RMC 1945 any info on my fathers time there

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 16/06/2019 01:21:37

My dad is 92. He has always said not much to talk about when he was called up in 1945 and was trained as a RMC. He was trained as a sniper. Looking for any info on his time there. I told him I found this site and wanted to explore for him and he was all for it. He forgets which group he was with, but thinks an eight is involved. He was stationed in southern England and no one could understand his accent! His CO was Sanky, a Jamaican fellow whose family had a rum distillery. His colour sergeant was McLennan, which my dad says was the only other Scot he knew there. McLennan could dress you down verbally, but never swore. He did tell me stories about the two knives as part of the uniform would likely result in bar fights. A favourite story of mine is when they were in a bar fight with Americans and a bunch of Australians in uniform showed up. My dad thought this would be reinforcements, but the Aussie asked him if this was a private fight or can anyone join, and then the Aussies proceeded to give both the RMC and American soldiers a beating.

He says he de-mobed after the war, and the rest of his unit put on civvies and went to Korea where he thinks they were all killed. Every Remembrance Day he dons his green beret with the brass Looking RMC crest and pays his respects in some manner.

We do not even have a photo of him in uniform. He says back then, they had nothing, as it was the end of the war. Would love to find a unit photo with him or anything I can find. New to this and we are in Canada, so not sure where to start, so I thought maybe here. His name is Alexander Niven, but goes by Sandy or Alec.

If his unit went to Korea that would be 41 independent commando Royal Marines. They didnt all get killed there were pow and they also were awarded a US presidential citation. If you look through the albums in the gallery there are sniper course photos to view.

Lt Colonel Robert Sankey was CO 40 commando then went to Ports division 1945. Google the name and his details are available.