Battle of Matapan cover signed Lee- Barber HMS Griffin + Sir Donald Gibson FAA

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Royal Navy cover to commemorate the Anniversary of the Battle of Matapan 28th March 1941 signed by Rear Admiral J Lee-Barber CB DSO*, Captain of HMS Griffin at Matapan Rear-Admiral John Lee-Barber, who was one of the most successful and aggressive destroyer captains of the Second World War. He was born 16th April, 1905 and joined the Navy as a cadet in 1919. His first destroyer command came in 1937 with Witch, followed by Ardent. From 1939 to 1942, he distinguished himself in charge of Griffin in the Norwegian campaign during which the Griffin captured the German trawler Polaris, disguised in Dutch colours and carrying much intelligence material that proved invaluable to later naval efforts. Later, the Griffin was to evacuate Polish troops from France, for which Lee-Barber was awarded the the Polish Cross of Valour. He received the DSO in 1940 for his efforts in anti-invasion patrols along the English Channel. In the autumn of 1940, the Griffin was sent to the Mediterranean where she was involved with much action, including escort duty for convoys going to Malta in 1941. When he left the Griffin early in 1942, Lee-Barber was naval advisor to Southern Command Army Headquarters Home Forces, but in September he took command of Opportune in the 17th destroyer flotilla, escorting convoys to and from Russia. On Dec 23rd 1943, Opportune took part in the high-speed chase of the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst by ships of the Home Fleet in the Arctic. He was mentioned in despatches for two torpedo hits on the German boat. From 1944-46, Lee-Barber was executive officer of HMS King Alfred, the RNVR officers training establishment in Hove. Subsequently he went back into commanding destroyers, first St James and then Agincourt. From 1950 to 1952 he was naval attaché in Santiago, Lima, Bogata, and Quito, and from 1954 to 1957 Commodore Harwich, in command of the inshore flotilla. His last appointment, in 1957, was as Admiral Superintendent, Malta, at a time of unrest there, returning in 1959, the year he was appointed CB. John Lee-Barber disregarded every rule of good health, smoking 40 cigarettes a day and drinking copious glasses of gin. Like all successful wartime destroyer captains, he had tremendous physical stamina, and was able to stand on bridge for hours on end and go for days without proper sleep. Vice-Admiral Sir Donald Gibson KCB DSC, as FAA Pilot flying off of HMS Formidable VICE-ADMIRAL SIR DONALD GIBSON,was one of the best, and the luckiest, Fleet Air Arm pilots of the Second World War. During the Norwegian campaign in the spring of 1940, he flew Gloster Sea Gladiator biplane fighters from the carrier Glorious with 802 Naval Air Squadron. Although hopelessly outclassed by the Luftwaffe, 802's Sea Gladiators achieved considerable success in defence of the fleet. Gibson was one of 802's pilots who flew ashore to Hatston in the Orkneys before Glorious sailed on her last voyage. She and her two attendant destroyers were sunk by the German battle-cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau off northern Norway on June 8. Of the 1,500 men in the three ships, there were some 40 survivors, none from 802. Gibson then joined 803 squadron, flying Blackburn Skua fighter-divebombers from Ark Royal. On June 13, both Ark Royal's Skua squadrons, 800 and 803, took part in a rash, ill-conceived bombing attack on Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in Trondheim harbour. This was nothing more than an attempted revenge for the sinking of Glorious. Everything went wrong. The attack, carried out in daylight and against fierce flak defence, was an abject failure. Of 15 Skuas, eight were shot down and their crews killed or captured. Gibson compared it to the Charge of the Light Brigade and said later: "In future all admirals should ideally be shot at in an aeroplane while they are still young." In July 1940, 803 took part in the operations against Vichy France at Oran, and then at Dakar in September. Gibson was credited with sharing three "kills". Whe... read more

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