Cpt Gordon Edmiston OBE MC

Gordon Edmiston signed up in 1940. He volunteered for 11 Commando in August 1940. He went on to serve with the LRDG and in 1943 was commissioned in Cairo, then joining the Royal Scots Greys where he achieved the rank of Captain and was awarded an MC in February 1945 and an OBE in 1976.

He is named incorrectly in the Nominal Roll for 11 Commando (http://www.commandoveterans.org/book/export/html/976) showing his first name as George not Gordon, and there is some information missing from his entry (date of birth 04/01/2020, date of death 22/03/2000). In 1992 he wrote a lengthy document (almost 20,000 words) detailing his army service. It contains a reasonable amount of information about his training and service in 11 Commando and may be of interest? It would be good to add it to your archive.

I have attached a PDF copy of his "memoir" to this post and also a photograph of him taken in Cairo in 1943 at OCTU, wearing a ME Commando badge on his beret. It would be great if both of these attachments could be added to your archive, as his family is very proud of his service. And would it be possible to correct the entry where he has been mis-named?

(He was known throughout his later service in the tank regiment as "Commando Joe"!)

Proof reading my post might have helped me notice that his d.o.b. is clearly 04/01/1920, not 04/01/2020 as I typed within the post. My apologies.

Hi David

Thank you for contacting us about your father and providing a copy of his memoir of service. The error in his first name on the nominal roll has been corrected and our Obituaries (where his first name was shown correctly) have been updated to reflect your father's dates of birth and death. I have also updated our No.11 Commando Gallery with a copy of the photo of your father (currently on page 1) and provided a link there to a personnel page now in the archive which you will see has a copy of his memoir included. On that page I have included sources for information shown in addition to yourself. The one source I cannot find in the London Gazette is that of his rank as Captain which is the rank the original Commando Association of which he was a member listed for him and which I have included. If correct this may have been a permanent or temporary rank he held, or an honorary one granted on leaving the service which should be shown in the London Gazette (the one entry there I cannot find is his leaving the service). Are you able to provide any information on this ?

Here are the links to the entries:

No.11 Gallery: https://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/11/

A-Z Personnel: https://www.commandoveterans.org/Gordon_Edmiston_11Commando

Pete

Hi Pete,
Firstly on behalf of the whole family, can I express our thanks for your comprehensive update of your records in relation to my father.
I'm struggling to find additional information relating to his final rank. I believe it was a permanent one he held before being demobbed in 1946, mainly based upon the comment on the last page of his memoirs where he wrote: "For a period we were stationed in Schleswig Holstein, near Flensburg. I was now a captain and second in command of a Squadron and I was responsible for the administration of a POW camp where the prisoners were Poles who had been forced to fight for Germany in the latter days of the war. The inmates were male and female - indeed two of them were married and I was invited to the wedding."
I have applied for a copy of his full service record (as immediate NOK), so that should provide an answer, eventually. In addition I have made enquiries with the regimental museum in Edinburgh and have a provisional appointment to meet the curator there to look through their records in April. Again, this may provide more info. I will update you if I find out any more.
Although not connected to his commando service, I have attached a copy of the citation (from the National Archive) of the award of his MC. I find it all the more interesting as it was signed by Monty!
Once again, THANK YOU.
D.E.