A.S Group 27 RM

Hi
I'm trying to find out more about my fathers time in WW2. Like most he never really spoke about it and I have no real idea other than I think he was in France and Italy. He was wounded on 7/1/45 and medically discharged.
I have his Service Cert but it says very little other than dates and letters some are confusing given the date he was wounded.

Details are: John Barrett
Division and No: EX/5380 (T)
He enlisted 15th April 1940
He lived in Glasgow and died in 1982 after a long illness.

Exams:
May 41 Armourer C1. III GP B
May 42 Fitter (Gun) Group a Class III

MNBDO 15th April 1940 - 30th April 41
HBL MNBDO (2) May 41 - Mar 44
HBL 5 RMAA Bde 27 Mar 44- 6th June 45
PDL RMTTD 7 June 45 - 1 Aug 45 (this is crossed out with physically unfit for Royal Marine Service.

I would love to know more about where he was he anyone can help at all please reply.
Thanks

Hi,
Below is some information on MNBDO II and 5 RM AA Brigade from the RM Museum website.

Regards

Danny

http://www.royalmarinesmuseum.co.uk/unit-history-summaries-part-3

MNBDO II

Formed about 1 January 1941 under command of Brig H. R. Lambert (later Major General, CBE, DSC) with 50018 men from MNBDO I, including 130 from Fortress Unit I. Many junior officers were transferred from Army OCTUs19 and the men were "HOs". The Organisation was based on Hayling Island (near Portsmouth), and in April bomb damage20 caused the HQ to be moved at least once. During the summer many of the men of the subunits were trained in various army establishments (cp: MNBDO I) including the School of Cookery at Aldershot. The HQ had moved to Bentworth (Hampshire) area in May, and for a short while had an RAF radar and balloon barrage squadron under command. Units were deployed in the air and coast defences of the UK during 1942-3 before being concentrated in the Nottingham area early in 1943, ready for embarkation for the Middle East, where they arrived in June 1943 just before21 the HQ of MNBDO I left for the Far East. Subunits of MNBDO II were deployed in AA defences of north?east Malta in April and from 16 June to 9 July22 before the Organisation was sent to Sicily under command of the Eighth Army. The establish¬ment of some subunits by this date had been brought in line with army war establishments for personnel and weapons.

After service on detached duties with the Eighth Army, the units of MNBDO II were assembled in Augusta (Sicily) for embarkation and arrived in the UK in February 1944.23 the HQ was disbanded in May 194423 and personnel of all but those AA Regiments forming 5 RM AA Bde were sent to North Wales for selection as landing craft crews, commandos or for other duties.

5 RM Anti-Aircraft Brigade

When the anti?aircraft regiments of MNBDO I and II returned to Scotland in February 1944, they were to be disbanded, but a general of the army?s Air Defence Staff asked that some units be retained and from these ? AA Bde HQ and Ops Room MNBDO II, 1st RM HAA Rgt (ex?MNBDO I), 3rd RM HAA Rgt (ex?MNBDO II), 4th RM LAA RGT (ex?MNBDO II) and a Signals Section (ex-MNBDO I) g 5 RM AA Brigade was formed on 22 March 194416 at Hamilton (Lanarkshire), under the command of Brig J. E. Leech?Porter, OBE. His Brigade came under army command of GHQ AA Troops three days later. It was then mobilised to Army War Establish¬ments. During May and early June the Brigade spent six weeks at the army?s AA practice camp at Clacton?on?Sea, Essex. Gunnery practice and mobilisation (with all this entailed in drawing stores) were carried on at the same time, some army HAA Regiments joining the brigade in May.

During July and August the Brigade?s regiments were deployed against ?flying bombs? on the south coast of England, destroying 122 of these V1s.17 The Brigade landed in France early in September (see chapter 7), and took over the anti?aircraft gunnery defences of the Scheldt estuary that winter, and in addition to RM formations had under command 111 HAA, 114 LAA and 133 LAA Regiments RA; 105 AA Brigade (12 army regiments); 6/2 and 415/54 Searchlight Batteries RA; and 202 Fixed Coastal Defences RA.
Makeshift accommodation was improvised with shacks and "huts" along dykes (see chapter 7). Communications were also difficult with more than 2,000 miles of telephone line laid by the Brigade?s signallers in a duplicate system; this connected all sites ? guns, searchlights, smoke?generating machines, and operations rooms ? the duplications proving invaluable after later air raids. All major units were also in wireless (radio) contact, the strength of Brigade signals units being raised from 80 to 200 personnel.18

The heavy gun batteries fired on occasions in support of ground troops during the first few weeks of October, but their principal role was to defend against air attack a 7,000yds circle covering Antwerp and the area to its west. When V1s began coming over on 27 October,19 two zones or ?belts of AA fire? were organised around Antwerp and Brussels with a corridor between; there were American AA units (with SCR 58420 radar?linked predictors and proximity fuses) in the east and south?east zones, and as the flight path of V1s brought them near to the Brussels defence zone, that could therefore contribute to Antwerp?s defence.21 The Brigade?s Operations Room at Antwerp recorded 483 V1 and 313 V2 (rocket) incidents in the month to 12 December 1944. Units of the Brigade also formed rescue squads with equipment to help civilians buried in wrecked buildings after V1 and V2 explosions.
The German air activity increased in preparation for their Ardennes offensive. The last air attack on Antwerp, on New Year?s Day 1945, was initially at low level (500ft), when the Brigade shot down four planes; around this time the V1 and V2 attacks intensified. The Brigade was relieved on 5 March 1945, and moved to Ostend.

The Brigadier took over as AADC for Ostend and Calais on 11 March. The last plot in the Brigade Operations Room was for a friendly aircraft on 6 May, and the Brigade returned to the UK some three weeks later on 28 May.22 Brig S. G. B. Paine commanded the Brigade in the autumn of 1945.23

The Brigade was stationed at South Brent (Devon) in December 1945 when they were disbanded,24 the HQ having been disbanded at Topsham, Devon, the month before.25 The continuous service personnel returned to their Divisions and the "HOs" were absorbed into the 27th and 28th RM Battalions.