Exceptional Naval and Polar Awards from the Collection of RC Witte

‘Dickey was a little button of a chap, but what he lacked in size he made up in bloodthirstiness. He was one of the best second pilots it is possible for any first pilot to desire. He was a good shot, a capable navigator, a fine observer, and always keen on going forward and ever loath to turn back. He always gave his first pilot the comfortable feeling of being absolutely trusted.’

Good Hunting, by William Guy Carr, refers.



The excessively rare Great War D.S.C. and 2 Bars group of nine awarded to Lieutenant-Commander R. F. L. Dickey, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, late Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force, who was thrice decorated and twice mentioned in despatches within six months - his confirmed victories as a second pilot in large America Seaplanes included the Zeppelin L. 43 and the submarine UC-6

Distinguished Service Cross, G.V.R., with Second and Third Award Bars, hallmarks for London 1917; British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaf (Capt. R. F. L. Dickey, R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; France, Croix de Guerre 1939, with bronze palm, generally good very fine (9) £20000-25000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Exceptional Naval and Polar Awards from the Collection of RC Witte.

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Only 10 officers were awarded a Second Award Bar to the D.S.C. in the Great War, seven of them members of the Royal Naval Air Service.

D.S.C. London Gazette 20 July 1917.

No citation was published on account of secrecy, but an immediate award for the destruction of the Zeppelin L. 43.

Bar to D.S.C. London Gazette 11 August 1917:

‘For services in action with enemy submarines.’

Second Bar to D.S.C. London Gazette 30 November 1917:

‘For services in action with enemy submarines.’

Robert Frederick Lea Dickey was born in July 1895, the son of Professor Dickie of M’Crea Magee College, Derry, and was educated at Foyle College, where he excelled on the river and was afterwards ‘the brilliant cox of the famous Derry Eight who won the King’s Cup at the Cork Regatta in 1912’.

Enlisting in the Royal Naval Air Service in April 1915, he quickly gained appointment as a Petty Officer Mechanic, no doubt on account of his time at Foyle, where ‘his interest was always in things scientific and mechanical and he spent much of his spare time in experimenting’ (a letter of recommendation refers).

Selected for pilot training in the summer of 1916, Dickey was appointed to the probationary rank of Flight Sub. Lieutenant and took his aviator’s certificate (No. 3950) at R.N.A.S. Chingford in December 1916.

Posted to R.N.A.S. Felixstowe in early 1917, hub of the famous “Spider’s Web”, he teamed up as a second pilot to the Canadian Flight Sub. Lieutenant B. D. “Billiken” Hobbs in Curtiss H12 flying boats (a.k.a. large American Seaplanes) and commenced his operational tour with a number of anti-submarine patrols that May.


The destruction of Zeppelin L. 43

However, as it transpired, his first successful encounter was in an air-to-air combat fought south-west of Terschilling on 14 June - a spectacular encounter for which he was given full credit as a result of his work on Lewis gun in the front cockpit. W. G. Carr’s Good Hunting takes up the story:

‘Here course was altered, and at half-past seven they were off the Island of Ameland. Now, sweeping in a 20-mile circle, they headed back down the coast homeward bound. The mist was lifting in patches. At half-past eight they were off Vlieland again.

Dickey suddenly saw a Zeppelin.

It was five miles on the starboard beam, at a height of only 1500 feet. “Billiken” [Hobbs] swung the bow of ‘77 towards the airship. He opened out his engines. He climbed straight for the Zeppelin.

Dickey was at the bow gun, the wireless operator was at the midships gun, and the engineer was at the sternguns. The Zeppelin was barely moving. Her propellers were merely ticking over.

They were now at 2000 feet, 1000 yards away from the airship and above her. The look-out on the Zeppelin saw the flying-boat. The propellers vanished as the engines were speeding up. She moved forward and swung away on a new course. Two men raced to the gun on the tail and the gun amidships on top.

“Billiken” dived on the Zeppelin’s tail at a screaming 140 miles an hour. He passed diagonally across her from starboard to port. When 100 feet above and 200 feet away Dickey got in two bursts from his machine-gun. He used only fifteen cartridges [of Brock and Pomeroy ammunition].

As he cleared the Zeppelin “Billiken” made a sharp right-hand turn and found himself slightly below and heading straight for the enemy. He read her number, L. 43. Her immense size staggered him.

Then he saw that she was on fire.

Little spurts of flame stabbed out where the explosive bullets had torn the fabric, and the incendiary bullets had set alight the escaping hydrogen.

Pulling back his controls, he lifted the boat over the airship, and just in time. With a tremendous burst of flame, so hot that all aboard the flying-boat felt the heat, the millions of cubic feet of hydrogen were set off. She broke in half. Each part, burning furiously, fell towards the water.

The top gunner rolled into the flames and vanished.

Three men fell out of the gondalas. Turning over and over they struck the water in advance of the wreckage. The remnants of the Zeppelin fell into the sea, and a heavy pillar of black smoke reared itself to the sky.

The crew of the flying-boat fell on each other’s necks. They were delirious with joy. Everybody crowded into the control cockpit. During the demonstration “Billiken” got the heavy boat into extraordinary positions. Then “Hell bent for election” he beat it for home.’

News of their great achievement was initially kept secret, but both pilots were duly decorated, Hobbs with the D.S.O.

Another Zeppelin encounter - and several enemy submarines

A day or two later, on 17 June, Hobbs and Dickey won Their Lordships approbation for engaging with ‘great skill and dash’ an enemy seaplane (T.N.A. ADM 171/85 refers), while on the 28th they carried out their first submarine attack:

‘While preceding convoy and 10 miles S.W. of N. Hinder, sighted enemy submarine. Fired recognition signal and getting no reply we dropped three 100lb. bombs which were observed to fall in line 10 feet apart about 10 feet in front of the periscope’ (his flying log book refers).

Dickey was awarded a Bar to his D.S.C. (T.N.A. ADM 171/85 refers).

In the following month, on the 12th, Hobbs and Dickey attacked another zeppelin, this time without success:

‘Zeppelin patrol to Texel, north to Terschillng, then east to Borkum. At 10.10 a.m. sighted Zepp. escorting 12 enemy destroyers. Opened out and climbed to 10,000 feet. Zepp. then at 13,000 feet throwing out sand ballast. We climbed to 11,000 but as we had no air controls were unable to get higher. Chased Zepp. at this height till we had to return owing to petrol. 16.20 Had engine trouble and landed at 12.45. Completed repairs and got off, landing at Felixstowe at 2.25 p.m.’ (his flying log book refers).

Dickey was mentioned in despatches (T.N.A. ADM 171/85 and London Gazette 11 August 1917 refer).

Having then completed around 20 further sorties, Hobbs and Dickey had their next run-in with an enemy submarine on 3 September:

‘Patrol around N. Hinder when sighted a hostile submarine which we attacked with one 230lb. bomb. Bomb dropped and exploded within five feet of starboard tail. Second machine then passed over and dropped one 230lb. bomb which fell by port bow. We then passed over again as conning tower was just showing and dropped our second 230lb. which fell in place where conning tower disappeared. When submarine sank we could clearly see two men on top, but though we searched spot for 15 minutes we could not see them. The three bombs fell within a circle of 20 yards diameter. Submarine believed to have been destroyed’ (his flying log book refers).

He was mentioned in despatches (T.N.A. ADM 171/85 and London Gazette 19 December 1917 refer).

Followed by yet another encounter ten days later:

‘When at N. Hinder sighted conning tower of hostile submarine which was just rising. Submarine saw us at once and started to dive but we fired recognition signal and dropped two 230lb. bombs from a height of 1000 feet. One bomb hit submarine aside conning tower on front side and exploded. Submarine commenced to sink and we circled about and in about two minutes saw a large upheaval in water when air came up in great quantities with oil and wreckage which spread all over vicinity’ (his flying log book refers).

Finally, and whatever the outcome of their previous actions, Hobbs and Dickey were officially credited with the destruction of the UC-6 on 28 September:

‘Before we left we were told hostile submarine was 25-30 miles S. of North Hinder. We went to N. Hinder and set a course S. and when on this course after 20 minutes, the W./T. operator received (indications of) a hostile wireless. These signals got stronger and at 8.30 we sighted a hostile submarine in full buoyancy. We attacked and dropped one 230lb. bomb which got a direct hit on tail. Before bomb hit he fired one shell at us which went 25 feet in front of us and burst above us. We turned to drop the other bomb and saw three more hostile submarines and three destroyers, escorted by two seaplanes. Destroyers and subs all opened fire on us with shrapnel but we managed to drop our second bomb which fell 15 feet in front of the same submarine. Submarine sank with a large hole in tail and made a large upheaval in water. We got a photograph’ (his flying log book refers).

Dickey was awarded a Second Bar to his D.S.C.

As verified by his flying log books, he was grounded and placed on the Sick List between October 1917 to March 1918, but he quickly got back into his stride on returning to operations in the latter month - in fact, on 30 April, he shot down an enemy aircraft in flames. But while employed in an operation off Holland in early June 1918, he was forced down and interned:

‘When on course north-east from Ameland petrol pipes on starboard engine broke in two at carburettor. Landed 2.12 p.m. Started repairs. Thirteen enemy aircraft from Borkum came to the attack. Three shot down by other four machines. At. 4.45 our machine had to return and as we could not get off in such heavy sea taxied towards Terschelling fishing boats. Enemy destroyer came out and opened fire on us, shooting off part of wing float, starboard. Enemy aircraft kept diving and firing but Lieutenant Hodgson and A.M. Russell shot one down in flames and another by killing pilot. Enemy destroyer got too close and forced us into Dutch waters. Once there he would not let us out. Arrested on Terschelling at 9.42 p.m. All safe. Destroyed machine.’

Carr’s Good Hunting reveals an entertaining tale from Dickey’s time in Holland:

‘While walking in a quiet street of a Dutch town at dusk a huge German elbowed him into the roadway. He seized the coat-tails of the Hun and demanded an apology. The Hun swore in German, not a pretty exhibition. Dickey was small, but he carried a big stick, and when the stick came in contact with the skull of the German the latter fell senseless. Informing the police that a man had been found unconscious in the roadway, the little fire-eater obtained an ambulance and tenderly removed his fallen foe to hospital. Such was Dickey.’

Dickey managed to obtain a passport to the U.K. in August 1918, on account of sickness, and was granted a permanent commission as a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force in August 1919. He subsequently served at Hinaidi, Iraq, from February 1923 until being placed on half-pay back in the U.K. in January 1924.

Among other posts held between the Wars, Dickey was employed by Sir Sefton Branker and by the Marquis of Londonderry, the latter while serving as Manager of the Municipal Airport at Speke. Called-up on the renewal of hostilities in September 1939, Dickey was appointed a Lieutenant in the R.N.V.R. and posted to Gosport for Boom Defence duties, but of his subsequent services little is known, although he attained the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on the Retired List in March 1941.


to be sold with the following archive of original documentation

(i) The recipient’s R.N.A.S. (Type S. 1516) Flying Log Books (2), covering the periods August 1916 to September 1917, and September 1917 until November 1924, the former with particularly detailed operational entries.
(ii) His mention in despatches certificates, both in the rank of Flight Sub. Lieutenant and dated 14 August 1917 and 19 December 1917.
(iii) His Aviator’s Certificate (British Empire), dated 6 December 1916, with portrait photograph, and R.N.A.S slip confirming his successful graduation as ‘Aeroplane Pilot’ from Cranwell, dated 14 February 1917.
(iv) His commission warrants for the ranks of Flight Sub. Lieutenant, dated 24 March 1917; Captain, Royal Air Force, dated 1 December 1918 and Flight Lieutenant, dated 2 August 1919.
(v) His temporary Dutch passport, issued at the Hague on 7 August 1918, permitting his return to England on account of ill-health, together with another document relating to his return from internment, dated 10 August 1918.
(vi) Admiralty letters regarding his appointment as a Lieutenant, R.N.V.R., dated 24 December 1940, and another confirming his advancement to Lieutenant-Commander on the Retired List, dated 14 May 1941.
(vii) A quantity of letters of recommendation, ranging from his application for a commission in the R.N.A.S. through to the 1930s, together with several photographs and newspaper cuttings.