Messages posted by: NIC

Excellent news, Phil.
Looking forward to seeing this.

Nick

Hi Bill,

It was Willie who contacted me in the first place and for whom I was making the enquiries...

Nick

Hi Brian,

Thank you for your patience. I have looked at your father's records but am going over them again trying to look for any clues.
I am sorry that this is taking me so long but I really don't have very much to go on.

As Bill kindly says, I am quite busy at the moment - I'm planning to retire at the end of the year and am bogged down with red tape at the moment, I've been moving my mother (who lives 300 miles away from me) and also moving one of my sons (who live 40 minutes away) life is hectic in the extreme - but none of this is an acceptable excuse. So once again, please accept my apologies , I will get back to you just as soon as I can...

Regards,
Nick

Thanks Guy & Pete,

Great work, thank you - I will pass that on (to Willie Hervo) ;)

What a fantastic network we have here...

Nick

I'm looking for any information on a Clifford Beacham - thought to have been an instructor at Achnacarry.

Any information would be extremely useful...

Thanks,
Nick

Hi Diane,

Further to what Craig & Bill have posted, there is another form where you can apply straight to the Medal Office...

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/749392/MODMO_0001.pdf

You would need to complete Parts 1, 2a, 3 & 4

Nick

Hi Vicky

vsseym wrote: NIC, thanks for this. Where can you get access to things held at the National archive? Do you have to pay?

Some files are online and free;
others are online but there is a fee to download.
Some files(eg. War Diaries) are held by The National Archives at Kew and you can visit and read the original documents...
On your first visit you get a ten minute induction after which you get a Reader's Card (£5) which is valid for 5 years. You then order the files you want to view and are allowed to photograph them!
You may use your own camera,
Use one of the NA's fixed cameras - you can email the results back to your self,
Pay the NA to photograph the files for you! £££

The first time you visit once you have ordered your first file you may have to wait up to 45 minutes for it to be delivered, so the secret is to order a second files as soon as your first is delivered, then the third as soon as you've finished with your first and so on...
On subsequent visits to Kew you can order your first file a day in advance so it will be there ready for you as soon as you walk through the doors.

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

I would recommend it if you are within easy travel to Kew...

Nick

Ho Ian,

Pleased to see that you managed to log in.
I have uploaded the photo of your uncle into the No.9 Cdo Album in our Gallery...

http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/9/

You can also find him in our obituaries pages:

http://www.commandoveterans.org/JamesAnderson9Commando

Hopefully your post will be seen by Salvatore Costanzo who, I'm sure, will be able to help with information regarding access to the Monument...

Nick

Extract from a file held at The National Archives listing British PoWs held in PoW Camps in Germany;

4B = Stalag IVb (Mühlberg, Elbe)

266419 = PoW Number

Nick

Some more good news...
I've just found a reference to your grandfather, Dick Sheehy, 50(ME) Cdo, in a copy of The Commando Association Newsletter, No.102, dated March 1996...

We also have him listed in our Obituary Column

http://www.commandoveterans.org/CommandoObituariesS-Z

Nick

Hi,

I'm sorry I don't know your first name but welcome to the CVA Website and Forums.
The reason you can't find your grandfather's name in our pages is because as the Commandos were unformed/irregular units, there was never a definitive nominal roll of Commandos (that we have found) and so we, the CVA, have set out to compile nominal rolls for each unit.
This is a painstaking task and involves a lot of hard work poring through official documents, war diaries, books, letters and many trips to The National Archives, at our own expense, on our days off...
We are aware that there will be errors, omissions and duplications, but we believe that what we have achieved is better than nothing.
We also rely on commandos' families to provide details of their commando relatives and , provided there is sufficient supporting evidence, will happily add names to the nominal rolls - where they can be remembered for eternity.
Evidence accepted as proof of commando service can be mentions in newsletters, service records, scans of official documents or even photographs showing the individual wearing Commando insignia or with a group of known commandos...

I take it you are not aware that you can apply to the MoD - the only custodian of WWII service records - for a scan of his original, handwritten service records? I can help you and point you in the right direction if you want to follow this up.

Okay, so back to your grandfather...

Attached is an extract from a file held in The National Archives listing British Army PoWs held in Germany...
There are three PoWs by the name, 'Sheehy', I would assume that your father is R. Sheehy.

The entry shows the:
PoW Camp, his PoW number, Name, Rank, Service Number, Regiment, Records Office (where his regimental records were held - in this case it was The Drill Hall, Barnet, Herts)

The PoW camp he was held was (Stalag) 4B - Mühlberg (Elbe).

Hope this is useful to you.

Nick

Hi jlp1803,

Just to help those who aren't aware about HMS Dorlin...

In June 1941 the Commando Special Canoe Troop moved from Arran to the Special Training Centre (STC) Boat Station at Dorlin, Shielbridge, for training.

In February 1942 the Commando Basic Training Centre (CBTC) was established at Achnacarry - the former holding wing of STC Lochailort.

In April 1942 the RM Commando was training at Dorlin, for the Dieppe raid, but stayed offshore and never landed.

The Dorlin establishment was detached from STC Lochailort on 20/8/1942 and transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS Dorlin, No 3 Combined (Operations) Training Centre (CTC).
HMS Dorlin was supported by accommodation and stores at Shielbridge, Salen, Glenborrodale, Glencripesdale and Roshven. Its function was to train train infantry in sea-borne assault operations and in personal fitness and weapon training, but not to the extreme level practised at Achnacarry.

You say you have your father's Service Record - can you tell me if you obtained them from The RN Disclosure Cell, Whale Island in Portsmouth?

Nick

For those who wish to view the photos taken at the Remembrance Services and Parades at Fort William & The Commando Monument at Spean Bridge this year, I have uploaded an album in the Gallery...

http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/events/spean-bridge-2007/FW_SB//

Nick

Hi Zoe,
Welcome to the CVA Website & Forums.

We do have your father listed on our No.9 Commando Nominal Roll but, as we are an association, we do not hold any official service records.

http://www.commandoveterans.org/9CommandoNomRollP-Z

Also, if you browse the website you can find out about No.9 Cdo and what they were involved with...

I noticed that you have already found your father in a couple of photos in our Gallery - which is wonderful. Do you have any other photos you may like to share with us?

Are you aware that you can apply to the MoD - the only custodians of WWII service records - for a scan of his original, handwritten records?
I can point you in the right direction if you want to pursue this.

There is also a No.9 Commando Family & Friends Group that I could put you in touch with - it is co-ordinated by Joyce Quarrie, daughter of the late RSM Jack Quarrie, No.9 Cdo. Joyce sends out a newsletter a couple of times each year and the group gathers at Fort William each year for Remembrance Day.

Nick

Hi Vicki,
Well after a bit of digging, Graham Cooper and I have discovered that his parent regiment was the Cambridgeshire Regt which ties in with the fact that he was Head Gardener at West Wratting Park Nurseries, Cambs in '49.

Nick