John Leslie ( Les) Bullock

My father (1100653) took part in the Norway raid 1941. He ended up in no 3 Commando, and earlier in training in1941 first went to number 8 Special Service Unit/Group/ , He was trained at STS26 in Scotland.

Much later he was wounded in a raid on an oil facility in January 1944 ( a 'special job' for a Commander Tice) . He and his mates were retrieved by submarine. If anyone can trace this I should be grateful.

He was based in the Artillery at Watford, (nominally 3rd Reserve Medium/ Heavy Regiment RA), and acted as Batman/driver to Major/Colonel HW Abbey. He played cricket for the Grimsdell 11 (on the Hertfordshire Ground) along with Captain Hide, when off duty.

If anyone has any related information then i should be delighted to know. My father refused to speak of it. He was discharged 16 Jan 1945 wounded with 'exemplary conduct' on the card.

Not sure if this was the Tice you mentioned, but here was a Commander Cecil Montague Tice in the RN Reserve. He was brought back from retirement during WW2 along with many other retired naval officers. Is the detail about your Father from his Service Record that you have obtained ?
Pete

Thanks for this... this would have been a Tice organising Commando or SOE raids in January 1944. I discovered a ref to him in the National Archives but haven't been able to go and search it yet.
Thanks for your interest. The reference is a simple note scribbled in a hymn book my father had.. ?S Mission John Tice 3 Jan 1944?. that's all. We know he returned wounded a month later.

My fathers service record stops dead as soon as he gets back from Commando training in 1941 and only has his discharge in 1945 after that. I believe records were not kept for them given the risks of having lists .. ( even nominal roles of commando's weren't kept formally. Thus number 4 commando was made up after the events by James Dunning, official historian of 4 Commando )
thanks again
Paul

Hi Paul,

There was certainly a Major Charles Raymond Tice in the SOE. National Archives ref: HS 9/1468/6 [HS = Records of SOE; HS/9 = SOE Personnel Files; HS/9/1468 = SOE Personnel Files - information on individual subjects]

The only thing I have on him is his parent regiment was Royal Welsh Fusiliers, service number: 148924 and he was in Force 136.

STS was in Aviemore in the Cairngorms, it used three lodges: Drumintoul, Glenmore and Forest and was the training base for Norwegian Agents and HQ to Kompani Linge (Linge Company) led by Martin Linge.

Nick