Harold Auten
Lieutenant, Royal Naval Reserve
- Register No.
- 40 (Alf's numbering, from The Register of the Victoria Cross, 1997)
- Rank
- Lieutenant all Lieutenants →
- Unit
- Royal Naval Reserve all Royal Naval Reserve VCs →
- Date of action
- 30 July 1918 on this day → all of 1918 →
- Conflict / campaign
- First World War
- London Gazette
- 14th September 1918 on this day → all of 1918 →
- Born
- 22nd August 1891 at Leatherhead, Surrey
- Died
- 3rd October 1964 at Bushkill, Pennsylvania, USA
- Memorial / grave
- an unmarked grave in Sandhills cemetery, Bushkill, Pennsylvania, USA
- Medal held by
- the Royal Naval Museum
Digest of citation
On 30th July 1918 in the English Channel, Lieutenant Auten was in command of HMS Stock Force (one of the 'Q' or 'mystery' ships) when she was torpedoed by a U-boat and very badly damaged. The 'Panic party' took to the boats and the U-boat surfaced half a mile away, but after 15 minutes the 'panic party' began to row back, followed by the U-boat When it lay about 300 yards from Stock Force the guns opened fire, doing tremendous damage to the submarine which sank in a very short time. Stock Force finally sank about four hours later. Lieutenant Auten and her crew being taken off by a torpedo boat
From Alf Askin's research notes
Reproduced as Alf wrote it, c. 2000–2005. Spelling and abbreviations are his own.
AUTEN, Harold (Reg. No. 40)
Lieutenant Royal Naval Reserve.
London Gazetted on 14th September 1918 VC Medal's Custodian is the Royal Naval Museum.
Born on 22nd August 1891 at Leatherhead, Surrey.
Died on 3rd October 1964 at Bushkill, Pennsylvania, USA.
Memorial an unmarked grave in Sandhills cemetery, Bushkill, Pennsylvania, USA.
Digest of Citation reads: On 30th July 1918 in the English Channel, Lieutenant Auten was in command of HMS Stock Force (one of the 'Q' or 'mystery' ships) when she was torpedoed by a U-boat and very badly damaged. The 'Panic party' took to the boats and the U-boat surfaced half a mile away, but after 15 minutes the 'panic party' began to row back, followed by the U-boat When it lay about 300 yards from Stock Force the guns opened fire, doing tremendous damage to the submarine which sank in a very short time. Stock Force finally sank about four hours later. Lieutenant Auten and her crew being taken off by a torpedo boat Additional Information: Eventually promoted to Commander.
Additional information
Eventually promoted to Commander
Visit the grave or memorial
Alf recorded the memorial as: an unmarked grave in Sandhills cemetery, Bushkill, Pennsylvania, USA
Map links open a search for the place name Alf recorded; please check opening times and exact locations before travelling. Many VC graves have since been restored by the Victoria Cross Trust.
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