WWII Royal Navy Casualty Group To Crew Member of Submarine HMS P311

A group of medals awarded posthumously to Percival Leo James Down with transmittal slip and box. Percival Down, service number D/MX 53618, was an Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class on board Submarine P311 (due to be named Tutankhamen) which was lost on Operation Principal. Down is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial.

Operation Principal involved 3 submarines that were to carry Chariot manned torpedoes to attack Italian ships at 2 locations. HMS P311 was due to attack the Italian cruisers Gorizia and Trieste at  La Maddalena in Sardinia. P311 was lost without trace between December 31st 1942 and January 8th 1943 and is believed to have struck an Italian mine. The wreck was discovered in 2016 with the Chariot manned torpedoes still attached the hull.

The medals in the group are the 1939-1945 Star, Atlantic Star, Africa Star with North Africa 1942-43 clasp and War Medal.

The Small Print:

All coins, medals and other items I sell are genuine unless I have explicitly described them as otherwise, I have been selling on eBay for over 20 years and I guarantee this forever.  If I sell you something as genuine that later turns out to be a forgery I will take the item back and refund you in full including all postage costs.  There are a great many groups on social media sites with experienced collectors posting coins that you can look at which will help you learn to grade coins and offer advice on whether a coin is genuine or not. Don’t get caught out by fake coins. Feel free to copy any of my images to post on groups to get opinions on the actual coins I’m selling.

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