Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine Dunkirk D.S.M. group of eight awarded to Chief Petty Officer Cook A. V. Hockin, Royal Navy, a member of H.M.S. Bideford’s First Aid Party, who ‘probably saved the ship’ when he gallantly fought a fire immediately above the magazine: the Bideford had taken two direct hits while embarking troops off the beaches, ‘about 40 feet of her stern being completely blown away’ - nonetheless, she made it back to Dover, after 36 hours under tow

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (MX. 58549 A. V. Hockin, Ck., H.M.S. Bideford); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star, clasp, North Africa 1942-43; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., E.II.R. 1st issue (MX. 58549, D.S.M., C.P.O. Ck. (O.), H.M.S. indefatigable), mounted as worn, this last with minor official correction to ship’s name, generally good very fine (8)
£1000-1200

D.S.M. London Gazette 16 August 1940: ‘For services in the withdrawal of the Allied Armies from the beaches at Dunkirk.’

The joint recommendation states: ‘When the ship was bombed everyone aft was killed or badly wounded except these two men. Stoker Petty Officer Donnelly’s duty was charge of the after fire and repair party. Hockin formed one of the First Aid Party. The fire-main aft was blown away and fire broke out in the cabin flat immediately above the after magazine. These two men, working entirely on their own initiative, ran hoses aft from the first connection and succeeded in getting the fire under control and hoses down the after magazine hatch to flood the magazine - the magazine flooding arrangements were destroyed - and partly flooded it before assistance came. Their prompt and efficient action probably saved the ship.

The extraordinary story of the Bideford appears in most published accounts of Dunkirk, one of which states: ‘H.M.S. Bideford, a 1105-ton sloop, had just boarded French colonial soldiers and 400 Lancashire troops from Bray dunes when she was struck by a bomb. Forty feet of her stern was blown off, 75 men were killed or wounded and she ran aground. Surgeon Lieutenant John Jordan stayed in the sickbay and dealt with the casualties, many of them horribly mutilated, performing several major operations, with the aid of a Private of the 6th Ambulance who had just embarked.

Soldiers who had rushed on deck were assured by the crew that there was no immediate danger of sinking and Locust, a shallow-draught river gunboat Bideford’s size, came alongside, took off many of the soldiers and took Bideford in tow. During the attempts to dislodge her from the sandbank, every available man formed up on one side of the ship then rushed to the other and back again to rock her free. She eventually floated clear on the rising tide and for thirty-six hours, all through 30 and 31 May, Locust wrestled with her yawing wildly from side to side in the stream of the traffic [back to Dover], with the French colonial troops on board loudly insisting that they be taken back to France and the British being organised to tackle them in the event of mutiny ...’

When the Bideford finally docked at Dover, she disembarked no less than 400 troops, a remarkable feat indeed, given the casualties suffered by her crew - three Officers and 13 men killed, one Officer and 18 men wounded - and the significant damage she sustained on the 30 May. Her captain, Lieutenant-Commander J. H. Lewes, R.N., received an immediate D.S.C., and Surgeon Lieutenant J. J. Jordan, R.N., an immediate D.S.O. And in addition to the D.S.Ms awarded to Hockin and Donnelly, a similar recommendation was forwarded on behalf of Private G. W. Crowther, 6th Field Ambulance, the recently embarked soldier who had so gallantly assisted Surgeon Lieutenant Jordan. Eventually, however, the Army stepped in to claim their man with an M.M. One other crew member was mentioned in despatches. Albert Victor Hockin received his D.S.M. at an investiture held on 25 March 1941.