Messages posted by: NIC

Josh,
Gunner is the Royal Artillery rank equivalent to Private. Generally the RA would just be concerned with the big guns!

Blowing thins like bridges up was largely the Royal Engineers - but I think Alfie would have learned his skills as a commando! Now, to a certain extent, it really depends when Alfie became a commando! If it was prior to 1942 Commando training was done by the unit where ever they were based at the time. Quite often officers would attend specialist courses and then be expected to disseminate the skills and information on their return to the unit...

During 1942 Achnacarry became the Commando Basic Training Centre (CBTC). Volunteers would arrive at the Spean Bridge railway station and their training began immediately - as they got out of the train!

Once he finished his basic commando training and qualified as a commando, the proud owner of a new green beret may have been posted to the Holding Operational Commando (HOC) at Wrexham in North Wales. Here a commando would hone his newly acquired skills and probably do specialist courses - the Holding Commando was where the commandos were sent to be held before being called forward to which ever Commando unit needed reinforcements.

Nick

Hi Guy,

If you can find any thing on both brothers - especially if we can confirm Albert was also in the Commandos, that would be fantastic... [ hoped you'd pick up on this one :D ]

Nick

Hi Josh,

So don't worry about Alfie's service number - you don't need it to apply to the MoD for his service records as long as you have his Date of Birth!

Have you actually applied to the MoD - if not I can certainly point you in the right direction...

Yes the commando training, after 1942) was carried out at Achnacarry House, near Fort William in Scotland.

Each officer had a batman - a batman or an orderly was a soldier assigned to a commissioned officer as a personal servant. His duties would include:
a. acting as a "runner" to convey orders from the officer to subordinates
b. maintaining the officer's uniform and personal equipment as a valet
c. driving the officer's vehicle, sometimes under combat conditions
d. acting as the officer's bodyguard in combat
e. digging the officer's foxhole in combat, giving the officer time to direct his unit
f. other miscellaneous tasks the officer does not have time or inclination to do

There were, of course, perks to being an officer's batman.

Nick

Hi Josh,

Thanks for the information - it is all very useful in building up the history of the Commandos - I have amended Alfred's name on our nominal roll.
We have Alfred as a 'Gunner' which would suggest he was in the Royal Artillery; however, his cap badge shows he was in the Royal West Kent Regiment - can you throw any light on this at all ?

And in case that has confused you, the Army Commandos were made up by individual volunteers from all the regiments in the Army. Each individual was 'on loan' to The Commandos from his parent regiment and wore his regiment's cap badge in his green beret...

I am not able to add Albert's as yet, as we do not have a record of him being a commando and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) doesn't show him as one either - however, that doesn't mean he wasn't! I just need a bit of proof/evidence that he was before I add him.

Albert, who is commemorated on the Sai Wan Memorial in Hong Kong, was in the 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment...
This is interesting as the 1st Battalion was part of an Allied force which held out against overwhelming odds for 17 days during the Battle of Hong Kong before surrendering to the Imperial Japanese Army in December 1941.
However, by the time Albert passed away, 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regt was in N. E. Germany...
So, why was he there - the possible answer is that he was a commando - hopefully we will be able to prove that...

Nick

Hi Josh,

So here are the photos.

Can you tell me what was Alfred's second name?
Was Albert in the Commandos too?
What was Albert's second name - was it Victor?

Nick

Hi Joshua,
Welcome to the CVA Website and Forum.

We have a Gunner A H Fenn in the No.5 Commando nominal roll...

His name appears on this Japanese banknote in the Gallery...
http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/5/note+signed+by+1+cdo+copy.jpg.html

If you can't attach the photos it is probably because the file size is too big or you're trying to attach too many...
However, by all means , if you're having problems, email them to me and I'll upload them...

Nick

Bonjour Marcel,
Bienvenue sur le site Web et les forums de la CVA.

Je suis sûr que certains de nos habitués ont peut-être plus d'informations que je ne pouvais pas fournir - j'espère que ce sera beaucoup mieux d'avoir beaucoup de cerveaux travaillant ensemble que moi seul!

[I'm sure some of our regulars will have more information that I was unable to provide - hopefully it will be far better to have lots of brains working together than just me on my own!]

Nick

Hello Alan,
Welcome to the CVA Website & Forum.
Thank you for informing us about the recent passing of your father - you can be assured that you and your family are in our thoughts and prayers at this sad time.

I have uploaded the fantastic portrait of your father into the No.11 Commando Album in our Gallery where he is once again among the guys he stood shoulder to shoulder with during those dark days of war.

We already had one photo with him on (see link below) in the Gallery

http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/11/8trp+copy.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1

My colleague, Pete, will add your father's name to our Obituary Column and his name will be read out at the Commando Remembrance Service, at the Commando Monument, Spean Bridge, in November.

Nick

How many pages Pete?

Paul,

Any questions just ask, marra - we're here to help...

Nick

Hi Paul,

When you get his records back they'll give you a lot of details from his enlistment, training, posting, conversion to commando, promotions (and demotions), disciplinaries!, embarkations to overseas theatres, disembarkations, woundings, hospitalisations, medal entitlement etc. In other words, a good foundation to start your research - as I said earlier, keep well clear of Forces War Records etc!

I suspect you're too far North for a day trip to the National Archives at Kew, but if you get a chance there and read the No.6's official War Diaries...

Anyway, you can read up on No.6 Cdo - they were part of 1 Special Service Brigade ( later renamed 1 Commando Brigade).

The photo Guy has posted shows him with a DLI cap badge and his service number 4464178 is definately in the series allocated to DLI - [4435001 --- 4523000 Durham Light Infantry]

Nick

Hi Broonale,

Yep that's a nice early photo of your granddad in a TOS with a No.6 Cdo cap badge.

When the Commandos were first formed they all sought to have their own identity. Each Commando had it's own shoulder titles, formation patches and cap badges - they were even allocated their own colours...
No.5 already had Gold on Green (see my avatar) but the others were allocated:

No.1...............................Crimson,
No.2...............................Black,
No.3...............................Navy Blue
No.4...............................Powder Blue
No.6...............................White
No.9.............................. a Tartan
No.10.............................Brown
No.12.............................Saffron
Cdo Depot.......................Locheil Tartan ( with permission of Cameron of Lochiel)
Special Boat Section.........Grey
Brigade HQ......................Buff

Of course this did not go down too well with the General Staff, who weren't even in favour of The Commandos anyway, and they pressed for more uniformity.
After a lot of discussion which even involved the King the scarlet on blue shoulder titles were decided on - especially as they matched the Combined Ops patches.
Later, as more and more units within all the branches of HM Forces wore the Combined Ops patch, the Commandos pressed for a distinguishing patch - thus was born the Commando Qual. badge.

The only Commando Unit that defied the orders of the War Office was No.2 Cdo who kept their own cap badge throughout.

I have added your grandfather to No.6 Cdo Nominal Roll and uploaded his photo into the No.6 Album in the Gallery...

http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/6/?g2_page=2

Nick

Hi Broonale,

Welcome to the CVA Website & Forum - we're here to help...

The cloth badge sounds like the early shoulder title, the Tam O' Shanter may be a General Service Cap - the standard Service Issue head-dress before the general issue of the beret - it was a bit like a Tam but without a bobble .
The beret was not adopted by the Army, as a whole, until 1943, although there were some exceptions...

But let us know his name and I can certainly have a look to see if he is on our Nominal Rolls....

Even if he isn't on the Nominal Rolls, then it doesn't mean he wasn't a commando in No.6 Cdo. and the good news is you can apply to the ONLY custodian for WWII service Records for a scan of his original, handwritten service records.
I can point you in the right direction for this - but PLEASE don't bother with Forces War Records or Ancestry or any other online genealogy sites...

Nick

Hi Gil,
Welcome to the CVA Website & Forum.
Thank you for informing us about your recent bereavement. We are so sorry to hear about your father and his recent illness, the only godsend is that he has, at last, been released from the dreadful suffering both he and his loved ones have had to endure.
You can be assured that you all are in our thoughts and our prayers as is your father of whom you are right to be so proud...

No.1 Commando was out in India & Burma as part of 3 Commando Brigade together with my father's unit, No.5 Commando, and 42 RM Commando and 44 RM Commando.

The great disadvantage that 3 Commando Brigade had that their brothers in NW Europe and Central Mediterranean didn't, was when they suffered any casualties it took a lot longer to send trained commandos out to the Far East as reinforcements.
Of course not only did the guys in the Far East suffer from the hands of their enemy but also from the Jungle and the virulent, noxious diseases they could contract out there.

At the end of hostilities the Brigade moved to Hong Kong to carry out policing duties and the re-repatriation of Japanese PoWs.
As your father told you No.1 & No.5 Cdo had suffered so many casualties that they were amalgamated to for 1/5 Commando.
Despite the amalgamation each unit's esprit de corps was so strong that they did keep their own unit identity to a certain extent...

Sam's name will be entered into our Obituary pages and his name will be read out at the Commando Remembrance Service at the Commando Monument in Spean Bridge, Scotland in November.

Requiescet in Pace Sam Fleming.

Nick

Cat,

Yes it's a huge shame that you and your father never got to know him - I totally understand and sympathise as my dad, who was in No.5 Commando in Burma, survived the jungle and a Japanese ambush in which he was WIA, only to succumb to TB when I was a year old.
Hence my passion about the finding out about the Commandos and helping other, like you, in their quest.

There is a lot on the internet now - I have to say that when I found the CVA it was in its infancy having superseded the Commando Association ( which Stood Down in 2005) but I was delighted to think I'd joined an association that knew the answers to my questions! How wrong was I?
I found that all the members were in the same boat as me - we were all looking for information about our fathers, grandfather, uncles & cousins...
Nobody had any answers and there was nothing on the internet!
I started researching and learning and learning and researching, was then approached by another couple of people who I was able to share my 'knowledge' with, and slowly, between us, we built up our knowledge through hard work and dedicated research.
As you already have found out it is addictive - you can't let it go! But it's oh so rewarding - especially if you can use help others...

This website was the brain child set up by John Mewett, and his son Dan. John is the Website Manager and Dan is the Web Master. Archive work and the day to day running of the Website & Forum is carried out by Pete, an ex-Policeman, and me, ex-RAF...
That's the team! John, Pete & I are all sons of commandos and all amateurs - until 31 Dec 2018 I was in full time work, but have now joined John & Pete in the grand state of retirement.
But we are incredibly lucky to have some great people that have contributed hugely to the research - most came to the Website for help looking for info on their commando relatives, but then got hooked and have contributed greatly to this hugely informative source of information.
What you find on the internet these day has probably originated here.
We are proud to say that we have been acknowledged in a number of books as their source of information, have been approached by a number of TV and Film Directors/Producers for information, we have been approached by Museums asking advice on Commando artifacts etc.

Yes Cat, you are getting it right - and it's great to see someone who is carrying out their own research - and enjoying it!

So, now you are hooked, while you're waiting to get the service records back, may I suggest a day at the National Archives at Kew - reading the 48 RM Cdo official War Diaries... Original documents!
You'd love it!

Nick