The Dover Patrol 1915-17 Page 446
The Dover Patrol 1915-17 Page 447
Dunkerque bombs and shells 1914-18
| There is presently a campaign being mounted to secure the award of the George Cross to Dover for endurance under continuous attack in WW2, when it was referred to as "Hellfire Corner." It seems to me that there is a vanishingly small chance of Dover being awarded the George Cross so long after the event. Malta G.C. richly deserved the honour which commemorated the devastation endured by the tiny colony under sustained onslaught by the full might of the Axis forces at a pivotal point in the war. Other ports and cities in the UK received tremendous punishment without receiving medals. One thinks, for example, of the holocaust which was the London Docks during the Blitz, ablaze from end to end, or the levelling of the centre of Coventry lending a new verb to the lexicon in “to coventrate.” Dover’s suffering was long drawn out, a continuous attrition culminating in a last frenzy as the cross-channel guns fired off their remaining ammunition in the final days, but my personal opinion is that medals are for rewarding acts of courage by human beings and are inapposite when applied to towns and cities. Malta was a one-off and the island and the honour are inextricably linked in the appellation Malta G.C., an association which we and they have made automatically for a lifetime and take great pride in. To claim the same honour for Dover well over half a century later seems inappropriate and more likely to baffle and bemuse our fellow countrymen than to attract the respect and recognition which we understandably feel contemporary Dovorians were not accorded at the time. However, whilst my personal viewpoint might be lukewarm, the following information may be of some use to those mounting this campaign, if indeed they are unaware of same. There is a local precedent for the award of a medal by the British sovereign to a town and port for extended endurance under bombing and shellfire. During the First World War, Dunkerque similarly suffered protracted enemy bombardment from start to finish. Unlike ourselves, the French have a long tradition of honouring towns and cities with medals. Accordingly, Dunkerque was awarded the Croix de Guerre and later the Legion d’Honneur. Dunkerque was a very important base for the Royal Navy. Warships of the Dover Patrol operated from the port and aircraft of the Royal Naval Air Service attached to the Patrol operated from local airfields. Accordingly, Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon, commanding the Dover Patrol from 1915 to 1917, requested that it be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the naval decoration for gallant or distinguished naval service in face of the enemy. As he states in his book: “Rightly the town was awarded the Croix de Guerre. I asked for it to be given the D.S.C., but this was a flight of imagination above the official British mind; we do not grasp the patriotism of locality in England in the same vivid manner as they do in France. It is a pity.” .... (footnote).... “Since writing the above, H.M. the King, with his usual insight and tact, has presented the D.S.C. to this war-torn town.” |
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The Dover Patrol 1915-17 Page 446 |
The Dover Patrol 1915-17 Page 447 |
Dunkerque bombs and shells 1914-18 |
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