Officers of No5 Commando 1943

11-04-2008 18;39;06.jpg

Ive been trying to load some pics from my new scanner but it wont let me put them i n the gallery so heres the first one,,

My dad's officer Capt Beasley is standing 2nd from the right

This message was edited 6 times. Last update was at 05/02/2009 23:51:17

Stephen,
apropos a recent message where you said that your dad may have been in 5 Troop, No 5 Commando, here is a list of "chief personalities" in 1943/44 in India/Burma as published in an article in The Third Jungle Book, Issue No 9, March 46.

Commanding Officer (CO) ~ Lt-Col D M Shaw MC;
2 i/c ~ Major C R M Stuart;
Adjutant ~ Capt A E Holt
no1 Troop Commander ~ Major ' Woner' Bray MC;
no2 Troop Commander ~ Capt Charles Beard;
no3 Troop Commander ~ Capt 'Chips' Heron MC;
no4 Troop Commander ~ Capt Dickie Sheddon;
no5 Troop commander ~ Capt Bill Kerr;
no6 Troop Commander ~ Capt John Bowyer.

Obviously this article was written prior to Bill Kerr gaining his Immediate MC for action on 23 Mar 44.

other significant dates and names:
20 May 44 TSM Lancaster took over as RSM from Reg (Tara) Newton.
11 Sept 44 Lt-Col D M Shaw MC relinquishes command of No 5 Commando to return to UK.
12 Sept 44, Lt-Col C J B Pollitt assumed command of No 5 Commando.
13 Jan 45, Major Bray, no 1 Troop Commander, severely wounded, Capt John Sergeant took over.
14 Jan 45, Capt Ken Waggett was wounded and command of no 4 Troop went to Lt D H Burr.
31 Jan 45, Lt-Col Pollitt wounded in the knee and 2i/c, Major Stuart assumed command. Promoted to Lt-Col soon after.
9 June 45, Lt Noble MC and Capt Bowyer (no 6 Troop Commander) left for UK - no mention of a replacement for Capt Bowyer.
18 July 45 Major-General Festing visited the unit.

I'm still trying to find out about Capt Beasley...
I still think it probable that he might have taken over from Bill Kerr who was badly injured 23 Mar 44

nick

Wow Nick you really are good to know!
i remember Capt Beasley saying he did some sort of intelligence work in Burma at times. In Madagascar ive no idea what troop him and my dad were in,,only that dad saved him from a Vichy french sniper