Messages posted by: Pete

Hi Darrell
If he was a commando then possibly part of one if the units in 2 Special Service (Commando) Brigade. Army Commando, Royal Marine Commando, Royal Naval Beach Commando, Servicing Commando RAF ? As I do not have access to service records and in the absence of any other commando related evidence of service I cannot assist other than to suggest you apply for his service record. How to do so can be found on the link below and I would advise you to apply for a copy of his death certificate and attach it to your application. Several of the questions are optional but do put in as much as you can find out before completing. There are long delays but the initial application is free, with a small fee to pay if the record is found.

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/mod-closed-foi-request-step1

I believe this relates to his death.

First name(s) Victor James
Last name Davies
Sex Male
Birth day 17
Birth month 11
Birth year 1909
Death quarter 2
Registration month 4
Death year 2000
District Denbigh North
District number 8111B
Register number B125
Entry number 089
Date of registration mm/yy 0400
County Denbighshire
Country Wales
Record set England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Civil Deaths & Burials
Collections from Great Britain, Wales.

If you do find any evidence of commando service please do get back in touch.

I have attached the liberation questionnaire I referred to above

Steve...the service record extract you provided does not actually state 45RM just HBL RM Commando. This is common in many RM WW2 Service Records. His identification in the 'E' Troop photo you provided had a date of 1944 but you will note that in the gallery there is an identical photo which gives a location of Sinfield Camp near Horsham and is dated 1946. Certainly 45RM were in Horsham at that time. I have no other source that mentions 45RM. If the latter is correct then that changes things.

https://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/Royal+Marine+Commando+Units/45+RM+Commando/E+Tp+photo/

Often people forget about those Commandos who served as part of the Special Service Brigades and were only ever attached to specific commando units as and when required, two examples being Signallers and Engineers. 45RM Commando were part of the 1st Special Service Brigade. These Commandos were often distinguished by the fact they would not have a commando number on their commando shoulder insignia. Certainly 45RM lost signallers on the 7th June when your father was one of the many casualties that day. Both John Day in his excellent book A Plain Russet-Coated Captain and David Young in the The Story of 45RM Commando mention replacement signallers and sets arriving after it.

I have found your fathers liberation questionnaire and he actually doesn't state his unit as 45RM just as Portsmouth Division. Interestingly he gives his trade on enlistment as Engineer. He gives his place of capture as Cherbourg which is not where 45RM were on the 7th June. However other units were there including 30 Assault Unit. So more research avenues for you in 2025 !

Pete

Merry Xmas to you and everyone else Vic and best wishes for the New Year when it comes.

Pete

Hi David

Sorry for the delay. I have added the photos and dates now and they can be viewed on the links below.

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

48RM Cdo Gallery (p2): https://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/Royal+Marine+Commando+Units/48+RM+Cdo/

Pete

Hi David

Thank you for posting the pages from the record. As a result I have now updated the archive with details of your father. Service records tend to simply show a timeline of service rather than details of specific operations. As a result you have to look for books and other sources relevant to that unit and from those form an understanding of his operational service based on the service record timeline. In WW2 unlike today not all Royal Marines were Commandos. Your father's commando service begins when he joins 48RM Commando. Before this he is in the 7th RM Battalion. You can read a bit about the 7th Bn., on this page in our archive: https://www.commandoveterans.org/48RMCommando

The service record shows your father at Worthing Hospital commencing late in June 1944. This is likely after becoming a casualty at Normandy and subsequent evacuation. He then re-joins 48 before ultimately joining a draft serial for the Far East to join 44RM Commando who were part of 3 Commando Brigade. Here is the entry for your father. If you provide his place of birth and date and place of death I can add those. Also if you provided a good photo of your father ideally in uniform but if not in civvies I can add it and also place it in our 48RM Commando gallery.

https://www.commandoveterans.org/William_Price_RM_Commando

Finally there are two good books about 48RM Cdo.
Haste to the Battle, by J.L. Moulton (see recent forum post about re-print).
and
DDay Commando, from Normandy to the Maas with 48 RM Cdo, by Ken Ford

Regards

Pete

From Tom Busby
Visitors to the website will be pleased to learn that we've just reprinted "Haste to the Battle", the story of Four-Eight's history from its days as 7th Battalion, Royal Marine Division and its tragic action during the invasion of Sicily, to its transformation as a Royal Marine Commando during the winter and spring of 1944. The story is told by Lt. Col. J L Moulton who formed and trained the unit in preparation for the invasion on D-Day as part of 4th Special Service Brigade.

From landing and securing its D-Day objectives, the Commando and parent Brigade eventually joined 'the pursuit' of the retreating enemy though France, and Belgium and into the Netherlands. Here the Commando trained for the most dangerous and most important assaults in North-West Europe in WWII; the capture of the island of Walcheren and its heavy coastal batteries and the opening of the River Scheldt to allow war materiel and food into the Port of Antwerp at a critical time during the war.

In the book, Colonel Moulton talks intimately of his officers and NCO's, of their personalities, their actions and reactions to military and other situations. A family bonded by war.

The book, originally printed in 1963, has been reprinted with a larger page size ('Royal' quite by chance), a modern font style, clearer photos and a striking colour cover. Details on price and how to order copies can be obtained by emailing [email protected]

You may have seen these already but if not here are some online references regarding Mission 101 in Abyssinia (Ethiopia)

The Free Library website: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Mission+101--the+Operational+Centres%3a+the+hidden+Australian...-a0105370858

IWM Oral Interview: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80007192

UK National Archives files: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N17684018

and https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1003665

The WW2 Talk Forum website: https://www.ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/aussies-in-ethiopia-101-military-mission.33470/

Combined Operations website about Combined Training Centre Middle East (HMS Saunders): https://www.combinedops.com/Training%20CTC%20Middle%20East.htm

Pete

Hi (you did not leave your first name)

I cannot see an entry as yet in our archive (which is not complete) about your father. You mention there are mentions of units. Is this from his Service Record ? If so are you able to scan or take and post a photo of the postings and include the dates. This would be most helpful. If you have a PDF copy of his service record feel free to email me (below) a copy and from that I will be able to tell you more and update the archive if appropriate. Also if you have any photos from his service days please add them either here or in any email you send.

Pete

Hi Mick

45RM Commando moved to Eastbourne around the middle of January 1944 and stayed until the 26th May when they moved to the Staging Camp at Southampton in preparation for DDay. I have attached an extract which mentions billets. Its taken from a little book about the history of 45RM Cdo from its formation in August 1943 until June 1945 called appropriately 'The Story of 45 Royal Marine Commando'. To answer your question about billets I have quoted below a paragraph from a book written by the late Major James Dunning called "It had to be Tough" which was later re-printed in America as "The British Commandos - The Origins and Special Training of an Elite Unit". Jimmy Dunning was in No.4 Commando during the war and after being commissioned also served as an Instructor at the Commando Basic Training Centre at Achnacarry.

"How and where each Commando soldier organized his accommodation was his own responsibility. There was just one proviso, every soldier had to be on parade in good order and fully prepared for the task in hand at the right place and at the right time as detailed. Failure to comply with this fundamental requirement usually had only one recourse - Return to Unit (RTU)."

In the book he devotes a whole chapter to Setting Up - Billets and Organization". OR's in the Commandos were given a daily allowance of 6 shillings and 8 pence and a Ration Card. We do not seem to have an entry for your Father in the archive as yet so could you please contact me by email (below) and send any information you have on his commando service. This can be anything from an extract of his service record where commando service is mentioned, photo where commando insignia is visible, letters or documents referencing commando service, etc. I will then be able to update the archive.

Pete

Unlike today not all Royal Marines in WW2 were Commandos. However the photo of your grandfather shows he was a RM Commando but it does not tell us what unit he was in nor his theatre of operations, nor when he joined the Commandos. I note you say in your first post he was "potentially based at Chatham Barracks and maybe served in Italy." This means that you must apply for a copy of his service record if you want accuracy and see what is in there, otherwise 'assuming' can lead you completely down the wrong path of research. There are lengthy delays but the initial application is free so its worth doing but as Guy has mentioned definitely send in a copy of the death certificate with your application otherwise information can be redacted or completely withheld under their disclosure rules. Once you have applied I would recommend, if you have not already done so, contacting members of your extended family to see if anyone has any other photos, letters, documents, etc., that may have belonged to your grandfather that relate to his time in the Royal Marines. Sometimes these can have clues as to his unit and/or theatre of service. If you do apply get back in touch when you get the record and from the record I can then enter his details and photo into the appropriate sections of the Archive.

Pete

Ps What's your first name, make it more personal.

When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today.

The Commando Roll of Honour [view.....]

We will remember them.

Thanks Alan.

https://www.commandoveterans.org/Albert_Reginald_Seekings

https://www.commandoveterans.org/Robert_William_Seekings

https://www.commandoveterans.org/EricMusk_7Commando

Bill Harvey with Stephen and Chris Unwin at the Commando Memorial August 2024. Stephen and Chris were in Scotland celebrating there 45th wedding anniversary.

The Royal Marine Commando (40RM Commando) timeline: https://www.commandoveterans.org/40RMCommando

The initial assignment/role of the RM Commando was changed during the action. The RM Commando was placed at the disposal of the Canadian GOC, Major General Roberts. After passing through White beach, they were to join the Essex Scottish, believed to be in the town. As the first of the RM Commando landed they came under withering enemy fire and were ordered to re-embark within 10 minutes of landing. Their casualties are here, this list only showing those who died and not those wounded, or missing: https://www.commandoveterans.org/DieppeCdoROH