Distinguished Service Medal awarded to Seaman William Tilley Elmslie RNR. The citation in the ‘London Gazette’ 16 August 1940 reads as follows: ‘For good services in the withdrawal of Allied Armies from the beaches of Dunkirk’. Elmslie was serving in the minesweeper HMS ‘Dundalk’ at the time. On 31 May 1940 HMS ‘Dundalk’ sailed from Dunkirk to Margate with 500 British troops. She sailed back to Dunkirk and on 1 June was attacked by 12 Messerschmitts. ‘Dundalk’ then sailed back to Margate giving assistance to the ‘Havant’ en route. The ‘Dundalk’ arrived at Margate at 12.15 on 1 June and disembarked 280 troops. She returned to Dunkirk, embarked about 450 French troops and arrived back at Folkestone on 3 June.

A contemporary newspaper report said of Elmslie: ‘He was serving aboard HM Minesweeper ‘Dundalk’ when he was ordered to take a boat to the shore to bring some of the waiting soldiers on board. There were a few other members of crew with him. They set out, peppered with machine gun fire, with bombs bursting around them, rocking the boat and enveloping them with spray. The boat overturned and the other sailors swam back to the ship. But Elmslie, struggling in the water, somehow righted the boat, and defying the bombers brought back the soldiers alone’. He was also Mentioned in Despatches in 1942, ‘For good services and devotion to duty in the Far East’ (‘London Gazette’ 13 October 1942).

On the obverse of the medal is the bust of George V in naval uniform and the inscription: ‘GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR: OMN:REX:F:D:INDIAE:IMP’. On the reverse is the Royal crown above and a laurel wreath tied with a bow enclosing the inscription: ‘FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE’. On the edge of the medal is the inscription: ‘X.19014 A. W.T.ELMSLIE. SMN. R.N.R.’. The medal is fitted with a bar and a dark blue ribbon with a broad white central band divided by a narrow dark blue stripe. It is mounted on the bar with six others: 1939-45 Star (MED1644), Atlantic Star (MED1645), 1939-45 War Medal (MED1646), Long Service and Good Conduct Medal RNR (MED1647), Fire Brigade Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (MED1648) and Dunkerque Medal 1940 (MED1649).