Robert Peverell Hichens
Lieutenant Commander Robert Peverell Hichens, (2 March 1909 – 13 April 1943) was the most highly decorated officer of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), being awarded two Distinguished Service Orders, three Distinguished Service Crosses and three Mentions in Despatches. He was also recommended for a Victoria Cross after being killed in action in April 1943. Before the Second World War, Hichens was a keen sportsman who rowed for Magdalen College, Oxford, and competed in the Double sculls at the Henley Regatta. He also competed in International Fourteen sailing events and three times participated in the Fastnet race. On land he raced in hill climbing events in Somerset and also entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans race three times. During the Second World War, he rose in rank to become a lieutenant commander and commanded the 6th Motor Gun Boat Flotilla and later the 8th Motor Gun Boat Flotilla. Early life Robert Peverell Hichens was born 2 March 1909, the son of Doctor Peverell Smythe Hichens and Constance Sawbridge Hichens. He spent his early life in Northampton, until the start of the Great War when his father—an officer in a Territorial Army unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps—was