Samuel Hughes Dixon was born in Chesterton, Staffordshire, on 4 October 1910, and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in December 1925. Having then seen service in assorted surface vessels before the war, including operations off Palestine, he was advanced to Petty Officer in the cruiser H.M.S. Dragon in August 1939.

In February 1942, however, he transferred to the ‘Silent Service’, being rated as a Petty Officer Torpedo Gunner’s Mate. His initial postings were to the L. 26 and H. 50, but in October 1942 he joined a newly built ‘S’ class submarine, the P. 228, afterwards named Splendid.

Splendid’s wartime career was certainly an eventful one, her opening five war patrols accounting for more tanker and supply ship tonnage than any other submarine for the period November 1942 to April 1943. The total tonnage of six escorted supply ships, including two tankers, sunk by torpedo, was 26,424, and one ship of 3576 tons by gunfire, notwithstanding the two Italian destroyers and ships sunk or damaged. One of these destroyers was the Aviere, sunk off Bizerta on 17 December 1942.

Throughout these operations, Dixon, a vital member of Splendid’s team, remained, in the words of his Captain, a ‘calm and utterly reliable torpedo expert ... one of the finest men I was privileged to be shipmates with ... I certainly recommended him for a decoration ... he richly deserved it.’

The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) was published in the London Gazette 6 April 1943:

‘For bravery in successful submarine patrols.’ The original recommendation states:

‘For consistent zeal and devotion to duty during three successful patrols in which two enemy destroyers, three merchant ships totalling 10,000 tons, two A./S. schooners and one A./S. trawler were sunk. During these patrols ten torpedo attacks have been carried out, five of which were on screened targets. He displayed particular coolness and skill in firing a salvo of torpedoes shortly after depth charges had been dropped during an attack on a convoy.’

Splendid met her end in the course of her sixth patrol on 21 April 1943. Lieutenant I. McGeoch, R.N. (afterwards Vice-Admiral Sir Ian McGeoch) in command, had been summoned to the control room as hydrophone effect noises had been heard, and a quick look through the periscope revealed an enemy destroyer. An attack sequence was immediately started but the enemy destroyer was on Splendid before any torpedoes could be fired. Her attack was prolonged and accurate and McGeoch took the submarine down to 300 feet to avoid the depth charges but to no avail. The enemy’s final attack caused massive damage to the submarine, leaving it suspended in the water at 500 feet, with her stern down by an angle of 20 degrees or more. The only available option was to blow the main ballast, and after an agonising wait Splendid moved towards the surface, accelerating at the end as she leapt out of the water to lie helpless on the surface.

McGeoch gave the order to abandon ship, all 48 crew getting out of the submarine, but the enemy destroyer, now about a mile away, continued to engage with her main and secondary armaments and 18 men were killed. Splendid had a jammed rudder and her one remaining motor had driven her round in a wide sweep, suggesting to the enemy that she was getting into position for an attack. Dixon and his captain were among those who were afterwards picked up by the enemy destroyer, a ship that transpired to be the ex-Greek Navy, British-built Hermes, but now, of course, crewed by Germans.

Dixon, who was originally held as a Prisoner of War in Italy but later transferred to Stalag VIII at Gorlitz, was killed in a strafing attack on a transport train by Allied Mustangs near Halberstadt on 19 February 1945.

He left a widow in Folkestone and is buried in the Berlin 1939 -1945 War Cemetery.

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (JX. 125574 S. H. Dixon. P.O.); Naval General Service 1915-62, 1 clasp, Palestine 1936-39 (JX. 125574 S. H. Dixon. A/P.O. R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star, 1 clasp, North Africa 1942-43; War Medal 1939-45; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 2nd issue (JX. 125574, S. H. Dixon. D.S.M. C.P.O. H.M.S. Pembroke.).

As verified by his certificate of service, his Royal Navy L.S. & G.C. medal was issued posthumously in July 1951, hence it being a G.VI.R. 2nd issue.