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Yangtze Incident - Award Controversy
Dear Sirs, I read with interest the letter printed in the October issue pertaining to HMS Concord‘s 1949 action in support of the beleaguered HMS Amethyst as she escaped the Yangtze River.
The letter concerned the awarding of clasps for the action, or, rather, in the case of Concord the lack of such award. I would like to offer an explanation, in the hope that Mrs Giles finds reassurance that her father and his comrades certainly played a significant role in the famous incident.
The destroyer was indeed sent upriver to meet Amethyst in the final part of her escape; her task was to support the escapee vessel if the forts at Woosung became a problem. However, they did not, so the destroyer did not engage.
Concord thus did not directly participate in the rescue of Amethyst, as she was already well on her way out. For this reason the destroyer’s ship’s company did not receive the clas…
