Info on my grand father Kenneth john Youngs 6 commando

Looking for any information about my grand father. I know he was in the 6 commandos and served in france Belgium and Germany. He was part of d-day but I cannot find him in any photos etc. Anything would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Lucie

Hi Lucie

We do not have access to official service records. In the absence of finding anything in the archive which I know is not complete do you have the service record of your grandfather referencing commando service or any other documentation that does so ?

Pete

Thank you for your reply. Yes I do have some service records and I have found him now in a photo on here. Which is great. I'd love to know more about the missions or raids he took part in etc

Hi Lucie

Thank you for sending the pages from his Service Record and the photos. From those I have created various entries in our archive for your grandfather including, amongst others, the Obituaries, Gallery, and Personnel A-Z sections. I have provided some links below.

Your grandfather was originally attested into the Royal Artillery before being transferred to the Royal Engineers (RE). I found his RE Card and that lists his move to No.6 Commando and then remarkably shows his Troop number within No.6 Commando when posted.

On the record you will see references to No.6 Commando, the Special Service Battalions, No.9 Commando, Special Service Brigade HQ and of course No.6 Commando. The Special Service Battalions was a short lived re-designation of commando units before reverting back to their original commando designation. As I said in my last email at the time there was only the single 'Special Service Brigade' encompassing all the Army Commando units formed in 1940. This changed to four Brigades at the end of July beginning of August 1943 with the creation of six more RM Commando units. There were only two RM commando units up to that time both formed in 1942.

In respect of your original post your grandfather left the Commandos at the end of 1943 so would not be in any of our commando related photos covering that period. The Royal Engineers had a major role to play in establishing facilities such as the Mulberry Harbours, etc. This role continued during the advance through Europe and he is finally deployed to Hamburg in a similar role.

Personnel A-Z: https://www.commandoveterans.org/Kenneth_J_Youngs_Commando

No.6 Cdo. Gallery p3 main album for your grandfather and next to it the Helensburgh photo which includes Alf Wakefield who was later killed in action: https://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/6/?g2_page=3

No.6 Cdo. Gallery page 1, the HMS Queen Emma image: https://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/6/

Pete

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 23/01/2025 11:03:25

I would just add that there are one or two confusing entries on different pages of the service record, for example his joining date for No.6 Commando being changed from June to July 1940. Also the posting to No.9 Commando for over a year mentioned on one page but nowhere else. This could be explained by his Royal Engineer skills which might have been useful in those days as prior to Feb/March 1942 there was no central training base for all commandos with each commando unit organising the training of their men. So perhaps a training role or a skill needed for some other reason. I simply do not know for certain. As is normal the Service Record does not mention specific raids. Perhaps someone with access to the No.9 and No.6 Commando War Diaries held at Kew can check entries but with some exceptions these again are somewhat disappointing in naming the other ranks.

Absolutely fantastic. Huge Thank you for all the information and help you have provided