14 Commando & HQ 110 Force

Having my Dad's service record in front to me it seems he was posted to 14 Commando between December 1942 & June 1943.
He was then posted to 10 Commando before finally being posted to the SBS.

Can any body help me with any information about 14 Commando around this time?

Another question, prior to this he was posted to HQ 110 Force and then HQ Expeditionary Force.
Anybody know what this was, struggling to find anything.

Al

Hello Aburns

Welcome to our forums. I am sure somebody will be able to help you here.
In the meantime if you search in the search box at the top of this page '14 Commando' some info will be produced for you you may find helpful.

Good luck with your quest.
Kind Regards

John M

Hi John and thanks,

I had searched the forums before I posted, I'm just really hoping to get more information.

I have contributed to the site in the past, if you look at No2 SBS my dad is David "Scotty" Burns, I received his service record and it has some stuff I never new about that doesn't quite fit in with the oral history?

Al

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 28/05/2016 17:56:31

Hi Al

The book Commandos -The Definitive History of Commando Operations in the Second World War by Charles Messenger says a few things about 14 Commando and from that my response comes as below. The book was endorsed in his foreword by Brigadier Peter Young, and met with approval by the Commando Association.

The time your father's record shows him being posted fits in with the time of the formation of 14 Commando. Mountbatten wrote to the Chiefs of Staff in November 1942 expressing his view of the need for Arctic specialists from any source for winter operations in Norway. They agreed and 14 Commando was formed initially under Lt Col. E.A. M. Wedderburn, Royal Scots, and a total of 15 Officers and 40 OR's including some Canadian RNVR's. They ended up being split into two a boating troop and a skiing troop, and at some stage were in the Shetlands along with some from 12 Commando (North Force) , 6 Cdo (101 tp), Norwegians (more HERE) , their own Canadians, and some others. It was felt it was not working so the Commando was disbanded, although the skiing troop remained for a period.

Force 110 is also in there. It was the Combined Force in July 41 set up to combat the possible threat of Spanish involvement on the side of the Axis powers. It was subsequently split in two with half going to West Africa.

I recommend the book to all who have not read it.