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Pic: DNW/BNPS
The medals of a World War Two navy commander who survived his ship's sinking by clinging to a comrade's dead body have sold for almost £20,000.
Commander Charles Cuthbertson was in charge of the HMS Zinnia when it was destroyed by a German U-Boat in the north Atlantic in 1941, sinking in 20 seconds.
He grabbed hold of the trunk of a dead seaman in the water in a desperate bid to stay afloat, holding on for 30 minutes before being fished out of the sea by a passing dinghy.
Cmdr Cuthbertson's tale of survival inspired Nicholas Monsarrat to write his best-selling novel 'The Cruel Sea', which was subsequently made into a 1953 film starring Jack Hawkins and Stanley Baker.
Pic: DNW/BNPS
The medals of a World War Two navy commander who survived his ship's sinking by clinging to a comrade's dead body have sold for almost £20,000.
Commander Charles Cuthbertson was in charge of the HMS Zinnia when it was destroyed by a German U-Boat in the north Atlantic in 1941, sinking in 20 seconds.
He grabbed hold of the trunk of a dead seaman in the water in a desperate bid to stay afloat, holding on for 30 minutes before being fished out of the sea by a passing dinghy.
Cmdr Cuthbertson's tale of survival inspired Nicholas Monsarrat to write his best-selling novel 'The Cruel Sea', which was subsequently made into a 1953 film starring Jack Hawkins and Stanley Baker.
DNW/BNPS 11 Mar 2021 3000x2932 / 2.0MB