Messages posted by: Peter Cooper

This tablet was placed at Hill Barn Golf Course on May 10th 1984 to remember those of No.3 Commando who trained on and around the course prior to the Normandy invasion. No. 9 Commando also used the course for training in anticipation of a possible move to Burma
My father, Dennis Cooper, is standing immediately behind the stone and Vincent 'Ozzie' Osbourne is fourth from the left with Charlie Majer second from the right.

From the Isle of Man, Nollick Ghennal as Blein Vie Noa... or in Manx Gaelic, Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year !!
Peter

This photo shows Commandos practising crossing a fast flowing river in the highlands.

Bill,
It sounds like one hell of a fight. What a pity it is overshadowed by the
D- Day invasion. But there were so many men who were lost in obscure places throughout the world. At least some of us remember and appreciate what was done on our behalf.

Peter

This group of 3 and 4 Commando men were training in 'Mouseholeing' prior to D Day in the ruins at Limehouse in London. This training consisted of using small explosive charges, which each man carried, in order to blow holes through from one building to next. Lt. Herbert, on the left, rose through the ranks and Col. P. Young said he was the best soldier he ever knew. Sadly, he was killed later in the war.

Aerial recce photos are now available to view from the government
site: www.aerial.rcahms.gov.uk Some interesting ones from WWII.

Quite right - my mistake. My father was there so I should know !
I have made the relevant alterations.
Peter

This cutting is taken from the Worthing newspaper in 1945 and shows part of 3 Commando at their farewell parade on Broadwater Green.

This booklet was sent in 1945 by the War Office to my father, Dennis Cooper,1 troop 4 Commando, who took part in the operation.
Left click to advance the pages, right click to go backwards and press the escape key to exit.

Peter Cooper

The extract below is taken from J.G.Ballard's autobiography, 'Miracles of Life'. He also wrote' Empire of the Sun' for which he is well known. After spending the war as a young boy in a Japanese internment camp, he embarked on the SS Arrawa from Shanghai bound for the UK.

'We docked briefly at Rangoon, and the captain told us that a party of 30 British commandos were joining us. He warned mothers of teenage daughters to be on their guard. These violent and ruthless men had been fighting the Japanese and would pose a danger to any young women they came across.
I and my friends were all agog at the prospect and keenly awaited developments. The commandos came aboard, heavily armed young men with sunburnt faces. They stowed their weapons in the armoury and then made straight for the passenger saloon on the upper deck, where they spent the rest of the voyage. Every morning when they arrived they would each buy 10 bottles of beer from the bar and carry them to their tables, so that the entire surface was filled with beer bottles. Sitting back in the leather armchairs, they passed the rest of the day drinking, rarely saying anything to each other and taking no interest in the teenage English girls who came in to smile at them.
This deeply impressed me, and still does. I and my friends questioned them about the bitter battles they had fought with Japanese soldiers, many of them starving and suicidal, but the commandos were reluctant to talk. Now and then they would praise a dead comrade who had died beside them as they fought off the Japanese bayonet charges. At Southampton, when we moored, they snapped back into life, reclaimed their weapons and marched off smartly without a backward glance. That also impressed me. Some of them were only two or three years older than I was. They has seen death run towards them with a bayonet and a grenade and had fought him to a standstill.

It says it all really, doesn't it.. ? But I wonder who they were ?

Peter Cooper

This list was passed to me by my father, Dennis Cooper. It was written in late 1944 after the Walcheren operation.

Peter Cooper

The archive is available at www.timesonline.co.uk/archive. Just type in the dates you require (i.e. june 6 1944 to June 14 1944) for the relevant newspaper articles. The pages are very small and unfortunately, you have to pay in order to proceed any further. It looks as though there is some interesting info here.

Peter

This photo from 'Sphere' magazine dated 1946 shows how D-Day Mulberry concrete caissons were used to plug the gaps in the dyke caused by RAF bombing.

Bill,
My father, Dennis Cooper 1 troop 4 Commando, is sorry that he is unable to make the trip due to age etc. but has asked that you pass on his best wishes to everyone there.
I hope all goes well and weather will be better than on November 1st 1944 ! Best regards,
Peter

This photo of the US rangers training at what I believe to be Achnacarry was in The Times recently.
If you go to the Times website: www.timesonline.co.uk/archive,
you can type in your selected dates and it shows you the Times editions for those dates highlighted. Unfortunately, you have to pay to make them legible !

Peter Cooper