Lt Cdr Cowley was captured and killed as he tried to resupply a besieged garrison (Image: Noonans)
given to a British Officer who flew a skull and crossbones flag from his ship has been sold for an eyewatering £200,000 at auction. The medal, the highest award for gallantry, was awarded posthumously to Lieutenant Commander Charles Henry Cowley, of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, following his death in .
The medal was sold by Noonans auction house in London’s Mayfair and was snapped up by a private collector of British gallantry awards. Born in in 1879, Cowley’s remarkable life saw him serve as an intelligence officer in , where he mastered Arabic and served on steamships up and down the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. At the outbreak of the , Lt Cdr Cowley was tasked with evacuating British citizens and transporting British troops to theatres of war.
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Lt Cdr Cowley was tasked with sailing ships up and down the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (Image: Getty)
Nimrod Dix, Deputy Chairman of Noonans and Director of the Medal Department commented: “Cowley mastered Arabic and made many local friends, so was ideally suited to serve as a river-pilot, interpreter, and intelligence agent for the British.
“18 months before he was murdered, Cowley was in command of the Mejidieh and ordered from Basra to Baghdad to evacuate all British nationals who wished to leave.
“His command having then been formally requisitioned by the Royal Navy, he went on to play a critical role in carrying troops back and forth on the Euphrates and Tigris.
“His work came to the attention of the Turks, who sentenced him to death in absentia at a military court hearing held in Baghdad and even sent him a message declaring him to be a pirate.
“Such accusations appealed to Cowley’s sense of humour and, far from being perturbed, he took to flying the ‘skull and crossbones’ flag whenever he returned to Basra.”
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The Victoria Cross (middle) is Britain’s highest award for gallantry (Image: Getty)
Cowley survived an assassination attempt as he continued to serve the British Empire’s war effort, but his luck only lasted so long.
On 24 April 1916, Cowley led a mission to deliver supplies to the besieged fort at the Kut garrison, containing starving British troops, 25 miles south of Baghdad.
Having loaded his ship with 270 tons of supplies, Cowley and his skull and cross-bone flag set sail on the perilous mission where they were ambushed en route.
Heavy fire and artillery killed members of his crew but Cowley was taken prisoner and later executed.
His grave was never found but he has been memorialised in Basra, . In 1917, his guile and daring earned him the , which was presented to his mother.