British War Medal 1939-45 : Leading Seaman E G Dandridge, Royal Navy

British War Medal 1939-45. Unnamed as issued.

Ernest George Dandridge was born in Watlington, Oxfordshire, England on 13 November 1890, the second son of George Dandridge, a veteran of the Afghan wars, and his wife Elizabeth. George died in 1904 and in about 1907 Elizabeth and six of her eight children emigrated to New South Wales. Ernest, who had recently joined the Royal Navy as an ordinary seaman, remained behind in England.

By time of the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 Ernest had attained the rank of able seaman and was serving in the battlecruiser HMS Invincible. The ship played a minor part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August, but at the end of December, during the Battle of the Falkland Islands, was responsible, together with her sister ship Inflexible, for the sinking of the German cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

On 31 May 1916 the British Grand Fleet met the German High Seas Fleet in the North Sea off Jutland. At about 6.30 pm HMS Invincible, leading the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron was hit by a salvo fired by the German battlecruiser Derfflinger. One shell blew the top off the ship's 'Q' gun turret and ignited the midships magazine below, causing a massive explosion which broke the ship in two. The ship sank within 10-15 seconds, leaving little wreckage. All but six of her 1031 strong crew were killed.

Dandridge was one of the six survivors. His position as a range finder on the control top of the ship's fore mast most probably saved him as he was thrown clear of the sinking ship. In a Sydney newspaper article published in the 1970s, Dandridge stated: 'She [HMS Invincible] led the British line at Jutland and I was a range finder...I was perched up on the mast like a bloomin' motherless seagull.' As Dandridge recalled, 'That's when I felt like a seagull. I went through the air only I had no wings.'

As the survivors surfaced they had a brief glimpse of the ship's bow and stern - both now vertical and approximately 15-20 metres clear of the water - before they disappeared beneath the sea. Clinging to a target raft and floating timber they were picked up by HMS Badger half an hour later. Dandridge miraculously escaped serious injury and was able to support Invincible's semi-conscious gunnery officer, Commander Hubert Edward Dannreuther and guide him to the support of a piece of wreckage. By September 1916 Dandridge was back on active service posted to the newly commissioned battlecruiser HMS Renown, possibly at the request of Commander Dannreuther, who had been appointed her first captain. In 1917 he married Ida Rablin at Portsmouth. In December 1917 while still serving in Renown, Dandridge was awarded the French Medaille Militaire. It is believed he received the award for his actions in saving Commander Dannreuther.

Dandridge was promoted to leading seaman in June 1918 and from 1919 to 1920 was lent to the Royal Australian Navy. Serving in its flagship HMAS Australia he was able to visit his family in Sydney. He returned to service with the Royal Navy until 1931 when he was placed on the Royal Fleet Reserve. In June 1939 Dandridge enlisted for active service once more. He served throughout the Second World War and was mentioned in despatches for service in the minesweeping trawler HMT Doon, which was gazetted on 11 June 1942. After the war, by now a widower, Dandridge settled in Australia to be close to his elderly mother and two surviving siblings. He married Hilda Leveridge Hathaway at Gosford in 1951. Ernest Dandridge died in Sydney in 1976.

His elder brother, William H Dandridge, also served in the First World War, with 3rd Tunnelling Company AIF. Hospitalised with pneumonia in September 1918, it was discovered that he had also contracted tuberculosis. He died of the disease in 1922. His medals are also held by the Australian War Memorial.