Early Training at Depot/ C.B.T.C

Hi
Re reading the course intakes at Achnacarry( in the picture gallery).

Very surprised at the mixture of unit types,that used the facility in the early months,ie 24 Guards Bde - they used the depot
on 3 separate occasions, between March and September 1942,over 300 attended the training,course lengths varied between 10 and 16 days.

Is it known if these early courses were for full commando training,or specialist subject training.The intake training period seems to be approx 40 days,Police intake approx 64 days.The RAF Regiment only 12 days (Nic -why the RAF Regiment).

Would this early training count for the issue of the green beret later in that year.

Thanks

Graham

Hi Graham

I spoke awhile back with Major James Dunning about this and he said there were a mixed bunch that went through, not all necessarily doing training to be a Commando. At the time my understanding is that the only ones issued with the Green Beret were in fact those that were either already attached to or destined for a Commando unit.

The 24th Guards is an interesting unit and became an Independent Brigade in 1942 so perhaps there lies a clue. Just after the last Achnacarry group they sailed to North Africa. They participated in the Narvik campaign in Norway, and later in Tunis, North Africa, and Lake Commachio.

Involved with the Independent Companies and the Norway campaign a Major General Colin Gubbins might also offer an explanation. According to the below link he was also involved with the Auxiliary units which might explain the entry on the list for the men of the Home Guard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Gubbins

I would love to know more from official records about the early days of both units.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 04/12/2014 11:09:23

Hi Graham,

GrahamCooper wrote:Hi
The RAF Regiment only 12 days (Nic -why the RAF Regiment).

I can only offer the fact that the RAF Regiment was formed for the sole purpose of providing close defence of RAF Airfields - King George VI signed a Royal Warrant for ?a Corps formed as an integral part of the RAF?, and from there, the RAF Regiment was formed in January 1942.
Normally the RAF Regt would have formed an outer defence ring of the airfields and would have operated outside of the airfield perimeter defences.

Many people will have heard of RAF Servicing Commandos but I do hasten to say that the RAF SC did not, to my knowledge, do any training at Achnacarry, nor were they entitled to wear the green beret.

However, not many people are aware that the RAF were amongst those first troops that landed on the beaches on D-Day...
The RAF Beach Units /Beach Squadrons and the RAF Beach Balloon Units consisted of tradesmen whose task it was to -

1. Supply the specialised technical knowledge not possessed by Army personnel concerning R.A.F. equipment and stores.
2. Ensure the expeditious sorting, assembly and forwarding of equipment, stores and vehicles peculiar to the R.A.F.

http://www.rafbeachunits.info/

I can only presume that the RAF Regiment was used, to some extent, to provide protection to these Beach Units too.

All very interesting and worth researching. However, to give a quick answer - despite doing a short training course at Achnacarry, the RAF Regt were not entitled to, nor were they given authority by the Air Staff, to wear the commando green beret.

Nick