The Free French Medal

David Williams 

Soon after France fell to the invading German forces in the early days of World War 2, the Dart witnessed a Free French naval presence which lasted for much of the conflict. Initially the two tugs L’Isere and L’Aube arrived and then continued to operate in the estuary throughout the war.  Several Motor Boat Flotillas were developed early in the war with the intention of providing coastal escort and defensive patrols as well as air sea rescue. Forces Navales Francaises Libres (FNFL) manned a number of these boats and by early 1943 the 23rd MTB Flotilla was formed. This unit was based in Kingswear with eight new Motor Torpedo Boats, French crews and three British Liaison officers. The MTBs would be seen moored alongside Belfort, a French supply ship, at the jetty now used by the Dart Harbour & Navigation Authority adjacent to Hoodown. 

The Forces Navales Francaises Libres had their HQ in Brookhill and the Officers were billeted in Longford House, while crews were based in Brookhill, Kingswear Court and other local houses. The Royal Dart Hotel became HQ of the Royal Navy coastal forces which had overall control of the 23rd flotilla.  The first of these new boats were 72 foot Vosper MTBs weighing in at 60 tons and powered by three 1200hp Packard engines offering up to 40 knots and a range of 420 miles. Their fuel was 2500 gallons of petrol!

They carried two 21” torpedoes, a variety of machine guns, hand grenades and depth charges. The crew was made up of Captain, Midshipman, Coxswain, Signalman, Torpedo man, two gunners, two radar operators, two radio operators and three mechanics.

The Flotilla was involved in a large number of incidents mainly across the channel towards the Brittany coast and the Channel Islands. On the night of 8 May 1943 four of the flotilla were patrolling in pairs near the coast of Jersey. They spotted a convoy of two cargo vessels with an eight boat escort. Two MTBs attacked from one side to create a diversion while the other two MTBs fired their torpedoes from the other side. The larger cargo vessel sank quickly. The rest of the convoy was now heading for St Peter Port in Guernsey. A further skirmish resulted in another escort boat being shot up before reaching the harbour. One of the MTBs suffered damage but was able to limp home, the other three returned safely as well. General de Gaulle conferred on these boats the Ordre de L’Armee, a bravery decoration awarded to a ship.

In total the 23rd Flotilla carried out more than 450 patrols sinking 5 German ships and damaging more. The MTB crews were decorated many times including 1 DSO, 5 DSC, 2 DSM, multiple French medals including 85 Croix de Guerre.

To mark their gratitude to the people of the village, a silver medal was awarded to Kingswear in 1967 by order of the Inspector General of the French Armed Forces ‘in permanent acknowledgement of the hospitality extended to the Free French Forces’. Their letter to the Parish Council stated that ‘the parish was virtually regarded as the HQ of the Free French Navy’ These medals disappeared from Kingswear but were returned to the village during 2009. The Parish Council plans to display them in an appropriate medal case in The Sarah Roope Trust Rooms in the near future.

Thanks to Tony Higgins for his permission to use information from his book ‘The Free French in Kingswear’ – Dartmouth History Group and Michael Stevens for his photograph of the medal.