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John Mills in a scene from "Above us the waves", being a submariner standing on the deck of a midget submarine, signed, watercolour, 38 x 27cm; together with a model of a midget submarine, modern, 30cm, mounted on a stand; a pen and ink drawing of a submariner on deck, signed 'GT 45', 17.5 x 25.5cm, a cartoon drawing of Jimmy Benson with a mermaid, 16 x 20.5cm, and a cast iron 'Gozo' plaque (5)
Footnote: JAMES ‘JIMMY’ BENSON OBE [1925 – 2018] Jimmy Benson had two completely different distinguished careers: the first during World War II as a ‘charioteer’ and midget submariner; and the second from the 1960s in advertising, becoming Vice Chairman of Oglivy & Mather International. Whilst studying modern Languages at Cambridge in 1943, Jimmy was called up as a mid-shipman RNVR before volunteering in February 1944 for ‘special services’ without fully understanding its implications. A strong swimmer, he was sent to join 12 th Submariner Squadron which operated midget submarines from ‘Harbour HHZ’, actually Loch Cairnbawn in northern Scotland, and where he learnt underwater photography and diving. Aged 20 years, he was second-in-command of midget submarine X23 , later commanding the improved XE8 . Although he was 6’ 3”, he avoided the height problems suffered by his co-submariners because he never tried to stand upright! He then transferred to the East Indies Fleet, ending up as First Lieutenant on the minesweeper, ‘Gozo‘ , which assisted with the retaking of Malaya and Singapore from the Japanese. Demobbed in January 1947, Benson took his degree in economics at Cambridge before joining the Kemsley Group on such newspapers as the Sunday Times. In 1950, he married Honaria (Ria) Hurley, who had nursed him during his recuperation from a knee injury, and in order to support his family, in 1953 he co-wrote with his fellow submariner, C E T Warren, ‘Above Us the Waves’ , which chronicled the attacks undertaken by the chariots (two-man human torpedoes) and midget submarines on the German battle ship, ‘Tirpitz’, in the fjords of Norway. The book proved to be highly successful, as was the eponymous 1955 film starring John Mills and Donald Sinden. Jimmy subsequently co-wrote other books with Warren based on their war time experiences.
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