Messages posted by: John Shephard

Dear Bill

Yes it could well be that Pop was a nickname only used by comrades within the unit; a reflection on being the oldest (well somebody had to be!).

As for memories, I remember the names of two of the other commandos billeted with us along with Pop - Chris Birmingham and Jerry (Grace?). I can also remember they did an exercise with the local Home Guard whereby the latter had to defend the town against penetration by the commandos. The commandos achieved their objective without a blank being fired and waited quite some time until the Home Guard appeared back to find out what was going on. It turned out the commandos had waded up through the river totally undetected - a story line later used by Dad's Army I believe.

Another memory was my mother waiting until they had all left the house for the day, finding the largest thistle in the garden and stuffing it into the bed of one of the four; I cannot remember which. I felt rather disloyal at being a party to a trick on one of my commando friends and the moment they got back in the evening I took one of them aside and spilt the beans. The outcome was that I then became his accomplice in transferring the thistle to my parents' bed. Happy days despite all!

My eldest son is very interested in all of this and has read extensively about the commandos in WW2, so it is good to think their service and sacrifice is remembered by another generation.

John

Good to hear from you, Bill.

Do let me know if anything transpires - I remember Pop with great fondness although only a young child at the time.

We always felt safe at home when there were commandos with us!

Many thanks
John

Bit of a long shot, but can anybody tell me if Pte Henry Donkin who was KIA at Walcheren was nicknamed 'Pop'? If so I remember him as a child when No 4 Commando were billeted here in Dorset in 1942.

The nickname might have been given to him on account of his age and the size of his family.

Bill

That's a very generous offer, I'm most grateful.

I still have my mother's address book and the address she has in it for Chris is 57 North Shore Road if that helps.

Actually I am no stranger to Troon. I stayed in the town during the 1960's when I first joined ICI at Ardeer. Its a lovely place and I have fond memories.

John

Most grateful, Guy. That makes a very good starting point.
John

Nick, Bill and Guy

Very many thanks for your work on my behalf and your helpful suggestions.

I see that Troon has a Facebook page. I will join the group and post asking if Chris Birmingham has surviving family or friends who might have insights into his war record and his friends in 4 Cdo. We had Commando Christmas cards from Chris for very many years and hopefully he will have kept in touch with the men he served with, possibly those that were billeted with us. I'm pretty sure he worked for GPO after the war so I would imagine he was fairly well known in the town.

Let's hope this one has further to run.

Thanks again for all your help

John

Greetings from a new member

Our museum here in Gillingham, Dorset is wanting to put together a portfolio of recollections of local events in WW2 in preparation for the forthcoming VE Day commemorations. I would love to contribute my very fond memories of four NCO?s from 4 Commando who were billeted with us at some time (I would guess) before the raid on Dieppe.

So my first query is whether there is any information about the date when 4 Commando were billeted in the Gillingham and Shaftesbury area of North Dorset, and how long they were here.

Now for names. The one man that my parents kept in touch with for many years after the war was Christopher Birmingham who lived in Troon. He was I think in G Troop (later it seems to become B Troop?). He must have been at Lofoten and seen active service before he stayed with us. The quietest of the four, but with natural Irish charm.

The others are more problematic because all I can remember are nicknames and first names respectively. They were Pop and Jerry. As the name suggests Pop was slightly older than the others but I very quickly became his adoptive son when he was in the house. I remember little about Jerry and I sadly cannot recall the name of the fourth one in the group.
Any info that forum members have would be of tremendous help and will I promise be properly acknowledged in anything in print

John