WEYMOUTH DORSET
I was awarded the DSM in 1942 by King George the 6th at Buckingham Palace. My wife accompanied me and we had a very good day for the investiture, which we will never forget. The award was mainly for the capture intact of a German 'E' Boat.
We were on patrol in the North sea and reached our rendezvous at about eleven PM. We waited for about an hour or more but there was no sign of activity. We decided to move on when I heard a distant rumble and we moved off to investigate. After a while the sound got louder and suddenly we came across five or six 'E' boats which we engaged with all guns. We chased them until they were lost in a patch of fog. We had a cruise around and found a stray boat which we challenged and eventually boarded. It was deserted. We assumed that the crew had heard us approaching and as they were severely damaged by our gunfire had transferred to another boat. They had left the sea cocks open to flood the boat but we arrived before she sank. We stripped the boat of all that was removable including a number of confidential items the secret service were interested in. The full story of this incident and others of our escapades is to be found in a book 'We Fought Them In Gunboats', taken from the diary of Lieutenant Commander Hichens DSO DSC who was the CO. He was killed in action in 1943 after I had left him to go back to general service.
The above text, told in Georges's own words, was edited by Geoff, G0EVW - July 2004
Ref:
'We Fought Them in Gunboats'
By - Hichens, Robert Peverell 1957
M. Joseph, London
190 pages with photos.
The author's wartime experiences with MGBs and MTBs operating in the English Channel. Originally published 1944, although it was unfinished due to the author's death.
PICS FROM WEYMOUTH DDAY PARADE ON THE 19 JUNE 2004....
QSL CARD
This is
proving harder than I thought!
de Charles
2E1LEC
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