No. 6 Commando Men in D-Day Photo at La Chaumiere

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 05/09/2017 00:36:06

Hi All,

We are seeking information on the men who appear in the well known D-Day photo taken by Captain Evans (5 AFPU) in front of the La Chaumiere hotel/restaurant in Benouville. Tentatively these are the names of the men facing the camera left to right:

Pte. Robert "Bob" Moran, Pte.Thomas "Jock" Hardie, possibly P. Moran, L/Cpl. Victor Ernest Renshaw and Pte. Victor Albert "Spud" Watson.

Of the three Commandos both Robert Moran and Vic Renshaw have been identified by family members here on the CVA. The other man in the background (3rd left) we thought looked very much like P. Moran who is listed on the No. 6 Commando site. In particular we are seeking another photo of Sgt. Robert Moran to confirm his identity and any further info on P. Moran.

See this post on WW2Talk where we discuss the photo.

http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/british-commandos-and-para-photo-d-day-but-where-taken.70494/

Thanks to Michael Pine-Coffin for his identification of the two 7 Para men, Hardie and Watson, and to Guy Hudson for his compares and details provided.

Regards ...

Edit: Changed ranks to accord with Pete Rogers findings below.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 04/09/2017 22:12:55

Just a little bit of information to add that I found in Commando Association Newsletter 28 of March 1959 which I quote here:

The following members at present stationed in Nairobi send their sincere greetings to all old comrades: Cpl. (now SQMS) C. F. Lofthouse (9 Cdo); Pte. (now S/Sgt.) R. Moran (6 Cdo); Sgt. W. Pearson (7 Cdo); L/Sgt. C. H. Wallis (5 Cdo); and Cpl. G. Stanley (1 Cdo), who is now Sgt. at Arms for the Legislative Council.

I know there was some discussion on the site as our Nom Roll entry (now amended) for Robert Moran showed his rank as Sgt. However that should have shown him in 6 Commando as a Private and then later S/Sgt.

Commando Association Newsletter 119 of September 2004 confirms rank in the Commandos as Private in their Obituary notices for 6 Commando:

No.6 Commando. Sgt. Michael William Bernard Cater of Hale, Cheshire; Dvr. Jack (Nobby) Clarke of Brighton, Sussex; Pte. George Dunbar of Aberdeen, Pte. Henry (Harry) Jacks of Hackney, London; Pte. George Jowett of Oldham, Lancs.; Pte. Robert Moran of Salisbury, Wiltshire; Spr. Ronald Pealing of Worsley, Greater Manchester : Pte. Geoffrey Scotson of Hove, Sussex.

Finally Vic Renshaw has a Lance Corporal stripe on so not a Private. He was listed in the obituaries of Commando Association newsletter 88 of March 1989 with final rank attained as Corporal.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 04/09/2017 23:44:52

Thanks Pete,

I made amends to the ranks above according to your findings. I'll leave the compare photos of Vic Renshaw unchanged and hope people will re-name it with proper rank.

Regards ...