Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (1953)

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(SEE) OMD 226

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Augustus Willington Shelton Agar VC, DSO, RN (4 Jan 1890 -30 Dec 1968) was the son of John Shelton Agar of Woodmount, Co Kerry. Agar was educated at Eastmans Naval Academy and HMS Britannia and entered the Royal Navy in 1905. He served with the Grand Fleet in the North Sea from 1914-15 and then took part in the evacuation of Gallipoli. In 1918, he was detached for special service in Coastal Motor Boats (CMBs) and in 1919 established a secret base at Terrioki in Finland from which he landed and collected British secret agents operating in Bolshevik Russia. On 17 June 1919, Agar took a more aggressive course of action, mounting a torpedo attack on the Bolshevik cruiser Oleg in Kronstadt harbour. The cruiser was sunk and Agar brought his vessel CMB 4 safely back to base. Agar was awarded the VC for his part in this action, receiving the DSO for a second, large-scale attack on Kronstadt in August. The secrecy attached to Agar's VC led to his award being described as the 'mystery' VC. Promoted captain in 1933, he commanded the cruiser HMS Dorsetshire, surviving its sinking by Japanese dive bombers in the Indian Ocean in April 1942. On appointment as commodore in 1943, he was president of the RN College, Greenwich from 1943-46. Agar contested Greenwich in the Conservative interest in the 1945 General Election. Agar retired in the rank of captain in 1947. He was a younger brother of Trinity House from 1936 and, inter alia, a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron. His VC was gazetted on 22 August 1919. He published a number of books including his autobiography 'Footprints in the Sea' (Evans, London 1959) as well as 'Showing the Flag' and 'Baltic Episode'. Agar died at Alton, Hampshire on 30 December 1968.