HELP NEEDED

I am trying to find out what commando my dad was in. All I know is that he was a medic and a green beret. How can I find out. My brother seems to think he was in a special unit. His name was Charles Cross born 1920.

Many thanks

Hi Crossy,
Welcome to the CVA forum.

Do you know if your father was with the Army Commandos or the Royal Marine Commandos?

Do you have any of his Service Records? If not you can apply to obtain them and this should, hopefully, give you the information you seek.

Please see the Post entitled Searching & Applying For Service Records which has all the links needed to apply.
Good luck and please don't hesitate to ask if you need more assistance.

Nick

thanks Nick

I dont know which Commandos he was in. He died a few months ago and never spoke about the war. My elder brother recalls he served for a while with the Polski Army ? not sure if that correct spelling. Also the plume on his beret was yellow. I have a drawing that my brother copied from an old photo of dad I will try and attach it with this note. But if it does not work its because I am not that good with attaching photos!

Thanks Nina

Dear Nina,
I'm sorry to hear of the recent loss of your dad.

With regard to your father's military service, I'm afraid that you're in the same position as most of us; you have to seek out little snippets of information from here and there and, painsakingly piece them all together to form a bigger (but not necessarily complete) picture...

Given the information that you have provided, I can make a couple of suggestions:

The only reference I can find for a yellow plume is that worn by The Lancashire Fusiliers

It is possible, given your mention of " the Polski Army" that your father may have served, for a time, with No1 Demolition Squadron, aka Popski's Private Army (PPA).
[Formed and commanded by Vladimir (Popski) Peniakoff, Popski's Private Army was a tiny elite unit of the British Army. It fought from its formation in late 1942 until the end of the War in North Africa and Italy, specializing in intelligence gathering, sabotage, and partisan support.]
However, the PPA wore a Black Beret and no plume...

Of course none of this means that your father didn't serve with The Commandos.
I hope that some of this makes sense and that some one else can provide more information.

In the meantime, if you have difficulty posting your pictures, please don't hesitate to email them to me and I will post them for you.

Regards,
Nick

Dear Nina,
Here as promised is the sketch your brother drew from an original photo of your dad, Charles Cross, it is a great drawing but I have to be honest and say that I don't hold out too much hope of anyone being able to recognise your dad from it - I have difficulties recognising my dad in photos...

The plume/hackle has been coloured yellow and it is believed that the beret was 'dark purple'.

The family is, however, adamant that Charles Cross served in the Commandos

Can any one help?

Nick

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 11/11/2008 23:42:45

The Link below might be a clue as to why he may have served at some time with Polish (Polski as you say) soldiers in whatever role that may have been....if you read some of the posts they mention links with Britsh Commandos. Good luck with your search Nina

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=69761

Thank you Pete I will have a look. I have requested dad's service records so hopefuly might learn something. My grandson has his medals and I do know he had the Italian Star and African Star also other medals, again once I have seen these I might again learn something.

Many thanks for your help.

Regards Nina

Nina,
Here is a photo of a couple of Lancashire Fusiliers wearing the General Service Dark Blue Beret complete with yellow hackle.
Is it possible that your dad's parent regiment was the Lancs Fusiliers - that is before he became a commando?

Commandos were volunteers from Home regiments. The individual commando's parent regiment still payed his wages and most, but not all, Commandos wore their own regimental cap badges - my father wore his KRRC cap badge on his green beret. [No2 Commando designed and fashioned their own unique capbadge]

Nick

OMG ! I think you could be right!! It certainly sounds like dad's cap and the yellow hackle looks the same. I have been trying to find similar cap's like dad wore on the internet but unable. You are very impressive and thank you so much. I have got his medals and will let you know what they were - would this tell us a bit more about him?

Thank you again Nic I appreciate it.

Nina

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 13/11/2008 09:43:57

Nina,
Obviously we can't be sure until you get the service record, but, as I said, it's intriguing carrying out research and then, piece by piece, building the bigger picture.
When you said your brother described the beret as dark purple I couldn't think of any such beret but I know that the General Service Dark Blue beret can, with time, lose a bit of colour and may be mistaken as purple.

When you apply for your dad's service records you need to provide as much info as possible - to make sure you get the right record and to make the search easier. If we can establish any info, it will put you on the right track.

It's all a bit 'chicken & egg' at the moment but be patient, I'm sure you'll get results.

Nick

Nina,
You told me that you believed your dad served in Malta & Italy?

Well, following the Lancs Fusiliers theory, on their Regimental Colour is the battle honour: Malta 41 - 42, which means that they served, and fought, there during that time...

[This was during the Siege of Malta, June 40 - Dec 42]

You say that your dad was born in 1920, this, of course, makes him old enough to have served with them at that time...

Perhaps he then went on to become a commando after that?

I have included a link to the Lancs Fusiliers website :

http://www.lancs-fusiliers.co.uk/

regards,
Nick

Thanks again for your help. The medals that I know are: Defence Medal, War Medal, The Italy Star, The Africa Star (which I believe you get from serving in North Africa or Malta and Eqypt.) He also had the 1939 - 45 Star (with the blue/red/pale blue colours on)

Thanks

Nina

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 26/01/2009 00:46:05

Nina,
how is your research going? Have you got any further?

One of the significant factors about your father was the yellow hackle/plume in his beret - well, it now seems that No5 Commando wore a yellow plume/hackle up to 1942!

http://www.commandoveterans.org/cdoForum/posts/list/672.page

However, I'm not suggesting your Dad was in No5 - his medals would suggest otherwise - but it shows that there are many pieces to fit together to form the full picture...

Keep us updated with your progress,

Nick

Hi Nick

I sent off for my dad's service record so just waiting for that. I did get confirmation of his war medals which are the ones I mentioned before. I will keep you informed.

Regards Nina

hi Nina,
Any joy with your dad's service record yet?
I've been doing a bit more research on the Lancs Fusiliers and it would appear that they formed part of the Special Force, The 2nd Chindit Expedition 1944...
The force comprised six brigades and Ist Lancs Fusiliers were in 77th Brigade.

Each brigade was divided into columns and a Headquarters.

A column had about 400 men and typically consisted of,

- Infantry company of four platoons armed with rifles and light machine guns.

- Heavy weapons platoon armed with two Vickers machine guns, two 3-inch mortars and anti-tank weapons.

- Commando platoon for demolitions and setting booby traps.

- Reconnaissance platoon with a section of Burma Rifles.

- The column also included RAF, sapper, signaller and medical detachments.

I wonder if it's possible that your dad was with the Chindits?
http://www.chindits.info/Thursday/SpecialForce.htm

Nick