Victoria Cross belonging to daring Pirate of Basra killed in Iraq during WW1 sells for £200k
A Victoria Cross belonging to a British officer who flew the skull and crossbones from his ship has been snapped up by a private collector at auction for £200,000.
The highest honour for bravery was awarded to Lieutenant Commander Charles Henry Cowley, of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, after he was killed in 1916.
Born in Baghdad in 1879, Lt Cdr Crowley served in Iraq as an intelligence agent and famously became known as the Pirate of Basra.
His medal was sold by Noonans auction house in London's Mayfair.
Nimrod Dix, director of Noonans' medal department, shed light on Lt Cdr Cowley's secretive military service in Iraq, then known as Mesopotamia.
"[He] served on steamships up and down the Tigris and Euphrates rivers pre-hostilities, mastered Arabic and made many local friends, so was ideally suited to serve as a river pilot, interpreter and intelligence agent for the British," he explained.
When war broke out between Britain and the Ottoman Empire in November 1914, Lt Cdr Cowley was sent to Baghdad to help British citizens evacuate before taking on the task of transporting British troops.
"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," said Mr Dix.
However, Lt Cdr Cowley's gallant efforts meant he was a wanted man.
"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," Mr Dix explained.
In proud defiance, Lt Cdr Cowley flew a skull and crossbones flag whenever he sailed to Basra.
He also survived an assassination attempt – but his luck eventually ran out.
On the night of 24 April 1916, Lt Cdr Cowley and his crew made a bold attempt to resupply starving British troops at the besieged fort of Kut, 25 miles south of Baghdad.
He loaded his steamship, the SS Julnar, with 270 tonnes of supplies and set off up the River Tigris, but his ship was ambushed and trapped under heavy fire from Turkish machine guns and artillery, killing the commander and several crew members.
Lt Cdr Cowley was taken prisoner with a number of other survivors and later executed. He was 44.
Lt Commander Crowley's grave was never found, although he is remembered at the Basra memorial in Iraq.
He was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously and the medal was presented to his mother in 1917.
British troops first fought in Mesopotamia to protect oil supplies from the Ottoman Empire.
The besieged and starving soldiers at Kut were eventually forced to surrender, but British troops regrouped the following year and seized Baghdad in March 1917.
In all, more than 85,000 British troops were killed fighting in Mesopotamia during the First World War.
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