A fine Second World War Coastal Forces D.S.M. group of four awarded to Able Seaman L. Cousins, Royal Navy, who was decorated for his deeds as a Radar Operator in a brilliant night action in the Channel in October 1943, when M.G.B. 607 accounted for a brace of E-boats, one of them by ramming at speed - five of 607’s crew were killed and another six wounded, including Cousins: such was the calibre of the bravery displayed that night that six members of 607’s crew were decorated and four more mentioned in despatches

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (A.B. L. Cousins, P./JX. 350038); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, clasp, France and Germany; War Medal 1939-45, extremely fine (4) £1800-2200

D.S.M. London Gazette 9 May 1944. The original recommendation states:

‘Able Seaman Cousins was Radar Operator of M.G.B. 607 and, although severely wounded, he stuck to his post and supplied the bridge with radar information concerning the enemy. He showed great courage and calmness in spite of his wounds. Able Seaman Cousins acted in the highest traditions of the Service.’

An indication of the importance of the actions fought by M.G.B. 607 and her consorts on the night of 24-25 October 1943 is to be found in the London Gazette of 15 October 1948, for therein was published a full account of the night’s proceedings, via Admiral of the Fleet Jack Tovey’s original despatch of 18 November 1943 - one of just four epic Coastal Forces’ actions chosen for post-war publication to represent the many daring feats and sacrifices made by that gallant body of men in the “Battle of the Narrow Seas”, and beyond. In it, Tovey describes a series of ferocious firefights with around 30 E-boats - and how two of them, thanks to 607’s gallant crew, were among those that failed to return to base.

As part of the 50th Flotilla, operating out of Midge at Yarmouth, M.G.Bs 603 and 607 formed “Unit Y” that night, the former commanded by Lieutenant F. R. Lightoller, R.N.V.R., the son of Titanic’s senior surviving officer, Charles Lightoller (himself a Great War D.S.C. and Bar for services in the R.N.R.), and the latter commanded by the pre-war English rugby international, Lieutenant R. M. “Mike” Marshall, R.N.V.R., with Leslie Cousins, a native of Sheffield, among his crew. One and all were in for a busy night, but by dawn the two “Dogboats” had contributed towards a significant turning point in Coastal Forces’ fortunes, the whole by means of highly skilled radar work and disciplined gunnery - and cold blooded courage of a high order.

The M.G.Bs of “Unit Y” first came into contact with a force of E-boats off Smith’s Knoll in the early morning hours, 607 steering right across the bow of the leading enemy boat as the firefight commenced - the latter was quickly set ablaze. Minutes later another E-boat was spotted by Cousins on his radar, to port, and “Mike” Marshall set off in hot pursuit, but as the two boats closed at speed, the enemy swung quickly to starboard and came straight at 607 - with lightening reactions, her navigator, Sub. Lieutenant J. N. Arkell, ordered the helm hard to port, thereby enabling 607 to take the advantage and ram, and with a deafening crash 607 smashed into the E-boat amidships. In the interim, as the two boats had been closing to point-blank range, enemy fire knocked out 607’s pom-pom and starboard gun, causing several casualties, but luckily, as it transpired, the E-boat had taken far greater punishment, and blew up and sank soon after drifting clear of 607’s bows.

With one confirmed victim to her name, 607 was shortly to claim another, for the leading E-boat she had engaged at the beginning of the action - and which had remained ablaze ever since - was seen to erupt in a colossal explosion, flinging debris into the air to a height of 200 feet. In due course, 19 prisoners were fished out of the water by 603, who also took the badly damaged 607 in tow, but at 0410 hours, further E-boats were picked up on the radar and the tow line had to be slipped, while Lightoller set off to investigate - he returned about 45 minutes later, having engaged six more E-boats and badly damaged one of them. Meanwhile, Marshall in 607 had been making 3 knots stern first, no doubt painfully aware that the arrival of dawn would make him a sitting duck to all and sundry. But with a tow line once more attached to 603, his prospects quickly improved - and even more so with the arrival of two more M.G.Bs on the scene, followed by a pair of High Speed Launches, the latter evacuating 607’s casualties, Cousins no doubt among them. And so it was, after an interminable return trip, that 607 received a rapturous welcome back at Yarmouth.

Sad though it is to relate, Marshall was lost off Norway in May 1945, when his M.G.B. struck a mine, and Lightoller killed in action in Northern France in March 1945, when the enemy garrison in the Channel Islands mounted a raid on Granville. Cousins, however, survived to fight another day, and was awarded his D.S.M at an investiture held on 16 February 1945; on which date Cousins had joined 607 remains unknown, but it is worth noting for the record that she had already participated in a brace of firefights, namely an encounter with an escort trawler on the 27 March 1943, in which the latter was severely damaged, and a spirited gun action off Terschelling that May against four armed trawlers, one of which was also seriously damaged.