Looking for info on Reginald Swann

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 20/09/2012 18:56:03

Hi all, just researching family tree and looking for info on my grandfather, Reginald Swann. I have his papers and his number was PO/X106512, first enlisted fort cumberland in 1941.
One entry also says HBL RM Commando, rank Marine from Sept 1943 until Feb 1946

I would like to find out what unit he was in and trace his and their movements.

Any info would be great - i remember him telling me when i was small he and his two friends were known as the 'three mustget beers!!)

Many thanks for any help

Andy

Hi Andy

Have you checked with the extended family to find out if anyone has any letters, photos, certificates, memorabilia, etc? This can often bring to light a lot of information. Who has his service medals and what are they? These things can provide clues and are often held by someone in the extended family. Unlike today not all Royal Marines in WW2 were Commando trained. It is important to do the initial research within the extended family because there are no official lists of all who became Commandos. We rely on Association lists, information from such items described above, and supplied by family or friends, etc., to establish detail of service. As you already have his service record you may wish to scan and post them either here, or alternately email them to me with any other information or photos you may have, and we'll see what we can discover. My email address is below and on the Contact us section of the site.

As a starter on the Record does it state any RM Battalion he was with prior to his being with the RM Commando

Regards

Pete R.

Thank very much, will try and get them scanned in as soon as i can. No luck with family and I have no photos. I do remember my nan saying he gave away his old commando fairbairn knife some time after the war and also when i was older she told me he brought home a picture of him at a concentration/labor so I can only assume he spent time maybe in Poland/Germany. I also remember him telling me about being sent to France to obtain prisoners (and one of them trying to return with a stolen German motorcycle!), also a mock raid on a british army compound where he and his friends stole the commanding officer's safe!
Maybe some of this could be embellishment but it would be amazing to find out anything really.

Many thanks again, and I am looking through all the photos in the gallery bit by bit just to see if i can spot him at all but only have a photo of him as a young man which i assume is around 5 years or so before the war so it is difficult to be sure.

Update, pics of service record attached. Haven't bothered with page 3 as it was blank except for a stamp which says Form S.1075 No. Issued and then the handwritten number 302939. If I could find which unit he was in I could start to research their history and movements during the war but as the record says 'HBL RM Commando' I have little to go on.
Many thanks to anyone who can point me in the right direction.

:)

Hi Andy

My father's details are on this site, (page 2 William Baker). Dad was also a Royal Marine who joined at Exton. Your grandfather and my father seem to have a few of the same COs on their service sheets, 31 Dec 1944 W W Glover and 15 Apr 1946 J H Cawley-Way on your grandfather's. I also know of someone who is trying to find out more info on their grandfather who was in 44 Commando who had W E Petley as his CO in 1941, as well as W W Glover. I cannot read the other names on the scans. I don't know how this will help, I have not been able to find much information regarding these COs but I can tell you my father's trade was also that of Motor Driver and I have posted the few photos I have of Dad during the war with some of his friends.

Perhaps someone else on the forum with more knowledge than myself will be able to establish what connection, if any, this may throw up.

Good luck with your research.

Best wishes
Sarah

thanks very much sjb007, i will look through the photos, how great if i find anything! I will keep asking family and if i can contact some and they have any info or pics i will make sure it is uploaded.

Thanks again
:)

Hi Andy,
Welcome to the CVA.
As you have already discovered, some Royal Marine Service Records are not exactly brimming with information.

As Sarah says, her father's and your grandfather's records are quite similar and equally devoid of useful information.

The HBL = Home Based Ledger (ie posting in the UK).

There's not much more I can add at this moment but will keep looking.

Nick