George Dowse No 11 ( Scottish ) Commando

Hello
Ref:George Dowse - Layforce/Litani River etc.

I am just wondering if any one can shed light on something my late father George Dowse told me years ago when i was a little boy.
He was in No 11 Commando and he mentioned that he had been involved in the Rommel raid but would not go into any detail.
As the years passed i have found out that most of the Commandoes involved in that raid were either killed or captured and as my father had not been captured or shot, i am a bit puzzled.
Maybe he was unable to land from the submarine etc, can anyone shed some light on this for me please.
Geoffrey Charles Dowse

Hi Geoff,
heavy seas prevented some of those involved in Operation Flipper from landing from the submarine. There is a fine narrative of this operation on the www.combiniedops.com web site, also worth checking out is the Black Hackle file on the same site. My dad was in No.11 and served in No.6 Troop before being posted to "L" Detachment. It's nice to know that there is a lot of new interest in this Commando.
Regards,
Alan Orton.

Hi Alan
Thanks for your reply.

It seems that No 11 Commando dont get talked about much !

Any anecdotes to swap ?

Cheers

Geoff

Hi Geoff,
thankfully No.11 do get talked about quite a bit i was really pleased to find this site and see the info available on not only No.11 but all the other Commandos, i've learned a considerable amount about this Commando from here and will always be grateful for the amount of hard work put in by the Members. As my dad rarely spoke about the war i was left with finding things out for my self mainly from books but now being able to use this site and the combined ops site i've been able to fill in quite a lot of blank spaces. The War Diary for No.11 is another interesting piece i have a copy from the start until August 1941 when dad was posted its a bit hard to decypher the writing at times but well worth getting a copy. Not sure about anecdote's though only one i know of is what was chalked on one of the landing ships which relates to all of Layforce "Never have so many been ******** about by so few". I do remember dad saying that Lt. Col. Pedder landed wearing service cap, Sam Browne belt and waving a sword, but this turned out to be apparantly a swagger stick. Just out of curiosity do you know what your fathers parent regiment was?
Regards,
Alan.

Hi Alan

I believe my dads parent regiment was the Northumberland Hussars.

Talking about anecdotes ..

My dads brother Tommy Dowse was taken prisoner by the Germans in the desert ( Uncle Tommy was either in the Engineers or Artillery ).

When he gave them his name, rank and number, a german officer suddenly became very interested in his surname ( Dowse ) and began to ask my uncle if he was related to a commando called George Dowse and wanted to know his whearabouts, Tommy of course denied all knowledge but it just goes to show that the Germans obviously had knowledge of some of the commandoes and were anxious to capture them !
My dad never told us this, it came from my uncle years after the war.

Cheers

Geoff

Hi Geoff

Have a look at www.litaniriver.com and download the book it will give you the history of No.11 (Scottish) Commando and their actions at Litani River.

Regards

Ian McHarg