John George Patterson : MX90564

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 09/10/2017 18:15:33

Hello, my family and I have just returned from a visit to the D-Day beaches, which has spurred us on to try and find out more information about my Grandfather, John George Patterson.

We have his military record (attached) and a picture of him getting married in 1946 in uniform (badge on sleeve), but we can't find him mentioned in any nominal rolls on this site. We have some info - some from my Grandfather while he was alive (he died in 1969) and some from photos and investigations.

- We have a wedding photo of him with a "Combined Operations" badge on his sleeve
- He mentioned to my Father that he was a "Navy Commando" and that he landed on Sword beach
- We believe he trained at Achnacary as well as Hayling Island

We'd be really grateful if someone recognises the name or has any information that would help us, or would point us in the right direction.

Thanks

Graham Patterson

grahamjp69 wrote:we can't find him mentioned in any nominal rolls on this site

Naval commandos were trained in the same manner as other commandos, but were not attached to the numbered units. Instead were attached to vessels and vessel services.

In the case of your grandfather, he was a shipwright. It's likely he accompanied or followed the main assault on D-Day, but remained near the beach maintaining, repairing or making vessels seaworthy for returning to the UK.

I noticed he was attached to three flotillas. Some research of those flotillas would likely yields some results, including photos, vessel designations and their destinations.

Hi thanks very much for the information sorry for my lack of knowledge can you point me in the right direction for discovering those vessels / flotillas? I was thinking of booking an appointment at the Royal Naval Museum archive. Thanks Graham

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 10/10/2017 13:13:49

I think a good place to start would be to read up on the history of Combined Operations which encompassed many different groups. There is a good website on Combined Operations here: http://www.combinedops.com

This was a time of great change, new specialist units being formed, others redesignated, reorganised, restructured, etc. To fully appreciate it from the RN side of things I would recommend reading more about it, then you should have a much clearer understanding of the situation at the time. A good start would be the book 'The Beachhead Commandos' by A. Cecil Hampshire.

There is also a good website here that I recommend you visit: http://www.relaysystem.co.uk/id3.html

Good luck and keep us informed as to your progress.

Thanks for the help, I have ordered a copy of the book and I will do some more digging.

Thanks

Graham