# Commander D J B Jewitt DSC RN



## Aberdonian (Apr 7, 2011)

When online earlier this year, I noticed a group of six WW2 medals awarded to Commander Dermod James Boris Jewitt DSC RN had been put up for auction. I met him when I first came ashore to work as a cargo superintendent for the same company as he did in the Port of London. 

Commander Jewitt (1908-1998) first saw action off the coast of Norway as a Lieutenant-Commander in 1940, for which he was Mentioned in Dispatches. He had a varied and distinguished career in the Royal Navy from 1926 until he was invalided out in 1953. Accounts of his exploits can be found both online and in the book, “Trawlers go to War” by Lund and Ludlam.

Married into the Scrutton family, he was employed by the stevedoring company then called Scruttons Limited soon after leaving the Navy. Up until he was made a director in 1966, Commander Jewitt was active in the Port of London mainly associated with local industrial negotiations. A familiar figure, gamely negotiating accommodation ladders and the like with the aid of sticks, he played a major part in settling many onboard labour disputes in ships being worked by the company. 

Aberdonian


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