Lot 4212

Description

Group of Six: 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Pacific Star; Defence Medal 1939-45; War Medal 1939-45; Australia Service Medal 1939-45. B.K.Phelan R.A.N. All medals impressed. Very fine.

Lieutenant Commander Bernard Kirwan Phelan R.A.N. Enl.01Jan1922 Disch.23Aug1946. Bernard Phelan was born at St Helens, Tasmania on 16th September 1908. He first appears in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette as a Midshipman with seniority of 15 May 1926. In 1931 Phelan was seconded to the Royal Australian Air Force, General Duties Branch possibly for pilot training. He returned to the R.A.N. in 1932 then was transferred to the Emergency List. On 25 April 1940 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. During WWII he served aboard HMAS Hobart (Apr1940-Feb1941), HMAS Platypus (Feb1941-Jan1942) and HMAS Adelaide (Jan1942-Sep1942). He also served as Naval Officer-In-Charge and Port Master of Langemak 1944-1945. the Cruiser 'Hobart' helped to evacuate British Troops from Berbera during the Italian occupation of Somaliland August 1940. After the successful evacuation, all the ships involved participated in shelling the coast. The Cruiser 'Adelaide'patrolled Australian waters throughout the war. Together with nineteen pages mostly photocopies of Service Records.