William Baker EX1278(T) MNBDO1 L&M Unit

Hi John

Dad was at RM Training Camp (W) 18 Jun 1944-25 Feb 1945, I believe this is Towyn, Wales...???

Kind regards
Sarah

Hi Sarah,

Yes your father would have trained at RMTG (W) [Royal Marine Training Group (Wales)] which was, as you say, at Towyn.

John is also correct in that there were other RM training establishments in North Wales - the three listed below were for the training of Landing Craft Crews

Gibraltar Camp, Llanegryn - Basic Seamanship
Burma Camp, Llwyngwril - Seamanship, Navigation etc
Crete Camp, Barmouth - Practical Handling of Landing Craft

I'm not sure if these do have any relevance but may be worth following up.

sjb007 wrote:El Tahag is in the war diaries, not El Tahal.

Yes I'm pretty certain the reference to Tahal was a spelling mistake.
I think I'm right in saying that, in the course of your research, you've already come across the same piece that I quoted extracts from, on many other websites. [Sadly those other websites have obviously copied & pasted the whole article from source but left in reference marks and spelling mistakes and haven't credited their source of information - presumably claiming credit for the article for themselves]

HQ 23 Division July-August 1942 is a mystery.

John suggested 23 Indian Division...
Formed in Jan 1942, 23 Indian Div served in Assam & Burma throughout WWII, but your father was admitted to 64th General Hospital in August 1942 (Alexandria) while serving in the Middle East Force and then contracted a dental condition at 11 November 1942 at Camp El Tahag (Cairo).

.I'm racking my poor old brais on this one,

Nick

Hi John & Nick

I'm wondering if it is a training division with reference to the HQ bit? I've still got some more war diaries to go through, will let you know if they throw any more light.

I've got James Ladd's book "By Sea By Land" now and will start to read it, feeling quite brave at the moment - it's a very big book! I did glance through there earlier and it mentions about MNBDO1 advance recce parties in various theatres and included with these parties were 430+ officers and men of the L&M Unit, which might explain why Dad has so many names for various recce units!

Will keep you posted, but if not in touch for a while...I've got engrossed in a very big book!

Best wishes
Sarah

Hi All

I have attached a page from a war diary showing a note to HQ 23 Division with their received date stamp in red.

Any ideas? Was it just a HQ based in the Egypt area?

Kind regards
Sarah

For interest of those involved in this discussion here is a document titled The Naval Review 1945 which is very lengthy but the first pages relate to MNBDO and mentions some of the places and units that are in the various messages posted here. It also has information outwith the subject matter of this topic relating to the RM Commandos:

http://www.naval-review.co.uk/issues/1945-3.pdf

Hi Pete

Thank you very much for the information.

I have downloaded it and will enjoy some more bedtime reading. :) Hopefully it might answer some of the questions about Dad with any luck.

Best wishes
Sarah

Hi All

I have now found some brief information about some of the Commanding Officers on my Father's Service Record, all except W Sinclair and F W Phillips. I have been informed that neither of these COs appear on the Navy Lists and perhaps they are not Navy, but they may be Army. The timescales coincide when my father does not appear to be with his unit. Are there any Army lists that I could check for these gentleman?

Any suggestions or pointers would be very much appreciated.

Kind regards
Sarah

Dear All

Please could I once again ask for your help and expertise. I have recently come across a photo of a group of 8th RTR in Palestine 1943, which looks very similar to a photo of my father with a gentleman from a Tank Regiment. I have attached the photo again and posted a link to the other photo I have found.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.191235304222249.49130.191233660889080&type=3#!/photo.php?fbid=191237564222023&set=a.191235304222249.49130.191233660889080&type=3&theater

Firstly, could I ask if this could be the same place. I appreciate promenades the world over may be very similar, but the seats, tree surrounds and railings are indeed very similar. I would welcome anyone's thoughts and opinions if this does look like it could be the same place and if that was the general consensus among forum members, what significance, if any, would that have?

I would appreciate any comments and thank you in advance.

Best wishes
Sarah

Hi Sarah,
I spent 27 years of my life in the RAF studying photographs for a living and, although I don't think the photograph was taken in the exact spot, I think it is more than likely that it was taken on the same promenade in Tel Aviv!

The most significant issue is that Horace Parry, pictured in Tel Aviv, appears in the next picture with three other colleagues:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=191237584222021&set=a.191235304222249.49130.191233660889080&type=3&permPage=1

You will notice that they are all wearing Combined Operations badges.

I know that still hasn't given you any more answers but it may open yet another avenue for you to research...
I'm pleased to see that your research is still ongoing.

Regards,
Nick

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 23/03/2013 11:46:12

Hi Nick

Thank you for your comments, I haven't had the time for a while to do any research, but I usually have a look at the forum each night to see what has been posted.

I came across the linked photo by accident googling the 23 Div and one link led to another until I saw this photo and thought it was too similar to dismiss. Hopefully I might have some time soon to check this out further but its great that you agree it is probably the same promenade. It gives me another starting point.

Thank you and best wishes
Sarah

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 10/05/2013 17:42:57

31 years ago on the 10 May 1982 , William Edmund Baker, Veteran of MNBDO1 L&M Unit, passed away. His daughter Sarah still misses him every day.

Miss you Dad

Sarah

Although we've never met
My life is not full of regret
As the stories my mum has shared
Of all the love you showed and how you cared
I know you would of been a great grandad
But instead I know you as a wonderful dad
I know you were kind, wise and strong
And the day you passed has been far too long
You'll always be in my thoughts and heart
My amazing grandad from end til start

We all miss you grandad

Lest We Forget.

Nick

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 12/05/2013 02:34:06

Hiya,

Not sure if it's relevant but I know my Grandad was in the MNBDO and I know he did visit South Africa. Here's the link to the thread if anything on his service record helps with your research.

http://www.commandoveterans.org/cdoForum/posts/list/15/1401.page#12753

thanks,

Ian