No.5 Commando St. Margaret's Bay, Kent 1940

Hi Phil,
Thanks for sharing this with us - every snippet of info is important and I'll be happy to add any names to the Nominal Roll.
Hope you're getting some good info for your research.

Nick

This message was edited 13 times. Last update was at 14/02/2012 01:13:06

OK, here is a summary of what No.5 got up to at St. Margaret's Bay. I've cut out a lot of info - visits of other officers, visiting other units and the daily trawler patrols, but here are the basics. There are a lot of place names here - most of these are small villages dotted a few miles apart around Dover. I hope it is interesting!

13/09/40 Left Bridlington

14/09/40 Troop Train arrived at Martin Mill Station. HQ at St. Margaret's established at Curfew House. C.O. Major Fellows and 2nd Lt. Eades went to HQ Dover garrison to establish role in Dover Defence.

15/09/40 Conference between leaders of Troops 7,8,9 and 10 to establish their duties. A Messerschmidt brought down a mile NW of St. Margaret's.

17/09/40 Incendiary bombs dropped at Oxney Bottom and East Langdon.

18/09/40 Company of The Buffs withdrawn from beach defences and replaced with Commandos. Admiral of the Fleet, Roger Keyes, visited the unit and inspected 8 Troop's Bay defences. Super Heavy gun 'Winnie' opened fire. Crashed Spitfire located and guarded; pilot safe.

19/09/40 Heinkel crashed into the sea on fire. Probably hit by a fighter.

20/09/40 Forty bicycles ordered, tommy-guns, Bren guns, ammunition and eight motor cycles.

21/09/40 A day of high alert channel-watching.

22/09/40 Message received that the invasion was due to begin imminently. All posts manned 100%. However, this turned out to a mixed signal that the invasion of Indo-China was underway!

23/09/40 Avro Anson spotter plane crashed in vicinity. It had been working as a spotter for the long-range guns. Rear gunner killed.

24/09/40 Troops 1-6 and 9-10 now a mobile reserve. 5.5" coastal guns placed under protection of No.5 Commando.

26/09/40 Agreement with Dover Garrison HQ that commandos would man Bren guns on patrol vessels, mainly trawlers. Roles to be anti-aircraft and anti-E-Boat. Vessels to be boarded at the Prince of Wales Pier in Dover Harbour.

28/09/40 Arrangements made with the 3rd Battalion Irish Guards (at the Grand Shaft Fortress, Dover Western Heights) for a training exercise.

29/09/40 Two Navy Whalers and Cutters to be loaned to No.5 for practice.

30/09/40 Mjr Churchill and two officers arranged the scheme whereby one company of the Irish Guards would be attacked by a fighting patrol of No.5 at dawn on the 2nd October.

02/10/40 At 02:00 No.2 Troop left East Langdon to attack an anti-tank gun position. The gun truck was captured by Commandos dressed as civilians. At 04:00 No.4 Troop attacked the Irish Guards Company HQ at Great Watersend Farm. The exercise finished at 07:00 but was not deemed a complete success as both No.2 and 4 Troops attacked too long after dawn. Later in the day and following a visit from 12 Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Thorne, it was decided that increased active patrols should be carried out throughout the night, not just in an emergency.

03/10/40 Admiral Ramsay visited and inspected 7 and 8 Troops. He was satisfied and agreed to release two Whalers to be kept at St. Margaret's Bay.

05/10/40 Mjr Churchill and Brigadier O'Donovan made a full review of operations, equipment, dispositions, etc.

08/10/40. Training exercises. 8 Troop attacked 411 Coastal Battery and were counter-attacked by 5 and 7 Troops. Meanwhile 2 and 4 Troops attacked Royal Marine manned pillboxes and were counter-attacked by 1 and 6 Troops.

10/10/40 Bombs dropped on Guston and East Langdon.

11/10/40 Training Exercise. Troops 1,3,5 and 6 attacked the 1st Bn Queen's Westminsters. 1 and 3 Troops were wearing civilian clothes when they attacked Eythorne Railway Station. 5 and 6 Troops blocked the roads. 6 Troop sent a decoy section to Lydden. The Westminsters used their Bren Gun carriers to occupy the Commandos 'towns' at Guston, East Langdon and Martin before the Commandos returned. In the afternoon arrangements were made for two 27-foot naval cutters to be placed at St. Margaret's for No.5.

17/10/40. 6 Troop captured an enemy barrage balloon (the first!) that had come adrift and blew over the channel. They held it until it was retrieved by RAF Balloon Command and GPO crews later in the day.

18/10/40 Two long range shells hit the area from France. Lt. Cave(?)-Brown promoted to Captain and took over 2 Troop.

20/10/40 One trawler with a gun crew engaged an E-Boat. No casualties on either side reported. Another long range shell hit.

23/10/40 Mjr Churchill left to visit the War Office to interview Special Service volunteers at 44 and 2 Div. HQs.

24/10/40 Four or five bombs dropped on East Langdon.

25/10/40 Commander Grieg, O.C. Minesweepers at Dover visited HQ to discuss fitting Anti-Tank Rifles to patrol vessels for anti-E-Boat work. Major Russell of the 9th Green Howards (based at The Citadel, Western Heights) given an inspection. Capt. Hanbrow of the Dorsetshire Rgt shown all the requisitioned houses in the local villages.

28/10/40 Following plans to move No.5 to Brighlingsea, 2nd Lts Russell and Messent returned stating the accommodation was inadequate for a Special Battalion as the houses were too closely packed together and therefore an easy target.

30/10/40 Two Navy whalers returned to Dover. At a conference of Troop leaders, the C.O. stated that command was to be passed to Col. Featherstonehaugh but Mjr Churchill would assume of No.5 Commando. A tin of German rations was washed up in the Bay!

31/10/40 Shell landed in the Bay. 10 Troop billet slightly damaged.

01/11/40 L/Cpl Skeates killed walking along the Dover to Deal Road from shrapnel from an exploding shell.

04/11/40 L/Cpl Skeates's funeral (St. James's Cemetery, Dover).

05/11/50 Mjr Churchill returned after having interviewed 700 men and 40 officers.

06/11/40 German barrage balloon washed up on the coast near the Bay.

08/11/40 No.5 left St. Margaret's by train for Brightlingsea. Bay defences handed to RM Siege Rgt, beach defences to The Buffs and Royal Marines the pillboxes.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 18/02/2012 17:49:57

Phil,
thanks for that - I found it very interesting.

The Major Churchill refered to was the famous (Mad) Jack Churchill, 2 i/c No5 Cdo

http://www.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/WW2/The+Commanders/churchill.jpg.html

Nick

Hi Nick

Sure interesting conversation between yourself and Phil.As you know I have just received the service papers of my uncle William Haynes. Going by his papers he was posted to 5th Commando (Special Service) 2.10.40 so I can assume that he was in that area at that time. What a great Job Phil did in getting those photographs and the diaries. Very very interesting.

Thanks Nick for doing a great job

Regards Ken

Thanks Ken,

My grandfather was an Alfred Haynes and he was in the 11th Kent Maidstone Home Guard. Sadly he died in 77 when I was very young so I never had the chance to talk to him about it. Do you think there is a distant chance William and Alfred (and therefore us!) were related?

I'm sure the chaps on this forum would be very interested in any details you have in William's papers.

Phil