Anthony Hough

My father Anthony Hough was in the Rifle Brigade in North Africa from late summer 1940 before joining 1SAS in September 1942. In Virginia Cowles excellent book "The Phantom Major" written in 1957 my father is mentioned as joining the SAS from the Middle Eastern Commando but I cannot find any mention of this in any of the records I have and his name does not appear on the Association archives. I conclude therefore that Cowles got this wrong but it would be helpful if anyone could help me with this.

Could this be him:
http://www.specialforcesroh.com/showthread.php?40531-Hough-A-D-V&highlight=hough

Many thanks but i can't access the link as am told the administrator has deactivated registration.

or I should say disabled

Here you go:

SURNAME
Hough
FORENAME
A.D.V.
UNIT
1 SAS (B Squadron)
RANK
Lieutenant
NUMBER
85461
AWARD
Mention in Despatches
PLACE
Middle East (London Gazette 15.6.1944)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
parent unit Rifle Brigade
Middle East Commando 1941
1 SAS 1942

This is very helpful and many thanks for responding. I have nothing at all about his time in the MIddle East Commando and i guess it would be difficult to find out further information. HIs records go straight from Rifle Brigade to SAS. Anyhow good to know. I will search out some books covering that period. Thanks again.

Also the record is wrong as he was Mentioned in Despatches for escaping from Chieti POW Camp in September 1943 and making his way back through Allied lines at Cassio in December that year.

Hi,
Virginia Cowles was much admired for the thorough research she carried out regarding Stirling's SAS during WWII, she was able to interview many ex-SAS and was given access to a great many private letters & diaries at the time.

Here is supplement to the London Gazette in which your your father's MiD was gazetted - scroll to the second page...
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36563/supplement/2856

other entries in the LG -
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38891/supplement/2021

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39899/supplement/3605

Are you aware that you can apply to the MoD for your father's service record? This link will give you guidance how to do this -
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/request-records-of-deceased-service-personnel

Nick

Dear Nick
Many thanks for these Gazette connections. What I have from the MoD is his service file which includes his army book. None of it has any mention of the Middle Eastern Commando hence my enquiry. Is there likely to be more detail available about his time in North Africa in the service records you mention?
Best
Gerald

Does it mention Layforce?

Hi Gerald,

The Service Records available from the MoD would be a scan of his original handwritten service records from enlistment to demob - obviously there would be a gap over the period he was a PoW.
The records should contain details of training, postings, embarkation/disembarkation overseas, conversion /attachment to Commandos, promotions, wounds, hospitalisations etc. But certainly there should be some indication of whether he was attached to the ME Cdos.
The ME Cdos were raised in the late summer of 1940, while Nos. 50 and 52 were drawn from Regular and Yeomanry Units in Egypt, No. 51 was composed, in the main, by Palestinians.
The Rifle Brigade was certainly in the same theatre at this time so it is possible that your father volunteered for the ME Cdos. I don't know which battalion of the Rifle Brigade he was in, but in November 1940 one troop from No.50 ME Cdo sailed for Crete as part of 'Assumption Force' which was built around Brigadier Tilbury's 14 Infantry Brigade. One of the subordinate units in 14 Inf Bde was 2 Battalion, Rifle Brigade...
Two weeks later the remainder of the Commando set off to join 14 Infantry Brigade in Crete.

There is a very good book which I can recommend called 'The Middle East Commandos' by Charles Messenger with Col. G A D Young, DSO (Commanded both No. 50 then No. 52 Cdos) & Lt Col. S M Rose, OBE (second in command No.50 and then the amalgamated 50/52)

another source of research would be the official War Diaries for the ME Cdos (file refs WO 218/ 158 - WO 218/ 163). These are held at The National Archives at Kew and are free to read/study and to copy.
Whereas Other Ranks tend not to get mentioned in War Diaries in general, commissioned officers do get mentioned and often the Unit Returns will show movements of officers.

I think this document, written by Alan Orton may be of interest to you:
http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/d/32707-17/Layforce.pdf

Nick

Hello Gerald,
you may be right about Virginia Cowles writing that your father was in the M.E.C. as there are a few errors within the book, not many, some are simply spellings, ie; Maloney is actually Moloney of the Royal Warwickshire Regt. She also records Galloway as Capt. when he was a Lt.
I have a list of 1 SAS officers dated December 1942 the entry for your father is; Lieut. A.D.V. Hough R.B. Within the list there are 8 officers who served with M.E.C. who in their later days were 1st Special Service Regiment these names have an added; (from 1st S.S.) after their entry none of these names are of the 3 named in Cowles book, so i would assume that he was recruited into the S.A.S. from his parent regt.
I have 4 records of him as a P.O.W. from the WO 417 file that record him as T/Capt. before amending it to W/Lt. it also gives his battalion as the 9th Battalion Rifle Brigade, this battalion whilst refitting was disbanded in August 1942 due to lack of reinforcements this could then be when he was recruited.
I have had a look at various books regarding the S.A.S. and apart from Cowles book and a record of him in Special Forces in The Desert War 1940 - 1943 i have found no further record of him.
As he was with B Squadron and there is not much written about them i had a look at some of my files and came across an entry in the original war diary for 1st S.A.S. dated 1st February 1943 which records 'Lt. Hough R.B. reported missing 31 . 1 43.
Hope this will be of some use to you.
Kind regards,
Alan.

Dear Alan
This is very helpful. His name appears in Carol Mather's book "When the Grass Stops Growing" but Mather refers to him as Andy. I have a letter from Mather written to him before Mather published his excellent account. He also appears in Brian Lett's book about Chieti called An Extraordinary Italian Imprisonment". In this Lett refers to his escape by hiding in the water tower of the camp with three others. I have a detailed account of his operation in B Squadron as he left a diary for us to find after he died. Also I have a detailed account of his escape.
He met David Stirling in Chamonix in early 1940 when Five Scots Left Wing was formed to prepare for snow warfare in Norway and Finland. By the time they had completed two months of high altitude alcohol consumption in the company of people such as Jellicoe and Fraser Norway had fallen and Finland had an armistice with Russia so it was disbanded. He returned to 9th Battalion Rifle Brigade before deploying to North Africa.
Many thanks indeed for your interest and I believe you are right in saying that Cowles got it wrong. Dad certainly never mentioned it.
Best wishes
Gerald

Nick
Thanks for that and I will chase up the books you mention.
Best
Gerald

Hi Gerald,

There is very little on your dad, I've been looking for some years now. I have been trying to piece together who was in the raid that he was captured on. My father is Capt. Peter Moloney that Alan Orton mentioned. That said, I do have a report that your dad wrote describing the raid and his capture that I would be happy to send to you. Also, Carol Mather, another officer on the raid, mentions your dad in a book he wrote "When the Grass Stops Growing." I will send you a pm with my contact info. While I am here I would put a call for anyone whose father was captured in or around Tripoli - Homs - Tarhuna between Dec. 11 and Dec. 31, 1942.

Patrick Moloney