Commander Harold Auten (22 August 1891 – 3 October 1964) was a

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

(RNR) officer who was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He received his medal for an action during the English Channel campaign of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. A former pupil of

Wilson's School Wilson's School is a state boys' grammar school with academy status in the London Borough of Sutton, England. It was founded as Wilson's Grammar School in Camberwell in 1615, making it one of the country's oldest state schools. The school move ...

, Wallington, London, Auten had joined the RNR before the outbreak of the

during which he served in

Q-ship Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open f ...

s. He was promoted to

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in 1917 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross "for services in Vessels of the Royal Navy employed on Patrol and Escort duty" in that year.

Citation

He was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1918 following an action when he was commanding a Q-ship, HMS ''Stock Force'': Leatherhead, St Mary & St Nicholas, Harold Auten stone

Leatherhead, St Mary & St Nicholas, Harold Auten stone

(Note: the "panic party" was a group of the crew who would pretend to "abandon ship" when a Q-ship was attacked.) Auten's Victoria Cross is on display at the

Royal Naval Museum The National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, formerly known as the Royal Naval Museum, is a museum of the history of the Royal Navy located in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard section of HMNB Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The ...

, in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, England.

Later work

Harold Auten wrote ''Q Boat Adventures'', the first book on Q-ships in 1919. After the war he became an executive vice-president of the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distrib ...

in New York and lived for thirty years in

Bushkill, Pennsylvania Bushkill is an unincorporated community in Pike County, Pennsylvania, United States. Portions of Bushkill were seized by the United States government during the controversial Tocks Island Dam project and are now part of the Delaware Water Gap ...

, where he owned a hotel and cinema. However, he remained a member of the RNR and in 1941 he was awarded the Royal Naval Reserve Officers Decoration. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he held the rank of Commander (later acting Captain) in the RNR and served as senior staff organizing trans-Atlantic convoys. He was made an Officer of the United States Legion of Merit "for distinguished service to the Allied cause throughout the war" and a Commander of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

"for service to the Royal Netherlands Navy during the War".''The London Gazette'', 13 January 1948
/ref> He was a Younger Brother of

Trinity House "Three In One" , formation = , founding_location = Deptford, London, England , status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , he ...

References

Notes

Bibliography

Monuments to Courage David Charles Harvey (29 July 1946 – 4 March 2004) was a historian and author. He is notable for his seminal work, ''Monuments To Courage'', which documents the graves of almost all recipients of the Victoria Cross, a task that took him over 3 ...

(David Harvey, 1999) *

The Register of the Victoria Cross ''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' is a reference work that provides brief information on every Victoria Cross awarded until the publication date. Each entry provides a summary of the deed, along with a photograph of the recipient and the fo ...

(This England, 1997) *

VCs of the First World War - The Naval VCs ''VCs of the First World War'' is a series of books that list the Victoria Cross recipients of the First World War. The series consists of 13 books written by four different authors, first published under the label Sutton Publishing Limited, part ...

(Stephen Snelling, 2002) *"Q" Boat Adventures (Lieut-Commander Harold Auten, V.C. MCMX1X ) *Allport, D.H. & Friskney, N.J. "A Short History of

", Wilson's School Charitable Trust, 1987
AUTEN, Captain Harold
Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007

– Royal Naval Museum Library

External links

"Pennsylvania, USA"

"Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth" * {{DEFAULTSORT:Auten, Harold 1891 births 1964 deaths Military personnel from Surrey People from Leatherhead People educated at Wilson's School, Wallington English emigrants to the United States Royal Navy officers of World War I Royal Navy officers of World War II British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross Royal Navy recipients of the Victoria Cross Officers of the Legion of Merit Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Naval Reserve personnel Members of Trinity House