Auction Catalogue

23 June 2005

Starting at 10:00 AM

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Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Grand Connaught Rooms  61 - 65 Great Queen St  London  WC2B 5DA

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Lot

№ 1244 x

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23 June 2005

Hammer Price:
£3,600

A remarkable Second World War Coastal Forces D.S.M. group of five awarded to Chief Petty Officer A. P. Dawkins, who served as a Coxswain in M.G.Bs and M.T.Bs in several “Combined Operations” Commando raids, including those against the radar station at Bruneval and “Operation Jubilee”, the costly assault on Dieppe in August 1942: he was also the recipient of a brace of “mentions”, the first for Dunkirk and the second for assorted operations in the Channel at the time of the Normandy landings

Distinguished Service Medal
, G.VI.R. (SSX. 17291 A. P. Dawkins, P.O.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, clasp, France and Germany; War Medal 1939-45, M.I.D. oak leaf; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 2nd issue (JX. 608221 A. P. Dawkins, D.S.M., C.P.O., H.M.S. Tamar), the first officially corrected in places, and with slack suspension and contact wear, otherwise generally very fine or better (5) £3000-3500

D.S.M. London Gazette 13 April 1943: ‘For bravery and daring in action against the enemy while serving in Light Coastal Craft.’
The original recommendation states:
‘For coolness, courage and skill as Coxswain of M.G.B.
316 during the action against the enemy in Combined Operations “Abercrombie”, “Bristle”, and “Jubilee”; and as Coxswain of M.G.B. 312 during an action against an enemy convoy on 28-29 October 1942, and during Combined Operation “Biting”.’

Mention in despatches
London Gazette 16 August 1940: ‘For good services in the withdrawal of the Allied Armies from the beaches at Dunkirk.’
The original recommendation states:
‘Throughout the operation by his leadership set a very fine example to the crew.’

Mention in despatches
London Gazette 16 January 1945: ‘For gallantry and skill in actions in Light Coastal Craft.’
The original recommendation - for a cumulative decoration - states:
‘For courage, skill and devotion to duty as Coxswain of M.T.B.
673 in the following operations and actions against the enemy:
(i) “Operation Hostile” 10, 2, 7, 11, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 27, 36, 37, 38, 39 and 41.
(ii) Actions against the enemy: Force 112 on the night of 6-7 May, Unit G.O. 2 on the night of 22-23 June, Unit G.P. 1 on the night of 23-24 June, Unit G.O. 1 on the night of 26-27 June 1944.
This rating has now served under me for two and a half years and has served in Coastal Forces for five years. In the above operations and actions he has conducted himself most correctly and has at all times, as Petty Officer and Coxswain, been an inspiration to his ship’s company.’

Alfred Peter Dawkins must have been one of the longest served members of Coastal Forces in the 1939-45 War, his remarkable operational career - largely as Coxswain - spanning the withdrawal from Dunkirk through to bitter fighting in the Channel following the Normandy landings. As verified by the above recommendations alone, he participated in no less than 26 actions or operations, several of them of a clandestine nature under the auspices of Combined Operations, not least such “classics” as the raid against the enemy radar installation at Bruneval in February 1942, and the costly but very gallant assault on Dieppe in the following August. Indeed it seems extraordinary that his C.O’s recommendation in August 1944 - that he should once more be decorated - was reduced to a “mention”, especially since surviving records include the approval for another decoration right upto, and including, the Admiral C.-in-C. himself. The following is a brief summary of Dawkins’ known operational activities from 1940-44:

Dunkirk

During “Operation Dynamo”, the withdrawal from Dunkirk, Dawkins served in M.T.B.
102, which vessel had, on occasion, among other onerous duties, the task of conveying Rear-Admiral W. F. Wake-Walker back and forth to the embattled port, the latter having been taken off the sinking destroyer Keith by 102 on 1 June. But her “top brass” role was not the only distinction that befell 102 - by all accounts no stranger to regular dive-bombing and machine-gunning - for she was also credited with being the last British naval craft to depart the scene of operations in the early morning hours of 4 June 1940. Her C.O., Lieutenant J. Cameron, R.N.V.R., later recalled that ‘The whole scene was filled with a sense of finality and death ... The curtain was ringing down on a great tragedy.’ Dawkins, like his skipper, was mentioned in despatches.



Combined Operations

As verified by the recommendation for his D.S.M., Dawkins participated in several notable raids mounted by Mountbatten’s budding Combined Operations, serving as Coxswain in M.G.Bs
312 and 316, both of the 14th M.G.B. Flotilla, and both at one time or another skippered by Lieutenant-Commander T. N. “Tom” Cartwright, R.N.V.R., himself the winner of three D.S.Cs and a brace of “mentions”. Indeed it would appear that Dawkins served as Cartwright’s Coxswain for pretty much the remainder of the War.

His first such outing was in “Operation Biting” on the night of 27-28 February 1942, the raid on the German radar station at Bruneval, near Le Havre, when he served as Coxswain of M.G.B.
312. The Royal Navy’s task was to extract the raiding party, some 120 men from 1 Airborne Division who had landed by parachute, under Major J. D. Frost - afterwards of Arnhem fame - from the local beach, an operation that certainly had its moments, not least when a brace of enemy destroyers and E-boats passed within a mile of the assembled British coastal craft. Fortuitously, however, they were not spotted, and, to the memorable cry of one of the raiders waiting on the beach - “Sir! the boats are coming in ... God bless the ruddy Navy!” - the landing craft successfully embarked the Airborne, under fire. Many of these men were then transferred to the four participating M.G.Bs for the journey home, and, of these, the greatest responsibility fell to M.G.B. 312, with Dawkins at the helm. For, in addition to embarking Major Frost - who would later recall that the ‘sailors certainly upheld the traditions of the Royal Navy’s hospitality; they made much more fuss over us than we deserved’ - 312 had the unenvious task of ensuring that the captured ‘bits and pieces’ from the enemy’s radar also came home safely. Undoubtedly it was an anxious time, for, as a result of mounting seas, 312 and her cohorts could only make seven knots, and by dawn the little flotilla was still just 15 miles from the French coast. But about an hour afterwards, to everyone’s great relief, a squadron of Spitfires appeared on the scene, in addition to four Free-French chasseurs and two R.N. destroyers:

‘John Frost went on the bridge as they approached Portsmouth. Those were moments that this young soldier, with a military career in front of him that held more than a fair share of danger and glory, would not forget. The four French chasseurs now swept by and saluted the raiders, followed by the two British destroyers; and the Spitfire escort, its task accomplished without enemy challenge, flew low over the gunboats before making off inland ...’

14th M.G.B. Flotilla was again in action in “Operation Abercrombie”, acting in support of a Commando raid on the French coastal village of Hardelot on the night of 21-22 April 1942. The plan, which was for a swift reconnaissance of the local beach defences and the destruction of a searchlight battery, also provided an opportunity to try out the newly introduced Landing Craft Support (L.C.S.), equipped with two guns and a mortar. But as it transpired, the most serious confrontation with the enemy took place at sea, the supporting M.G.Bs engaging in a “firefight” with E-boats.

Dawkins was next employed in “Operation Bristle”, a raid carried out by No. 6 Commando near Plage St. Cecile, again as Coxswain of M.G.B.
316. In the event, the military side of things was not a success, the Commandos being driven back by heavy opposition. But worse was to follow on 19 August 1942, in “Operation Jubilee”, when nearly 70% of the attacking force was killed, wounded or captured. In common with other Coastal Forces’ craft employed on that fateful day, M.G.B. 316, with Dawkins once more at the helm, operated close in shore, and no doubt engaged some of the numerous enemy aircraft that launched continuous attacks throughout the operation. A good account of the naval side of things is to be found in Peter Scott’s Battle of the Narrow Seas, in which he mentions exchanging signals with Cartwright in 316, the latter stating that the troops whom he was supporting had ‘landed in the face of strong opposition’.

Nor was there to be much respite following the carnage of the Dieppe raid, for, as mentioned in Dawkins’ D.S.M. recommendation, he was back in action in M.G.B.
312 in an engagement against an enemy convoy on the night of 28-29 October 1942. Successfully recommended for the D.S.M. eight weeks later, Dawkins attended an investiture held on 16 November 1943.

“Operation Hostile” and other Channel Actions

Towards the end of 1943, Lieutenant-Commander Cartwright was appointed to the command of 52nd M.T.B. Flotilla, based at Dartmouth, the unit’s subsequent operations in the Western Channel combining specialist minelaying duties with more regular offensive patrols off the Brittany coast and the Channel Islands. Of the 16 (numbered) minelaying trips referred to in the recommendation that resulted in Dawkins’ second “mention”, all of them part of “Operation Hostile”, it is clear from Peter Scott’s
Battle of the Narrow Seas that several were extremely daring operations, penetrating as they did close inshore before an ever-watchful enemy, where, no doubt, Coxswain and skipper were tested to the full. Cartwright later gave Peter Scott a modest account of one of these operations:

‘We laid our eggs in the approaches to several harbours and anchorages, one being Lannion Bay. This was a tricky piece of navigation as, having got into the bay, we had to start the lay close to a rocky shoal projecting out from the beach on the south shore and finish close to a similar shoal on the north side. At one time, as we made the final approach, the course was such that land was ahead and continuous all round us except for an arc well abaft each beam which was clear to seaward. This gave rise to some amusing remarks which stick in my memory; a stoker in one of the boats came up from below to pass a message to the bridge and saw the high cliffs close ahead and on either beam. Having delivered his message to the C.O., he turned to the signalman and said, “ ’Ere, Ginger, where the ’ell’s the ------ sea gone?” The signalman jerked his thumb astern and said, “There you are, chum, and tell the motor mechanic we’ll be wanting the shore lighting rigged in about five minutes.” The shoal on the south side of the bay was marked by a beacon tower at its end, and since it was low water it looked not unlike a small pier in the darkness. We passed no more than 30 yards from the beacon, and as it swam suddenly into the field of vision of the midship’s gunner he was heard to give a startled oath followed by “Blimey, Brighton pier an’ all!” The lay was completed by the six boats without interference ...’

But
673’s operational brief was far from limited to minelaying operations, the unusual task of preventing the salvage of a German destroyer - which had been driven ashore by one of our destroyers at St. Tregarec on the north Brittany coast - being a case in point. The operation, mounted on the night of 6-7 May 1944, under a full moon, with Dawkins once more at the wheel of 673, and fellow ‘D’ Boats 677 and 717 in support, was fraught with danger, not least because of the close proximity of numerous rocks and shoals within the radius required to mount a torpedo strike - and the ever likely threat of prowling E-Boats. In the event, having located the enemy destroyer, 673 ‘ closed at 8 knots, bows on to the beach and the moon, and almost bows on to the target’, prior to delivering a successful attack:

‘After a little more manoeuvring to clear shoals in the intended torpedo track, I fired the port torpedo, which ran clearly visible in the moonlight straight for the target, hitting abaft the bridge superstructure. There was a satisfying explosion and the after superstructure disappeared in the showers of debris and burning ammunition. We turned short round between the shoals and were heading out on a northerly course before the enemy opened up from the shore with searchlights and guns, which we managed to evade after ten minutes of zig-zagging and near misses. We had no casualties or damage, and air reconnaissance later showed the destruction of the target to be compete ...’

As also confirmed by the recommendation for Dawkins’ second “mention”, he steered
673 through several “firefights” in June 1944, one of the more successful of these encounters taking place on the night of the 26th-27th, when two separate attacks were launched. The first of these obtained complete surprise, 673’s guns being brought into action against some enemy armed-trawlers at 400 yards range, one of which was set on fire and another claimed as sunk. Soon afterwards 673 torpedoed an ‘M’ class minesweeper and attacked another in a “guns only” affair which left the enemy ship severely damaged. For her own part, as a result of the severity of the enemy’s return fire, 673 had one man killed and another two wounded.