Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An important Second World War Coastal Forces D.S.M. awarded to Ordinary Seaman K. G. Dix, Royal Navy, the Radar Operator in M.T.B. 724 on the night of 18-19 September 1944, when three E-Boats were destroyed off Ostend in ‘perhaps the most decisive battle against E-Boats of the whole war’

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (O.S. K. G. Dix, P/JX. 420826), good very fine £1600-1800

D.S.M. London Gazette 19 December 1944. The original recommendation states:

‘The conduct and efficiency of this rating as Radar Operator in a successful action with three E-Boats on the night of 18-19 September 1944, was of the highest order, contributing largely to their interception and subsequent destruction. His coolness and skill has been equally valuable in previous actions’.

Kenneth George Dix, a native of Dusthill in Staffordshire, was operating out of the Coastal Forces Base H.M.S. Beehive at the time of the above incident, his C.O. being Lieutenant J. F. Humphreys, R.N.V.R. The following extract from the Battle of the Narrow Seas, by Lieutenant-Commander Peter Scott, M.B.E., D.S.C., describes exactly the events which led him to conclude that the action of the night of 18-19 September 1944 was probably the most decisive battle against E-Boats of the War:

‘One night in September, the frigate H.M.S. Stayner (now under the command of Lt. A. V. Turner, D.S.C., R.N.V.R.) was patrolling north of Ostend in company with a single unit of two "D" Boats from Lt. Cdr. Wilkie's Flotilla. The Senior Officer of this unit was Lt. J. F. Humphreys, R.N.V.R., in M.T.B. 724, who had with him M.T.B. 728, under the command of Lt. F. N. Thomson, R.N.V.R.

Besides their normal mining and torpedo sorties, the E-Boats were occasionally used at this time for running the blockade to Dunkirk, where the German garrison was now besieged on the landward side. When these runs were made other E-Boats often used diversionary tactics, as they had attempted to do off Cap d'Antifer and elsewhere. It is probable that the unit of three E-Boats of the 10th E-Boat Flotilla under the command of Kapitainleutnant Karl Muller, which met our force soon after eleven o'clock on the night of the 18 September, was engaged on some such diversionary duties. As they steered south-west in arrowhead formation, Muller sighted the wakes of two boats on his port bow and began to turn away. The E-Boats on the port wing of the arrowhead, however, did not turn quickly enough, and the two M.T.Bs engaged it to such good effect that in a matter of seconds it was burning brightly and soon after it lay stopped, to be despatched in due course by the Stayner herself. Humphreys passed it by and led on to engage the other two, and it was at this juncture, according to Muller, that the two E-Boats came into collision. He claims that his E-Boat stopped as a result of this collision, but it is equally certain that it was heavily hit by the two M.T.B's. The third E-Boat was recalled to the assistance of his damaged leader, but instead of him the M.T.Bs arrived on the scene to find Muller and his crew abandoning ship. A few minutes later the remains of the E-Boats blew up and sank.
Two out of three had been disposed of, now for the last one.

Returning towards its damaged companions, it was met by the M.T.Bs and made off again at 40 knots, but, in the few seconds of the brief engagement, the gunnery of the British boats was as effective as before. Although the enemy outdistanced the pursuit, the death blow had been struck. In the E-Boat one engine had been hit, and so had the cooling system of another; after running a mile or so the engine seized up and the enemy was reduced to a crawl. Soon the M.T.Bs came up, but so dark was the night that they did not see the crippled E-Boat until there were on top of it. Humphreys first sighted it six feet from his starboard side. He had missed ramming it inadvertently by inches. Over the R/T he told Thomson in the E-Boat behind, who altered course just in time so that the E-Boat passed down his port side. As he did so his gunners opened fire and the enemy vessel burst into flames and blazed like a torch.

So far the operation had gone without a hitch, but it is only fair to record the bad with the good, and now came a piece of unavoidable bad luck. It will be observed that the M.T.Bs had passed one on either side of the E-Boat. But Humphreys could not know this. Return fire from the E-Boat had started a small fire in Thomson's boat and Thomson reported it to Humphreys, and then his R/T went out of action. Hearing this report and seeing the blazing boat astern, Humphreys very naturally connected the two. What, then, was the E-Boat speeding away on a divergent course on the starboard beam? It must be the E-Boat; and so it was that 724 opened fire on 728; 728, thinking that here must be another enemy, returned the fire. The firing only lasted a few seconds, but we have already seen how accurate was the gunnery of these two boats and regrettably enough some hits were scored. The two lost contact with each other, and Humphreys went back to lay a smoke-screen round what he believed to be the burning wreck of Thomson's boat. It was only when he closed in to pick up the survivors that he was amazed to discover they were German.

Thus two M.T.Bs, at a cost of three killed and one wounded, had, with the support of Stayner, wiped out a whole unit of three E-Boats. Over 60 prisoners were taken, amongst them Muller himself - a veteran in the E-Boat service, who was known to his friends as "Charlie" Muller. He claimed to have fought in no less than 164 actions, and had been awarded the Ritterkreuz’.