Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine Second World War Coastal Forces D.S.M. group of five awarded to Petty Officer A. A. Hartland, Royal Navy, who was decorated for his bravery as coxswain of M.G.B. 76, part of “Hitch” Hichens’ flotilla, and afterwards mentioned in despatches for ten ‘vigorous’ engagements with enemy coastal craft in the wake of the Normandy landings

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (J. 112346 A. A. Hartland, P.O.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; War Medal 1939-45; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R. (J. 112346 P.O., H.M.S. Drake) good very fine and better (5)
£1200-1500

D.S.M. London Gazette 29 September 1942. The recommendation states:

‘This rating has been in three actions in M.G.B. 76 within the last two months and on all occasions has shown complete coolness and efficiency at the wheel, often under heavy fire, and his success in maintaining station on this occasion was highly commendable. His cheerful leadership under all conditions has had a marked effect upon the crew.’

Mention in despatches London Gazette 2 January 1945. The recommendation states:

‘This Petty Officer is coxswain of M.T.B. 453 and has taken part in ten vigorous engagements with enemy E-Boats and auxiliaries since D-Day. He has carried out his duties with courage and coolness and with complete disregard for danger and has been an outstanding coxswain and an inspiration to all others by his example. After a long period of service in M.G.Bs he was rested on account of operational fatigue but especially volunteered to return to 70ft. M.T.Bs and has been with the Flotilla since the beginning of June.’

Alfred Allen Hartland, who was from South Shields, was recommended for his D.S.M. by Coastal Forces’ legend, Lieutenant-Commander R. P. “Hitch” Hichens, D.S.O.*, D.S.C.**, R.N.V.R., the S.O. of 8th M.G.B. Flotilla, following an attack on enemy E-Boats on the night of 1-2 August 1942. As stated above, it was Hartland’s third experience of the violent firefights that made up Coastal Forces’ brief in the Channel, during all of which he had coolly steered his M.G.B. as ordered by his skipper, Lieutenant L. G. R. “Boffin” Campbell, D.S.C.*, R.N.V.R. The first two engagements referred to in his recommendation are almost certainly those mentioned by Peter Scott in his Battle of the Narrow Seas:

‘The newest design of the British Power Boat Company - their 71-foot 6-inch M.G.B. with which Hichens’ flotilla had lately been reboated - also made its debut at this time. On 20 June [1942], Lt. “Boffin” Campbell took the first of these boats into action and shot up a trawler very successfully, and on the following night he was in action again. The value of these actions was enormous, for it is only in battle that the success of a new fighting machine can be proved.’

An account of the third action also appears in Peter Scott’s Battle of the Narrow Seas, in which Hichens describes how his M.G.Bs achieved a surprise attack on four E-Boats about to enter Cherbourg harbour:

‘ ... Shore batteries put up innumerable starshell, and 4-inch shells from the torpedo boats and other batteries began to sing by, bursting with brilliant effect. The sight was unforgettable. Pale yellow-green luminosity from the slowly dropping shower of starshells, fierce red, green and yellow streaks of tracer interlacing in fantastic patterns, vivid splodges of light where the big shells were bursting; roar of engines, crash and stutter of guns; the almost silent, motionless line of E Boats, glittering white in the artificial radiance and seemingly strangely helpless in their immobility; the dark line of the breakwater spitting bright flashes of flame irregularly, viciously, up and down the line, like a crazed xylophonist striking his keys wantonly and at random; the cautiously approaching towering hulls of two torpedo boats lit brightly by the occasional bursts of our 2-pounder shells on their sides, still obviously puzzled, but the flashes from their guns gaining in momentum as they closed; the line of gunboats weaving and storming around their quarry, still magnificently together in tight line-ahead formation, and spray thrown back at 24 knots reflecting the green effulgence of the starshells in a luminous halo round the hulls ...’

Hichens continues in his official report:

‘ ... The 4-inch gun fire began to be unpleasantly accurate and M.G.B. 76 received a large shell splinter in her deck. With the increase in star shell and heavy gun fire I thought it advisable to disengage, as one shell hit on an M.G.B. would have meant the loss of a boat if stopped in that position. Accordingly at 0252, after an engagement lasting 12 minutes, the M.G.Bs withdrew at 33 knots northward, stopping approximately 4 miles from the scene of the action ...’

M.G.B. 76 survived to fight another day, but, some two months later, was lost in a ferocious action against E-Boats on the night of 5-6 October 1942. Her skipper’s official report states:




‘ ... Before fire could be returned numerous hits were registered by E-Boats on M.G.B. 76, one Oerlikon shell entering her tank space and starting a fire ... After extinguishing the fire in the tank space, M.G.B. 76 appeared to be alright except that it was obvious that petrol was leaking from the tanks, as there was an ever-increasing smell of petrol throughout the boat. After a few hours in the W./T. compartment the Telegraphist was unconscious from petrol fumes and had to be taken on deck ... As seas were coming over the cockpit at frequent intervals, and the position was not known for certain, it was thought advisable to stop short of the convoy route and to proceed at first light ... At about 0635 there was a sudden explosion and the entire canopy round the cockpit blew out and the deck above the petrol tanks was burst open. The entire boat was ablaze within 30 seconds, apart from the small section forward ... It was immediately realised that the boat must be abandoned ... All the crew - with training personnel amounting to 18 men - was got away, with the exception of the Motor Mechanic who was killed by an exploding shell. All 17 managed to get some hold on the float, which, though several feet under water, was just able to support them for a while ...’

One hour later, after the M.G.B’s depth charges had exploded and discharged petrol to create ‘a large patch of burning liquid on the water, with flames and smoke rising 50 to 100 feet in the air’, an inferno that crept to within 50 yards of the survivors clinging to their sumerged float, rescue arrived in the form of two other M.G.Bs: it might well be this incident that resulted in Hartland being rested from operations, but not before he had made his mark on his C.O. In his famous wartime memoir, We Fought Them in Gunboats, published shortly after his death in action, Hichens makes reference to Hartland’s reputation:

‘Conversation became general when the drinks had got round. Boffin began to tell us about his coxswain, an active service Petty Officer called Hartland.

“He’s a terrific fire-eater. Gets quite browned off if he’s not going to sea all the time.”

“He looks tough,” I said. “I gather he needs a fight at least once a fortnight to satisfy his pugnacious instincts.”

“Yes, and he keeps his crew on the hop,” said Boffin. “He was bloody funny the other day. We were crossing the street when a lot of cyclists came out of a factory. Old Hartland was carrying some gear and slouching along, you know the way he does, looking like a great gorilla. The first cyclist avoided us, but the next one came straight on, and we had to jump a bit to get out of his way. Hartland just looked over his shoulder and shouted: “It’s all right mate, I’ve dodged a bloody sight worse than you before now.” Everybody heard it, all the women shopping. It was perfect.’

Indeed it seems probable that Hartland’s reputation was sufficient for him to act as Hichens’ coxswain on occasion, at least one such reference appearing in Night Action by Captain Peter Dickens, D.S.O., M.B.E., D.S.C.

Following his rest from operations, Hartland volunteered to return to Coastal Forces and requested a post in 70ft. M.T.B.s, a request that was met by his appointment as coxswain to M.T.B. 543 in June 1944. As part of the 35th M.T.B. Flotilla, 543 was quickly employed off the Normandy coast, and, as verified above, Hartland found himself steering her through no less than ten engagements in a three month period. Two or three of these are described in Battle of the Narrow Seas, including actions fought on 25 and 27 August 1944. Indeed as late as April 1945, the Flotilla was still sinking E-Boats in the North Sea, and the Flotilla’s C.O., Lieutenant-Commander J. D. Dixon, R.N.V.R., who penned the recommendation for Hartland’s ‘mention’, was awarded his third D.S.C.