William Thomas cousins no 8 commando then 41

My uncle fought in the war, trained at achnacarry and then ultimately landed att Salerno and spent the remainder of the war in a prisoner of war camp near Salzburg

Please could you help me trace his commando history

Kind regards

Paul cousins

I know he went back for his sergeant who got shot through the leg and he was also pinned down by a machine gun crossing a bridge (viaduct)

He was in Chatham detachment

Hi Paul,

Welcome to the CVA Website & Forums. Thanks for your post.

I know you say that your uncle was in No.8 Commando but I believe from what you've told us that he was a Royal Marine. No.8 Commando was an Army Commando.

However, I believe your uncle joined 8th Battalion Royal Marines which then formed 41 RM Commando on the 10 Oct 1942.
And 41 RM Cdo were certainly at Salerno.

Here, courtesy of Graham Cooper, is an extract from the National Archives which shows your uncle, W T Cousins as being a PoW at Stalag XVIII A

Nick

Hi Nick

Thank you so much for this I really appreciate it. Would there be a way I could find out exactly what happened to hos detachment at Salerno? As mentioned I think he was one of only 26 that survived but I have no details of the action

Kind regards

Paul

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 27/03/2017 17:56:33

Hi Paul

There are some books that outline the whole allied operation which was codenamed Operation Avalanche. One in particular is appropriately called Operation Avalanche by Des Hickey and Gus Smith. Other authors such as Robin Neillands mentions it in his book By Sea and Land but the book encompasses the whole story of the RM Commandos.

No 2 Army Commando and 41RM Commando both suffered very heavy casualties at Salerno. Additionally for 41 RM Commando they were hit by allied shelling which landed short and on them as they were forming up to attack the enemy on a hill.

This document provides some general information however it is more from a 2 Commando perspective

http://www.commandoveterans.org/SalernoCommandos

Do you have a good photo of your uncle that you could post and I will add it to our gallery.