Marine Les 'Brad' Bradshaw MM 10 Platoon X Company 'A' Commando

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 09/06/2019 20:50:44

I am looking for any information about my father Les 'Brad' Bradshaw's wartime service. I know he was in 10 Platoon X Company, 'A' Commando and saw service at Dieppe, where he was awarded the Military Medal for his action. I belive he was then in action soon after with his unit (then known as 30AU ??) in North Africa, perhaps November 1942? He then had leave and married my mother, Vera, in December 1942. If that could be verified, that would be great. I really don't know what he did after that - other than Vera told me he became a PTI later in the war. Whether that was with the RM Commandos, I don't know.
For anyone who may be able to help...I'm never sure as to whether my father was in 40 Commando (as part of 10 Platoon X Company) or whether 'A' Commando took on another designation? Please help!
I'd be grateful for any info. My father died young, aged 48, back in 1971 and he did not open up much to me (or anyone) about his service. I was only 15 when he died of a sudden heart attack -- I guess 30-odd years of 40-50-a-day Players Navy Cut did him no favours. But he was, for all that, not too much above his 'fighting weight' when he died. Needless to say, I'm so proud of him and would like to fill in a few blanks.
- Bill Bradshaw

Hi Bill,

The history of The Commandos and other Special Forces units can be quite confusing becouse of how each unit evolved, the many 'splinter-groups and the frequent changes of names of units.
Hopefully, I can explain a bit about 30 AU & 40 RM Cdo...

The first Royal Marine Commando was formed at Deal in Kent on 14 February 1942 and designated 'The Royal Marine Commando'.
Before long it was re-designated RM 'A' Commando with Lt.Col J Picton Phillips as the Commanding Officer.
'A' Commando had it's baptism of fire in Operation Jubilee (the Dieppe Raid),19 August 1942, it suffered dreadful losses - of the 370 officers and men, 76 were lost on the beaches, among those killed was the Commanding Officer - and, after returning to the UK and being reinforced, was re-designated 40 RM Commando in October '42...

On March 10, 1942, Commander Ian Fleming,RN [future James Bond novelist but then serving as an Intelligence Officer in the Royal Navy's NID (Naval Intelligence Dept. ] had approached his boss, John Godfrey, with an intriguing proposition. His memo, entitled "Proposal for Naval Intelligence Commando Unit," went straight to the heart of the ?four-rotor crisis? - the inability of British Intelligence to break the German Enigma code ever since the Germans, just the month before, added a fourth-level of encryption to their code machines. He conceded that he had poached the concept directly from the Germans, and that he intended to draw the original cadre for his Intelligence Assault Unit (IAU) from the 10 Platoon of 'A' Commando's 'X' Company.

During 'A' Commando's training for Op Jubilee, 10 Platoon, under the command of Lieutenant H. Huntington-Whiteley, RM, were segregated from the rest of the Commando for 'special training'! A Secret Operation Order, dated 22 June 1942, simply states, "10 Platoon will be prepared to carry out a special task as detailed later. No special equipment is required other than is arranged already."

The plan was that the main assault, involving an attacking force of about 5,000 Canadians, 1,000 British troops and 50 US Rangers, would attack the beaches, Nos. 3 & 4 (Army) Commandos would conduct a pincer movement silencing Goebbels & Hess coastal batteries, respectively.

Meanwhile, 10 Platoon would be 'inserted' into the Dieppe Docks to search for intelligence, more specifically the four rotor Enigma... [There is a theory that the capture of the four rotor Enigma was so important that the beach assault was just a diversion from the real mission - the capture of the Enigma! ]

As we now know Operation Jubilee was a disaster and 10 Platoon never landed, however during the approach, Mne 'Brad' Bradshaw distinguished himself with his Bren Gun and was awarded a Military Medal for his gallantry.

In Sep 1942, the Director of Naval Intelligence authorised the formation of the Special Intelligence Unit, of which 10 Platoon, under Huntington-Whiteley, became the nucleus. SIU would be composed of 33 (Royal Marines) Troop, 34 (Army) Troop, 35 (RAF) Troop and 36 (Royal Navy) Troop. The SIU became known as Special Engineering Unit and 30 Commando and was re-designated 30 Assault Unit (30AU) in December 1943.

So Les Bradshaw was in 10 Platoon, X Company, 'A' Commando and then transferred to 30 AU when it was formed.

Nick

Bill,
This piece from the Sunderland Echo 7th October 1942, states that Les originally enlisted in the Royal Berkshire Regiment in 1939, before transferring to the Royal Marines. He had recently been discharged from hospital, possibly wounded on the Dieppe raid?
Guy

Hi Guy (and apologies if I have addressed you as Mick, your father's name),

I also apologise for being off-radar just recently but I am very, very busy on a couple of projects.
Anyway, this makes perfect sense in one regard...that Easington address is/was the home of my grandparents and, therefore, my mother at the time she met my Dad. I guess he would have met her when based in the N.E. with the Berkshires?
I don't know if it is true, but Mum said he actually deserted from the "army" in order to join the RM Commandos and, the fact that he wanted "action", was instrumental in his avoiding a court martial!
So, if he was recuperating in early October, would that have been BEFORE the unit's raid on north Africa? I am guess it would have been.
Thanks for turning up that cracking cutting!

Bill