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Congratulations to Paul and his wife Kristin on the birth of their "wee one". I will send you an email soon Paul!
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Would it be an idea to run the DVD during the Remembrance Weekend in Fort William in November? I bet a lot of people haven't seen it. If needed I can bring the DVD along. Just let me know.
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I believe that the Tartan on his beret is that of Clan Cameron of Lochiel. Is that correct? And in what Tartan are his trousers?
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Very sad news!
Only last year I was able to get a signed copy of his book Invasion. I sent him a message with my best regards and my thanks for signing the book. By receiving the signed copy and sending my thanks, it was as if I had met him. I will cerish the book, that's for sure!
Rest in peace Bill!
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I just tried to watch the program via the link, but it is a no go at this end due to this line: For copyright reasons, this video is available to UK viewers only.
So I dearly support the suggestion made by Janet for the program to be taped or put on a dvd to be shown in Fort William in November. Or are there other means of watching the program?
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Hi Paul,
The third photo can be found in the book Fighting with the Commandos, written by Scotty. The photo in the book has been made from the left of the men as you look at it, but it is made on the same spot as the photo you posted, namely Limehouse, East London, 1944.
In the book there are names on the photo to identify the people with.
Front row, from left to right: TSM Coaker, Abbot, Parker, Dickinson, Scott (Scotty), Pritchard, Synnot, Lt Lewis (with beret), Lt Ponsford. Behind both Lts is Capt Westley (also with beret). After Lt Ponsford the names of the people in the front row stop.
Second row: Edwards (on your photo the man right behind Abbot), ?, Rabbetts, Osbourne, Hull, Hughes, Grant, ?, ?, ?, Melville, ?, ?, ?.
Third row: McMillan, Dean, ?, Clarke, Bluett (both standing), Gowers, Barnes, ?, White, Harnott, Hutt, Freeman, Edmunds, Salisbury (both with beret).
As the photo in the book has a slightly different angle then the photo you posted, it is perhaps a bit tricky to get the right name with the right man, so I hope I have it right.
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Hi Kevin,
I have been thinking along the same line. It could well be possible that he was a member of that unit. I am in the possesion of the book "Striking back" by Peter Masters which is about 3 Troop No 10 (IA) Commando and of the book "Commandos in excile" by Nick van der Bijl. In this book there is a list of know details of the members of 3 (Britsh) Troop as it was called (or X troop in the beginning). I will have a search through both books and see what they reveal.
Regards,
Jack
PS: good link you just posted!
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Hello Anne,
It's my pleasure and no problem at all! A few months ago I was able to help a woman in England by sending copies of photos of her granddad who was a Dutch Commando during the war. Her mother, the daugther of the Dutch Commando, had just one photo of her father holding her in his arms when she was just a few months old. She never knew anything about him. Now she does and that made her happy. And me as well!
Latest news: I have sent an email to the author of the book I told about in the earlier posts and explained what is going on. As soon as I have an answer I will be in touch!
Jack
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Hello Anne,
Today I received an answer from the museum Wings of Liberation. They have put my mail through to the man who is in charge of the historic section of the museum and it is sent to the documentation section of the museum as well. I will let you know when they come up with an answer.
Some things were made clear though.
The site were the museum is now was not an airfield at the time of operation Market Garden. It was farmland, i.e. meadows etcetera. The terrain was used as a dropzone for the 101st Airborne Division. It might be possible that your father has mistaken the dropzone for an airfield because of all the flying movements going on there at the time.
During the Fifties storage buildings were built there for the Ministry of Defence. These buildings are now used for the museum.
There is no Beatrix canal in the region. There is the Wilhelmina canal though. Wilhelmina was the Dutch Queen at that time and Beatrix was her first grandchild and now our Queen. The answer from the museum was (at this moment) that they didn't known if the railway bridge you mention was blown or not. We have to wait for their next answer I guess.
I had a look through some books I have about operation Market Garden and more specific about the region of Son and Eindhoven. I haven't found anything about a Convent being used as a military hospital. What I found was that an asylum for turbuculosis (right spelling?) called Zonhove and situated in Son, was used as the divisional hospital as from 17 september 1944.
So some questions are perhaps answered a bit. We have to wait for the full answer from the museum to be sure. In the mean time I will try to get in touch with a man who has written a book about operation Market Garden in that region and ask what he knows. I'll be in touch!
Jack
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Hello Anne,
I have taken the liberty of sending your messages to the museum Wings of Liberation with the question if they know anything about the things you mention in your messages that happened during operation Market Garden.
I have visited the museum once and know that it is housed in former storage buildings used by the Dutch Ministry of Defence. I have never heard of the fact that it was an airfield, but that could well be possible This is one of my questions to the museum. An other one is if they know of a Convent in Eindhoven used as a military hospital.
I have asked them to provide me with an other source of information if they are not able to answer my questions.
I will inform you of their answer when they get back to me. Perhaps you have already visited their site. If not, here it is.
http://www.wingsofliberation.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=88&Itemid=76&lang=en
Kind regards,
Jack
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Indeed excelent photos.
I agree with Stephen that photo 29 is of US Marines. They were recognisable by the camouflaged helmet cover, which wasn't used by the American during the fighting in Europe. Looking at the soil on the photo there can only be one conclusion: this photo was taken on Iwo Jima, which was covered in lava soil.
And have a look at photo 10. The troops on that photo are in my opinion without a doubt Commandos. You will notice the toggle ropes, the commando dagger on the left upper leg of the man standing as well as the toglle rope he is wearing. The Combined Operations badge is very good recogniseable on the sleeve of the battle dress, especially on the blouse of the sergeant in the forefront. They are not wearing the Bergan rucksack as most of the Commandos did, but the things I mentioned are very clear I think. In the middle of the photo two men can be seen wearing berets.
Any ideas which unit this might be?
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Pete,
Perfect photos!
I had a close look at the photo of the unknown course at Achnacarry to see if I could perhaps recognize any Dutch and a friend of my parents who did his training there from 07 November 1944 until 12 January 1945. He was there with 2 Officers and 109 Other Ranks. In the same period there were Belgians training at Achnacarry as well, with 7 Officers and 297 Other Ranks. I found this information in the Commando Exhibition in the Spean Bridge Hotel.
As you will know I have been searching for information on Niall Thompson. In the Exhibition I found a photo of him together with other instructors at Achnacarry. Looking at the photo of the unknown course I am almost certain that Niall is on it! To me he is the third officer from the left. They are recognisable by the Sam Brown belt.
I will send you the photo I took in the Exhibition so that you can compare the two. If it is indeed Niall on the picture of the unknown course, the picture could have been made in the period I mentioned above. Niall told me in a letter that the Belgians called him Liquid Dynamite! I wonder were that would come from...
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I have never heard the young musicians of Lochabar and the Highlands play, but I will when I am over there in November. So I just signed the petition.
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I promised to keep you all updated on the developmenst regarding Inverailort House. I received a mail last Friday from Venture Trust. See the mail below. As Joe said in his post: things are going in the right direction I believe!
Dear Mr. Bakker
I hope you don?t mind me contacting you, Hugh Maclaren at Inverailort House passed on your details. We are currently investigating the possibility of taking on Inverailort House with the view to using this as a base for the wilderness-based personal development work we do and also to provide this a centre of respite and training for ex-army personnel. We have been in talks with Hugh and he suggested that we contact you to further explore your interest in this historic building. Greg Barton, Chief Executive, would be keen to speak to you ? do you have a contact number that he could call you on?
Alternatively he can be reached in office hours (9am ? 5pm, Mon to Fri) on the number below.
I look forward to hearing from you in due course
With best wishes
Tory
Victoria Harper
PA to Chief Executive / Office Manager
Venture Trust
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Hi Joe,
I haven't spoken to anyone in Venture Trust, but I have been in contact with the owner of Inverailort House, Hugh Maclaren. He told me in a letter that Venture Trust is interested in the house.
Paul Macdonald has been in touch with Venture Trust and they were keen to accommodate groups like the one he is running for future training events at the house. They also accepted their offer of fundraising support for the house.
Paul told me that there should be a meeting soon of all interested parties about initial plans for the house and he has been invited to this.
So I suggest you get in contact with Paul and ask him to whom he has spoken to within Venture Trust.
All the best,
Jack
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