS Pembroke, Painter 2nd Class, 16th May 1916 – 24th November 1916
HMS Hibernia, 25th Nov 1916 – 15th October 1917
HMS Pembroke, 16th Oct 1917 – 20th Nov 1917
HMS Brilliant, 21st November 1917 – 15th February 1918
HMS Pembroke, 16th February 1918 – 4th Nov 1918, during this time appointed Painter 4th Class on 1st October 1918.
HMS Ark Royal, 5th November 1918 – 2nd March 1920. During this time appointed Painter 3rd Class on 5th Nov 1918.
HMS Pembroke, 3rd march 1921 – 1st June 1921, when demobilised.”
He would also receive his overseas Chevrons for 1916, 1917 and 1918.
As well as a £21 War Gratuity, along with £6 from the Naval Prize Fund, for which an original certificate is included.
Notably as the war was finishing up, Thomas joined the crew of HMS Ark Royal.
At this time, the Ark Royal was employed transporting aircraft across the Black Sea to Batumi in Georgia, where they were then ferried across the Caucasus to the British naval forces supporting the White Russian Forces fighting the Bolsheviks in the Caspian Sea during the Russian Civil War.
The ship was then withdrawn from these duties in late 1919 and after dropping off her seaplanes at Malta, a dozen Airco DH9 bombers and 181 Personnel of the supporting Z Force RAF were brought on board for transport to British Somaliland.
The ship arrived in Berbera on 30 December and the squadron was unloaded to support the air and land campaign against Diiriye Guure. Ark Royal served during this campaign solely as a depot and repair ship for the RAF. She was withdrawn before its conclusion and transferred to the Black Sea to support the White Russian forces there as they began to collapse. The ship twice ferried refugees from the Caucasian coast to the Crimea and, after the second voyage, had to be fumigated at Constantinople after an outbreak of typhus among her passengers.
Having been a thorn in the side of the British for decades they were finally successful in the “Somaliland 1920” campaign in driving out Muhammad Ibn Abdallah Hassan, better known as the “Mad Mullah” out of the region, he died later that year of influenza having fled the area to the Somali Region of Ethiopia following the successes of the British.
The British Empire had the advantage finally as they know had the technological advantage of the Royal Air Force’s “Z Force” who were shipped over on Royal Navy aircraft carriers allowing them to co-ordinate air and land attacks on the forts and strongholds of the Dervish forces.
