b. 14/05/1902 Patrington, East Riding, Yorkshire. d. 22/05/1941 off Crete.
DATE OF AM ACTION: 22/05/1941 off Crete.
Walter R Marshall-A’Deane DSO DSC AM
Commander W. Roger Marshall-A’Deane of Keswick, Cumberland (1902 – 1941) was the younger son of Mr Richard Marshall, originally of Enholmes, Panington, E. Yorkshire, and Mrs Gertrude Ellen Marshall, originally of Geraldine, New Zealand. He entered the service of the Royal Navy under his original surname of Marshall during the First World War – in 1916 – and attended Osborne Royal Naval College.
Following his 1926 marriage in New Zealand to Miss Margaret Hamilton A’Deane the then Lieutenant Roger Marshall added the maiden name of his bride to his own family name. Henceforth the happy couple were known by the family name Marshall-A’Deane.
The couple had met in New Zealand when Lieutenant Walter Roger Marshall and Lieutenant Laurence Lyonel Tollemanche, who were both officers from HMS Dunedin at the time visited the A’Deane family home of Ashcott, Takapau, Hawke’s Bay on New Zealand’s North Island. At the time, Lieutenants Marshall and Tollemanche were attachés to Lord Jellicoe, Commander in Chief of the Royal Navy, a regular visitor to Ashcott while he in New Zealand.
On the same day that Lieutenant Roger Marshall married Margaret A’Deane, Lieutenant Tollemanche married Margaret’s sister, Violet, in a double marriage ceremony. Lieutenant Tollemanche, R.N. also went on to become a Commander in the Royal Navy and served in WW2, where he had the misfortune to be taken prisoner by the Japanese at Singapore in 1942. He and Margaret would have three daughters.
Shortly before the outbreak of WW2, on 5 July 1939, Roger Marshall-A’Deane was appointed Commanding Officer of H.M.S. Greyhound (Pennant No H05). She was a G Class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Commander Marshall-A’Deane would remain with ‘Greyhound’ until she was lost on 22 May 1941.
During this relatively short period of just under two years Commander Marshall A-Deane, the ‘Greyhound’ and its crew were in the thick of the action on several occasions serving with great distinction. During this two year period Commander Marshall-A’Deane was awarded the following honours – DSO, DSC and twice Mentioned in Despatches before the posthumous award of the Albert Medal.
After WW2 Mrs. Margaret Marshall-A’Deane eventually returned to her former homestead of Ashcott, Takapau, New Zealand. Mrs. Marshall-A’Deane passed away in 1970: once more reunited with her husband. Commander Roger Marshall-A’Deane is commemorated by his hometown of Keswick, Cumberland (now Cumbria). Along with other casualties from the Keswick area there is a simple listing of his name on the Keswick War Memorial and the WW2 War Memorial at Crosthwaite Parish Church (Church of England). His medals are being sold at auction in July 2022 at Noonans.
AM CITATION:
When his ship, H.M.S. Greyhound, was bombed and sunk, Commander MarshallA’Deane was among the survivors picked up by H.M.S. Kandahar. Later in the day H.M.S. Fiji was sunk and H.M.S. Kandahar again went to the rescue. Commander Marshall-A’Deane, despite the ordeal he had already been through that day, dived overboard in the gathering darkness to rescue the men in the water. He was not seen again. This was the last proof of. his great gallantry. Commander Marshall-A’Deane had already in this war been appointed Companion of the Distinguished Service Order, won the Distinguished Service Cross, and twice been mentioned in Despatches.
BURIAL LOCATION: BODY LOST. NAMED ON PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL.
PANEL 45 COLUMN 1.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: SOLD AT NOONANS IN JULY 2022 FOR £32,000
Acknowledgement:
Noonans – Image of the Marshall A’Deane DSO DSC AM.