Messages posted by: ASR142

the full pics of 4 Para Troop Army Commando taken at littlehampton Sussex .

7018924 RFN Maginnis S PICTURE AS STATED ITS A POOR PIC

Hi Chaps
I was going through some of my bits today from Duckworth's bits when I remembered I have the cert and some papers from 7018924 RFN Maginnis S who served with 4th Para Troop 12 army commando he seams to be missing of the roll as well heres his pic saidly it a poor example but the best i can do for him and a pic of the rest of the troop which was apparently the last pic done of this troops note where the jump wings are being worn and that these are blacked backed .steve

Images of his badges

His Commando service card and close up of his service details on it .

His service medals and the Normandy jubilee medal

John Charles Duckworth was born on the 4th June 1922 as a roman catholic he was a shop assistant before WWII and joined the Royal Marine service as a reservist 1* on the 1st May 1941 at 18 years 11 months he was given the Plymouth number ply/x103522 this was at Exmouth , He was only 5 ft 6 inches tall with brown hair blues eyes
Initially he was signed up as a clerk on the 14th September 1941 after basic training and was employed in this roll for about 2 years 2 months when he was accepted for the Royal Marine Commandos on the 1st August 1943 at Dorchester Dorset in the 46th RMC where he stayed until they where disbanded in 1946.
They moved to Troon and Irvin where intensive training began on the 15th October 1943 and joined the 4th Special Service brigade they saw no action before The 7th June 1944 as the small raids where cancelled as unit level training had started for the invasion of Europe He took part in the Normandy campaign landing in Normandy on the 7th June 1944 AT Arromanches " France " in A troop 46th RMC saw service in Normandy for a staggering 12 weeks be with only 1 day of rest during this period and saw some very heavy fighting during these weeks .
During the attack on St Leger Du Bosq on the 20th August 1944 he was wounded the location of the wound and its severity is not at present know "I am trying to research this bit with a friends help " I think this may have been a minor wound as hes not hospitalized or taken to a casualty clearing station or discharged but is shown in his records for this date.
For his service during WWII he was awarded the 1939-45 star , France and German star , defence and war medals in 1994 he was given the Normandy jubilee medal with cert by France for his service in Normandy in 1944 in October 1944 they moved back to the UK " IOW " Where they prepared for the crossing of the Rhine that followed in 1945 tacking part in this and the further campaigns in Germany he remained unscathed for the remainder of the war in 1945 after the war in Europe had ended he was with the Holding Operation Commando from November 44 till February 1946 11th from left to right top row or 4th from right sitting on the floor not sure which one as they look very much like him.
May he now rest in peace and not be forgotten!

1* The Admiralty during WWII only signed every one on as reservist this way they did not have to pay pensions out during or after the war to them .

Pete wrote:Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting the images. Your PDF image of the Holding Operational Commando (HOC) Warrant Officers and Sergeants is an excellent photo and an interesting one as it contains both Army and Royal Marine Commandos. Being between VE day and VJ day preparations were in hand for the planned invasion of Japan.

I spot 2929845 Sgt Edward 'Tiny' Burke No 2 Commando 5 troop in there bottom row extreme left. (click on his name to view his image).

What is the name of the Commando in the photo ?

Regards

Pete

Hi Pete
I am about to do his story on the forum later this week and dont want to spoil it so keep an eye out for it steve

This title is what I think may have been worn while he served with the HOLDING COMMANDO in june 1945 hes the 4 from right in the bottom row .

well this is not going to plan Steve
The Bottom titles in this pic where on the picture of him the numeral was hidden underneath the RM section of the title folded under it. The 3 parts of the title have been stuck to a bit of a letter and where stapled to a bit of damaged plastic envelope will be getting a small frame to mount them in shortly with the numeral showing steve

well Chaps could only get the one pic to go on here is the others steve

Steve George wrote:

NIC wrote:Danny,
Here as promised is the enlargement of part of that photo - to get the best result I converted to PNG then to PDF...

I think around about 800% is the best enlargement without it becoming too pixelated....

I'm still not sure but I think the Royal Marine shoulder title is curved, the Commando title is also curved and I don't know where the unit number (46) is...

nick

Hi Nic, I have gone with this, although I believe the earlier Cash tape ones were straight. It would be good to know how and when styles changed and how accurate some of the reproduction stuff available is.

I managed to purchase a set of the original numerals. These are in red coton on black felt and say "No 46" (as in Danny's examples). They are curved rather than square making me wonder if they were made singularly in order to add to a Royal Marines arched title or perhaps been removed from the larger arched Royal Marines Commando title (again as in Danny's examples). Would the number always been above the RM titlle. Could it ever have been added before the RM title?

I am attempting to re-create how their BD's would have looked. At the moment I have the titles placed in the folllowing order, similar to Danny's 45 example.

No46 (curved)
Royal Marines (curved)

Commando (straight)

Combined Ops (round)

In the meantime, as Pete suggests, I will go through the photos and see if I can produce any clearer examples. I have also recently written to a veteran, hopefully he will be able to help. I will let you all know anything I findout.

Thanks everyone for your input so far.
Steve.

Hi Steve and the other Chaps
I am fairly new to this forum but am fairly well know on the British commonwealth badge forum I just recently purchased a fairly complete set of original documents , badges and bits that belonged to a chap in 46 Royal Marine Commando this is his badges below ( hope they upload OK not tried this before on here ) these follow the pictures of 46 RMC fairly well and have not been messed with one section is straight of his BD jacket this might help you steve