Sergeant William Twohig BEM

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 01/11/2021 17:48:52

Dear All,

First time poster here.

I'm trying to find some information on a 10553025 Sergeant William Twohig of 3 Commando (and REME), who was awarded the BEM at the end of WW2.

see https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37412/supplement/317/data.pdf

I've found him on the 3 Commando website, confirmed on the nominal roll as having lived at Blackheath, London, but any further info would be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot,

David

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 01/11/2021 21:46:00

HI David

Welcome to the Forum. The service number for Sergeant Twohig is 10553025 which is in a block allocated to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps.
(see useful service number checker here http://www.corpsofmilitarypolice.org/tools/armynumber).
This fits in with the history of the REME formed in October 1942
(see history of the REME here https://remeconnect.org/who-are-we/history-of-reme/ )

As we do not have access to service records I cannot assist with much else as other than the details you already found that were in our archive we have nothing. Hopefully someone else might. More on Service Records is here: https://www.commandoveterans.org/ServiceRecords.

I have checked Casualty Records and cannot see him listed. He obviously joined the original Commando Association but they lost contact with him over the years and his name was published amongst others in what they called their Lost Legion Lists. You can download Lost Legion List 11 here: https://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/Commando+Gatherings+pre+CVA/CA+Lost+legions/CA+Lost+Legion+No11__0001.pdf.html

Twohig is quite an unusual surname and Blackheath is in the London Borough of Greenwich so I checked the Local Registers Births / Deaths, etc.
I found two possible entries not confirmed.
England & Wales Marriages 1837-2005
Greenwich, London, England
William Twohig - marriage registered Jul, Aug, Sept, 1936- spouse maiden name Churchill.
England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007
Greenwich, London, England
William Twohig - born 29 October 1904 death registered September 1995.

Do you have a photo of him ? Are you related ?

Pete

Dear Pete,

Thank you very much for your helpful reply, and for all of the information provided. I'm sorry to say that I do not have any information on the chap beyond what I mentioned initially, and I'm not related, but you have given me some places to continue my enquiry for which I am grateful.

It seems curious to me that someone from the RAOC/REME would have been selected for commando service, rather than say a more typical line regiment, and it is odd that no citation exists for his BEM, although it is from late in the war and might just be a bit of a 'well done' award. Would the commando units have selected men like this to bring specialist arms & ordnance expertise / repairs in house perhaps? And would they have had a certain allocation of 'handy' men in each platoon?

Would be intrigued to hear your views, and thanks so much again for the reply. You never quite know if anyone will answer when you are new to a forum!

With best wishes,

David

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 02/11/2021 11:59:28

Hi David

Sergeant Twohig was an Army Commando (raised in 1940) all of whom had initially volunteered for the Commandos rather than, as you say, were selected. They volunteered from all elements of the Field Army. A selection process did then occur from those who did volunteer to see if they were suitable to proceed to Commando training. If they subsequently passed that selection and the commando training even then they were only ever attached from their Regiment to the Commandos and could be returned to unit (RTU) for any reason at anytime (this included if of their own choice). If you are interested in knowing more there is a brief resume on this website and you will see there two highly recommended books that will give you a much fuller understanding.
Please note I have outlined only the Army Commando process above. You will find out more in our archive about the Commandos from the other services. Here is the link to the main WW2 Training page in the archive with the books mentioned and at the foot some links to follow on pages covering various aspects:

https://www.commandoveterans.org/Commando_History_and_Training

The British Empire Medal (Military Division) is awarded for Meritorious Service. There is also a Civil Division. As you can imagine in a World War many acts of gallant service, although recognised by their Officers and men at the time, did not come to official notice for various reasons. Some examples might be those who became prisoners of war, those who were missing or who died, etc. etc. Although some recommendations have been digitised and are available online, these are generally the earlier ones. There will be a citation somewhere.