Michael Rose reviews Antony Hichens’ biography of Commander Robert Hichens
In an era when the Royal Navy seems to be struggling hard to find heroes, it is a relief to discover that one only has to turn back a few pages of history to the second world war to read of sailors who still acted in the tradition of Nelson. Notable are those who fought in the small boats of the Royal Navy, their most successful commander being Lieutenant Commander Robert Hichens. He was a naval volunteer officer who had been a solicitor before the war. By the time of his death in action in April 1943, he was the most highly decorated RNVR officer of the war. More importantly he had entirely redesigned the Royal Navy’s approach to coastal warfare, thereby seriously undermining the German Navy’s ability to operate freely in the Channel and North Sea. It is fortunate that his son, Antony Hichens (a friend and neighbour in Dorset), has now decided to write about his father, for the story that unfolds is a truly exciting one.
Much about Robert Hichens, or Hitch as he was invariably known, suggests a strong comparison with Nelson: both loved the sea and learnt seamanship at a young age and both were inspirational leaders whose common practice was to close with the enemy before destroying him. However, when reading Gunboat Command, I was especially reminded of David Stirling, another young wartime leader who formed the SAS Regiment in the Western Desert in 1941 and who also always took the battle to the enemy. The accounts of Hichens’ attack on E-boats off Holland in 1942 are strikingly similar to the jeep-mounted attacks carried out by Stirling on enemy airfields in the Western Desert. Both leaders depended on surprise, aggression and speed, and neither had any regard for their own safety.
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