Messages posted by: mekz48

AB64 wrote:Blanking out or cutting out of the parents nationality and the soldiers place of birth wasn't related to raids or anything it was an army wide order from 1942 - Army Council Instruction 1770 - this instructed that these details were no longer to be entered and going forward if a soldier was going overseas and had these details already filled in they were to be "obliterated". I have seen it suggested that this was due to the increasing number of Germans, Austrians, French etc serving in British units, not sure if thats correct or it was just considered unnecessary to include it.

Alistair

Just saw this reply, thank you for that information :)

Hi Pete, a few more things we managed to find!

P.S - He actually passed away on the 29/12/1977 and not the 27th, is it possible to amend this, apologies, that was my mistake.

Please see attached for some medals we managed to locate, and do you happen to know if its possible to officially obtain replacement ribbons?

That's great Pete thank you so much!!
I am trying to find out the connection of my grandfather to William E Fairbairn as it seems they spent time together at Fort William before he was sent over to Achnacarry Training Depot, any tips on where to look in regards to the Fairbairn and Fort William time frame?

Pete wrote:Hi Trent

I have now added a selection of the photos you posted to our gallery and they can be viewed here:

http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/1/Willis-Jones/

John Willis Jones in Civilian clothing

Grandmother - Barbara Rees - ATS

few more pics

Hi Pete,

Apologies for the delayed reply, in the Aldershot Photo he is in the middle row, second from the left when looking at the picture, i also came across a few more photos which i have attached to this post, also including my Grandmother, whom he met at Achnacarry, she was as far as i can gather a Private in the ATS and her name was Barbara Rees, they married in 1944.

I am John's grandson, he is my mothers father, my name is Trent Willis-Jones, He passed away 27/12/1977.

Pete wrote:I have updated the photos at Achnacarry with your Grandfather's name and also the nominal roll for No.1 Commando. I would like to add an entry in our Gallery so do you have a good photo of your Grandfather on his own either from his military days or later in civvies. Can you also identify where in the Aldershot photo he is positioned ?
Can you please also advise me of your name so as I can add you as a source, and the date your Grandfather died. Thanks.

http://www.commandoveterans.org/John_Willis_Jones_1Commando_CBTC

This is great! thank you so much for the info! I will keep digging and post up any additional info/pics i come across :)

Pete wrote:Additionally the letter of reference from Captain Tom Gordon-Hemming of No.1 Commando is excellent and answers many questions about his career as he mentions North Africa where No. 1 Commando took part in Operations. Here are some photos of the Officer who wrote that

http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/Commando+War+Graves+Memorials+and+Plaques/Normandy/Luc+sur+Mer/Tom+Gordon+Hemming+1+and+2+cdo.jpg.html

and here

http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/1/1+Cdo+vets/No+1+1970.jpg.html

We have others

Hi Pete, i have spotted him in the pics and i will attach them to this message, after speaking with my mother it appears his name in the military was John W Jones, he did not use the hyphenated version of (Willis-Jones) so i assume the John W Jones on the nominal roll is possibly him. I will have a hunt through the gallery and see if i can spot him

Pete wrote:Hi Mekz

From your father's Commando Service Certificate your Father served in both No. 1 Commando and at the Commando Basic Training Centre. The photo of the Army PTI's gives a clue as to his role. We have the two Commando photos you posted already in our gallery. The photo titled Commando Basic Training Centre, June 1944 is not No. 1 Commando photo but of Instructors and Staff of the Training Centre. Is your father in these photos and if so can you point him out so I can add his name to each..

http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/Commando+Training/Turneyimages3.jpg.html

http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/Commando+Training/Turneyimages1.jpg.html

There are other photos where you might spot him in the WW2 Training gallery where the above are located. Here is a direct link to page 1 of that gallery:

http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/Commando+Training/

We have a Lance Sergeant J.W. Jones in our No.1 Commando nominal roll so I will add Willis-Jones also a cross reference them. Have you a good photo of your father on his own at all ? If so post it on here (they have to be under 1mb in size). Any problem email it to me (see email link below).

Wow John M thank you very much for this explanation, that is awesome!!! Answers alot of questions!!

John M wrote:Hello Mekz48

I can offer a learned explanation for the redacting of info in your fathers pay-book.

My father Bob Mewett was in No 12 and No1 Cdo from early in their formation. As you can see, from the photo attached, his pay book was treated the same as your fathers.
I was lucky enough to befriend two of my fathers comrades Harry Winch and John Huntington both also of No12 and No 1 Cdo.

When I asked both the question why was this so they both recited the same answer.

On the early raids many of the men were not known personally to each other ,all being from separate Regiments of the army. So when leaving for the raid and for security reasons they would leave their pay-book at the departure venue. The pay-book would be retrieved on the soldiers return from the raid. If the pay-book was not retrieved that soldier was recorded as missing etc.(Negative Roll Call). However some men were superstitious and were not happy to leave their PB . A symbol of bad luck. So to placate these individuals the info was deleted so if captured no sensitive info was available from the book..

I cannot offer any other explanation and when I have recited this one to other WW2 Commandos it has never been refuted.

I regard both John Huntington and Harry Winch both reliable sources, as they both helped me tremendously in the research of my fathers wartime efforts.

I hope this proves useful to you.

Best regards
John M

Reference Letter

Hi Nic,

Thanks for the time to reply, his first name was John and his surname was "Willis-Jones" hyphenated, however most of his military records have him listed as John Jones or J.W Jones, i have heard he also went by the nickname Jacky Jones in the No.1 Commando Unit. I located a really cool reference letter from a superior, i will post it below

We have recently found some of my grandad's military papers, it seems his service book has been redacted for some reason and his Trade On Enlistment has been redacted and changed to "STUDENT" in a different style of handwriting? Can anyone shed any light on a possible reason for this? His military records online seem to be almost non existent. He was one of the first in No.1 Commando Brigade and then became the commando trainer at the depot in Scotland. Any information would be very much appreciated, i have pics but unsure if i can post in here? *i have noticed its fine to post pics so i have attached some of the pics we have found.