Edmund Harrison

I am looking for any information about my mother's biological father. I have a couple of photos of him and know that he spent some time with 42 Commando but I have no other information about him. I never met him and he passed away a few years ago. Any information would be gratefully received.

I regret I personally have no information to assist you. I hope someone else does. I cannot quite work out the cap badge on the first photo. Is that Royal Marines ? The 2nd photo he is in RN uniform.

You may wish to read up on how to apply for a copy of his Service Record on this link but you may need more information, death certificate, etc:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/request-records-of-deceased-service-personnel

Royal Navy/Royal Marines:

RN Disclosure Cell,
Room 48,
West Battery,
Whale Island,
Portsmouth,
Hampshire,
PO2 8DX

Looks like a Royal Navy Commando, check out the black and white commando flash on his JWH ( jersey wool heavy).

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 18/02/2018 14:03:56

Hi Bec,

Obviously your grandfather was in the Royal Navy because of the second photo of him in his RN uniform.
The rank & trade badges flummox me at the moment, but I think the crown indicates he was a Chief Petty Officer in his trade (incidentally the crown is a "Queen's Crown" which confirms it was post-war).

In the photo of him beside the 42 RM Commando sign I think he is wearing two badges in his beret...
If this is the case - and it is most unusual - then I would guess that he is seconded to the Royal Marines and is wearing both his RN cap badge and a RM cap badge...

That he is wearing small arms (pistol) and a flak jacket indicate he was somewhere where the locals were not particularly friendly...

Nick

Royal wouldn?t have allowed him to wear 2 cap badges. I?ll ask a few friends from Royal who might have known him, they were 42 in those times.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 18/02/2018 15:59:20

The RN Commando title disappeared in March 1946. He may not have been a RM Commando. That could be a RN Beret. He appears to have a personal radio in the pocket of his flak jacket so perhaps late 60s ? Finally this message is interesting re berets and Nicks suggestion as a possibility :

http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/beret-colours.68093/

Troops from other services, regiments or corps on attachment to units with distinctive coloured berets often wear the latter with their own cap badge.

I can remember the RN Commando flashes worn at CTC in 96. On the JWH. Dagger on navy dress uniform.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 18/02/2018 17:17:58

That would be right I assume for members of the RN who have passed their all arms commando course. The Service Record is the best way forward.

Additionally I have seen this

They wear the green beret with RN capbadges and 'Royal Navy Commando' rockers along with the the 3 Brigade TRF.

What are rockers ?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 18/02/2018 19:46:43

Hi Bec,

I have asked around on the CVA Facebook page and a few of the RN Medical Cdos knew your grandfather, by name.

Eddie Harrison was a Chief Petty Officer Medical Assistant in the Royal Navy.

In the photo of him in the Navy uniform, he is a Leading Medical Assistant, but has qualified for Petty Officer - signified by the crown above the badge on his arm.

That badge is the RN Medical Branch Geneva Red Cross - there is usually a letter underneath which depicts the wearer's specialisation [ie R - Radiographer; N- General Nurse; L - Lab Tech;] in Eddie's case it is generally believed he wore an O - Operating Department Practitioner.

The photo of Eddie in the beret is thought to be mid 1970s and taken in Northern Ireland. By this time and because he was attached to 42 Commando RM he would have been qualified as a commando. His beret would have been the coveted Green Beret...
The badge on his beret is a CPO's cap badge - the same as used on their white caps, these were replaced by the current beret badge in the late '70s.

One of the guys remembers that he was certainly an ODP and believes he did a draft/posting as a theatre chief at RNH (Royal Navy Hospital) Mtarfa in Malta around '76/'77. One guy thinks he remembers a 'quiet run ashore' with Eddie and the rest of the RN Cdo Medics at Malta...

A 'run ashore' means they left the Base and headed down town for a few drinks... There is no such thing as a 'quiet run ashore' - you can be assured that it got a bit rowdy!!

Hope all this helps,

Nick

Hi bec,

Further information for you - The photo of Eddie in a beret was taken by one Surgeon Lieutenant Rick Jolly in West Belfast, 1974 whilst on a visit to 42 Cdo RM who were serving in Northern Ireland at the time.

Apparently Eddie 'got his buttons' (got promoted to Chief Petty Officer)in the late '60's early 70's and features in Rick' Jolly's book "For Campaign Service" as Captain Starlight.

Surgeon Captain Rick Jolly OBE, who passed away earlier this month, was an extremely popular officer and gentleman and was the only serviceman in the Falklands war of 1982 to be honoured by both the British and Argentinian sides. The awards were in recognition of his achievements in managing three frontline field hospitals in which more than 1,000 casualties ? among them around 300 Argentinian soldiers and airmen ? were successfully treated, and in later years in fostering a bold and imaginative spirit of reconciliation between the once warring armies.

Rick Jolly wrote a number of books, His bestselling account of the South Atlantic conflict, The Red and Green Life Machine: A Diary of the Falklands Field Hospital, was published in 1983; it has been reprinted several times as Doctor for Friend and Foe.
His other books included Jackspeak: A Guide to British Naval Slang and Usage (1989) and For Campaign Service (1979), a novel about British service personnel in Northern Ireland, written under the pseudonym Christopher Hawke.

I hope all this is useful...

Nick