WW2 Commando info.?

Hello Sirs,

My father was Thomas Jones (PLY/X2717) and he served in the RN as a Royal Marine from 1938 to 1943 on HMS Dorsetshire, until it was sunk.
He has then served on HMS Devonshire, before signing up with 47 Commando.
I have all his navy records, but I do not know where he served in the commando service.

He has a medal list that includes the France and Germany Rosette, that goes on the Atlantis Star medal.
He has 6 medals from WW2 - 1939-45, Atlantic, Africa, Burma, Defence, War medal
He was a corporal, and at one point possibly an acting Sargent.
I have his application for special leave in 1947 , which includes a mention of 6 months duty in France and Germany with 47 Commando.
How do I find out his commando exploits, and where he served between Dec 1944 and May 1945.?

Any help would be very much appreciated.....Thank you Gents

Thomas Jones's only son - Harry Jones.

Hi Harry,
Welcome to the CVA Forums.

Here is a quick outline of 47 RM Commando's activities from June 44 - January 46. I hope it is of use to you. More in depth information is available from 47 RM Cdo's War Diaries.

47 RM Commando was part of 4 Special Service Brigade (this was later changed to 4 Commando Brigade).
4 SS Brigade took part in Operation Neptune (D-Day Landings) with 47 RM Cdo landing on Gold Beach.
From here the Brigade moved up through France and into Belgium - by 27th Sept 44 they had moved to Wenduine, a seaside resort on the North Sea coast in western Belgium, where they trained for amphibious operations.
This was in preparation for the invasion of the island of Walcheren (Operation Infatuate) and at the end of October, 47 RM Cdo moved to Ostende and embarked in Landing Craft Tanks.

The Battle of the Scheldt started 1st November 1944, with 4th Special Service Brigade assigned to carry out a seaborne assault on the island of Walcheren. 47 RM Cdo was split when two of the LCT's carrying them ashore beached on the Northern side of the gap instead of the Southern side. Due to the division of the force 47 RM Cdo did not assemble until 19:00 hours south of the Radar station having suffered the loss of 30 men and much of their radio equipment. On 2nd November 47 RM passed through 48 RM and took over the advance to the Flushing gap. They met slight opposition until they reached the artillery battery W11, and made an unsuccessful attack that evening losing all five of their Troop commanders. Digging in for the night they repulsed a German assault and finally captured the artillery battery and the rest of the island on 3rd November. On 10 November they were moved back to Breskens and then to Wenduine.

On 22 December at short notice 47 RM Cdo moved to Breda to come under command Brigadier E.T. Boylan and became the I Corps mobile reserve known as Paddy Force. On the 24th December they moved again to Oosterhout and carried out patrols along the Maas River under command 1st Polish Armoured Division.

At the beginning of January 1945, 47 RM Commando carried out patrols on both banks of the Maas River and were themselves twice ambushed by German patrols doing the same. On 9th January they were moved out of the line for training at Bergen op Zoom for Operation Horse - an assault on the island of Kapelsche Veer planned for the night 13/14 January. The assault started at 01:00 hours with Q Troop and 5 (Norwegian) Troop, No.10 (Inter Allied) Commando attacking the right flank supported by armour and artillery from the mainland, while the rest of 47 RM attacked on the left flank. Attacking from both flanks simultaneously under heavy mortar fire caused heavy casualties. By 05:00 hours it became obvious that the objective was too heavily defended for a lightly armed Commando unit to capture alone so 47 RM was withdrawn.
The island was eventually captured by a Canadian infantry brigade with artillery and armour support.

After their aborted assault 47 RM was moved back to Bergen op Zoom on 16th January and then back to Walcheren island on 17th January where they took over garrison duties from 41 RM Commando on 18th January.
While at Walcheren they received about 100 reinforcements which brought 47 RM almost up to full strength. On 12th March 47 RM moved to North Beveland to relieve No. 4 Commando which was completed by 16th March.
47 RM Commando now were given the task of training the 3rd Battalion of Infantry, Royal Netherlands Army, formed from men in the liberated area of the Netherlands. 47 RM Commando were still here when the war in Europe ended 8th May.

On the 20th August 47 RM Commando became the first Royal Marine Commando to have an Army troop. No other Commando had such a mixture of Army and Royal Marine personnel. On the 31st August they moved to Oer-Erkenschwick where they were tasked with the administration of displaced persons. On 2nd November 47 RM Commando moved to Warburg and were informed they would be soon returning to the United Kingdom.
Leaving Germany on the 27th November they arrived in Haywards Heath on the 28th November where they remained until they were disbanded on 31st January 1946

Nick

Thank you for your kind response Nick. It is sincerely appreciated..
I have read something similar to your outline, after looking at various wiki pages, and it is a tribute to the men who served in 47 Cmdo.
Make no mistake, they were up against it...but in the end prevailed, with loses of good young men and officers.

I guess though, that what I really need is a researcher, who can pursue this for me in depth.
I have been fortunate enough to chat with a gentleman from Holland who is webmaster for the Veterans of 47 Cmdo - Marc de Bolster.
He has been most kind and helpful...and seemed blown away when I sent him some of my fathers war records.
He said he had rarely seen anything like this. And that would make sense, as apart from the vets themselves, few would get access to the actual records.
There is much I need to work through, and several address's where I need to send mail with research requests.
It will be slow...but hopefully fruitful.
It seems that once he enlists in 47 Cmdo, he vanishes....and only re-appears after 1946.
So there must be some other records held somewhere else. Though I understand it was wartime, so they may be scant.

Thank you again Nick
Thank you for taking the time to reply
God bless.
Harrry Jones

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 11/03/2016 09:15:27

Hello Harry - I've just bought a book by Marc De Bolster - 47 Royal Marine Commando - and it covers what they went through up until 1946.

Find him on Facebook - page is called 47 Royal Marine Commando - he's a lovely man and I'm sure he and the book will also prove interesting and useful.

Welcome to the Forum! :-)

And now to delete as I've just read the above ... hey, I've just got up!

Cheapest books are under £15 - one on Abe Books and one on Ebay.

Hi Harry, I am uncertain as to whether you have spotted this reply to a message you posted some 10 years ago on the navy-net site. It is from someone called Vincent who believes he may be related to you and has himself be searching for more information. There is no reply to his post at the end of p2 of the message below.

http://www.navy-net.co.uk/community/threads/tracing-an-old-royal-marine.30144/

Good luck with your search

Hello Pete,

Its now 2018 and I've stumbled back into the forum using an old link.
I now see your post, and am kicking myself, as I did not know about this post from Vincent.
Thank you so much for posting this here.!! Otherwise I would be none the wiser.
As it is, the post from Vincent is over 2 years old, and I have replied on the Navy-net.co.uk forum, but no response as yet.
I hope he has not passed away, as he would be 72 now.

I have tried to register on the OAMAAM site to see if I can trace him there (the lads at Navy-net.co.uk suggested this)
But I was rejected by the moderator.

Here's hoping he can get in touch somehow.

Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention....it may be a huge step for both of us if there is a linkage.

Cheers mate
Harry Jones

Harry

I am just sending you a Private Message as I know someone who goes over to Walchern every year with 47 RMC group. It is her email I will send you.

My Dad was No 4 Commando and kia 1/11/44 in Flushing.

Best wishes.

Bill Harvey

Thank You Bill,

This may help a lot....very much appreciated.
I look forward to her email address.

Harry Jones