Beschreibung:

MAY 1941: CRETE 'On 20 May 1941, 16,000 German airborne troops launched the invasion of Crete, Hitler's final operation to reverse the disaster of Mussolini's attempt to occupy Greece on behalf of the Axis powers. On the following day, H.M.S. Kelly was ordered from Malta to Crete as leader of a flotilla of three K Class destroyers, to defend the island from the invasion fleet. Early on the morning of 23 May, the flotilla was attacked by 24 Stuka dive-bombers. The ships in the flotilla took evasive action and the destroyers were sailing at full speed, about 30 knots, when both Kelly and her sister ship, H.M.S. Kashmir, were hit. H.M.S. Kelly was struck by a large bomb, listed to port and capsized. The third ship in the flotilla, H.M.S. Kipling, managed to pick up survivors despite coming under sustained attack herself. 159 survivors of H.M.S. Kelly were rescued and taken to Alexandria. The captain of H.M.S. Kelly and the leader of the flotilla was Lord Louis Mountbatten, the king's cousin. Mountbatten was only in his early 40s but was tall, striking, and had a natural aura of leadership and authority. Despite this, he had not enjoyed a distinguished record as captain of H.M.S. Kelly, the ship having been put out of action by mines and torpedoes three times during the war, and having in one fourteen month period spent only two weeks on active duty. Without doubt, however, Mountbatten was a popular captain much liked by the men who served under him. Mountbatten returned to London in June 1941, where he met an old showbiz friend for lunch, Noel Coward. Mountbatten had enjoyed an interest in stage and screen throughout his life. On his honeymoon in 1922 he had visited Hollywood and appeared in a short film made by Charlie Chaplin. Coward was gripped by Mountbatten's account of his recent experiences on H.M.S. Kelly and was particularly fascinated by the speeches he had made as captain to his crew … so he decided to make a film based on the story of Mountbatten and the H.M.S. Kelly incident. He would write it, produce it, compose the music for it - and star in it as the captain of the ship … ' The hugely popular wartime film 'In Which We Serve' was the result; 'The Military History Matters' website, refers. An outstanding Second World War campaign group of five awarded to Electrical Artificer 1st Class A. G. Leach, Royal Navy, who served in H.M.S. Kelly, Lord Louis Mountbatten's famous command, from her commissioning until her demise in May 1941 He was twice wounded in the same period, on the first occasion in May 1940, when the Kelly was severely damaged by an E-Boat torpedo strike in the North Sea, and secondly in May 1941, when she fell victim to enemy dive bombers on returning from Crete Tragically, having surviving Kelly's trials and tribulations, Leach met an untimely death from 'bullet wounds' received at the shore establishment H.M.S. Moreta, at Haifa, Palestine, in January 1943 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue (MX. 46599 A. G. Leach, E.A. 1, H.M.S. Moreta), good very fine or better (5) Alfred George Leach was born at Wareham, Dorset on 1 September 1901 and, after working as a turner and fitter, entered the Royal Navy as an Electrical Artificer 4th Class in July 1927; an entry on the Ancestry.com website states that he was among those 'who rallied at Cable Street in East London, to force back the march of the fascist Oswald Mosley and his black shirts', on 4 October 1936. Having then been advanced to Electrical Artificer 1st Class, he was serving in H.M.S. Kelly on the outbreak of hostilities in September 1939. Norway and the North Sea 1940 - first wound The command of the dashing Lord Louis Mountbatten, C.O. of the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, Kelly quickly saw action, participating in the evacuation of British troops from Namsos in Norway in April 1940 - she came under sustained air attack from dive-bombers but returned safely to Scapa Flow. On the night of