Messages posted by: Pete

Hi Mark...TSM is a rank the Commandos used as did one or two others during the 2nd World War. It stands for Troop Sergeant Major. Each Commando was split into Troops and each Troop had a TSM .
In the Westminster Roll of Honour there is an entry which is the rank you mention ie. CSM although it is "ac" which is I think "Acting"
Plank H.H. Marine ac.C.Sgt.Maj. Royal Marines Plymouth Division 47 killed in action 02-Nov-44 British Liberation Army 152
As I said in my earlier private message to you hopefully his service record will show the details.

Mark

Have a look at the guys sitting in this picture, in particular the 4th seated as you look at the picture from left to right. Is this your dad Jeff ?

Trevor , I have done as you requested and posted all the pics in the No.2 Gallery on your behalf. I have also posted the picture that Janet placed here.

(posted here for the benefit of anyone who may have been thinking about placing the pics in the gallery)

Hi again Christian

A link that mentions the 90 HAA unit is as follows

http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/index.html

They were part of the British 2nd Army at Normandy. The first page of that link shows just how many soldiers were attached to the various units of the RA by the end of the war.

After a recent forum discussion which mentioned the troopship HMT Dunnottar Castle, which I knew No.2 sailed to Gibralter on, I sent Eric a picture of the ship and he replied to me with some of his memories of what life was like on board during that rather lengthy journey there.
http://www.maritimematters.com/princesa-victoria1.html

I want to thank Eric for allowing me to share his memories with you all

Peter,
I was most pleased to receive your Note and the lovely Photograph of the Old Boat. I was amazed to learn that she had continued in Service as a Cruise Ship until 2004. It appeared relatively old to us in 1943, although there was nothing of the Cruise Liner about it when we were on Board.

It was set out in Mess Deck Areas at different Levels. Officers,& Sgts & WOs. were housed separately. Each Dwelling Area for Other Ranks, had some 20 very Sturdy Fixed Wooden Tables, with Forms. Men were allocated to given Mess Tables which had a limited number of steel/iron Dishes and Kitchen Utensils. Each table would hold about 20 men ( 10 per side)
We slept in Sailing Ship type Hammocks, which had to be slung above or around the Mess Tables. Some few had Mattresses for any floor spaces. Everything had to be Taken Down and Stowed Away in Side Bins for the Captain's Rounds each Day. The impression of it has always stayed with me. It was like living in a Greasy Spoon.

Two Men from each Mess Table were responsible each day for going to the Stores below Decks, to draw the Food for the Day. Vegetables had to be peeled etc. Then it was taken down to the Galley where they Cooked the parts of the meal that needed to be cooked. Then you had to get your own Trays back, and the two men on Duty each day had to make sure that each man got his Share, and then had to wash up their Tables and Dishes & Utensils.
Cleaning Cloths & Soap were almost Non Existant.

2.

Can you imagine the Contrast for Volunteer rather spoiled Soldiers, who had lived in Civilian Billets for some time, with Landladies who made the Porridge for Breakfast or provided Meals during the Day when required.

Officers & NCOs had waiters, men who volunteered for the task, and probably found it a cushy number.

With so many men needing Facilities !!!, The Loos were timber Platforms along the Whole of each side of the Ship, with appropriate Holes cut out for the seats. They projected out over the Sea, one always felt a bit precarious. You had to climb up on to them, and if you looked down you could see the water rushing by below. There was some Screening but not much privacy.

We embarked one Lunch time, and set out from the Clyde during the evening, sailing past the North of Ireland. A huge Convoy of some 40 Ships, a very Motley collection of Boats, with three Destroyers in attendance.

It took us nearly 6 weeks to get to Gibraltar, I imagine because we were following diversionary Routes planned or plotted to avoid Submarines. At one stage it was said that we had almost reached the Coast of America. How true this was I don't know.

One thing I do remember is that on the first night out, quite a number of people were a little upset by the motion of the Ship, and the Galley served up Tripe for the Evening Meal. Some just didn't want it.

I was very lucky, in that the Sea motion did not affect me very much and I was Hungry. I got about three men's portions of Tripe and slung my Hammock that night very replete.

There was all sorts of stuff stacked around the Decks, but there were some spaces and weather permitting we trotted around in the spaces available, and or climbed the ship's lifting Derricks for exercise.

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3.

This is not a moan, but an observation, in our experience Commando Soldiers did not often fare over well when it came to feeding. This was partly due to the inadequacies of the British army specifications on Food, and partly due to lack of experience.

Jimmy Smith confided to me one day that he had managed to Burn the Tea.

Wherever you did not have a Cookhouse or Catering Section, you were dependant upon what was issued to your Unit or Section. The Containers were not synonymous with each other. A Tin of Beans might be shared between 6 men. A Tin of Bacon between 10 men, a Tin of Sausages between 8 men. The Tins would be Boiled up in a Dixie, and issued Hot when thought to be ready. They had to be opened, and then Matched with the numbers of men for each Tin. Someone invariably went short of something.

On the Island of Vis, where we were dependant upon Boats getting over, we were often very Hungry. On one occasion we captured Two German Schooners full of various kinds of Produce, intended for their Island Garrisons, Flour , Pickles, Tubs of Fresh Butter. We lived well for a week or two.

Most of the Flour was given to the Partisans, and a Baker made them Bread, but they preferred the Dry Tack biscuits that we were given, and they used to come and ask us to swap with them, which we were happy to do.

It used to be said that in the American Army they had 7 ½ men to back up each member of the front line troops. With the British Army it was 2 ½ men. What ever may be the truth of it, on the matter of Food Rations they were better organised than us .

For a short period in Sicily, we were attached to the American 5th Army, to lead them in at Salerno. We were put on to American style rations. They had Boxes of what were known as 5 in 1 Rations. Each box was allocated to 5 Men. It contained 5 Packets of Breakfast Cereal, 5 Pouches of preserved Milk , 5 Packets of Biscuits, 5 little packets of Cigarettes, 5 Chocolate Bars, 5 Fruit Juice. It was 5 of everything needed for the Day.

Also the combinations within the Boxes were variable, so that you could have a different mix on different days. To some of us it was Heaven, but after only a few weeks some people were complaining that they wanted to get back on to proper British Food. !!!.

Peter, as you can see your Picture of the Old Troop Ship has evoked several memories. Thank you for sending it. Eric.

Possible clues as to date : The subject matter on the reverse of the newspaper photo may well relate to Operation Torch which was Nov 8th 1942. If you look to the left of this there is mention of a Lieutenant D.A. Copperwheat. He was awarded the George Cross and this was published in the London Gazette on the 17th November 1942. Alongside his name the day Wednesday is mentioned. Nov. 18th 1942 was a Wednesday.

Not sure how the above came up with annonymous but it was posted by Pete

Hi Trevor and also Hi to Janet

First of all Janet great picture and story. Glad Bob had such gallant companions to save him.
Trevor I cannot assist you with regards to John, but I am interested to know whether your Uncle Fred is related to the H. Mather listed as taking part in the St Nazaire raid and in particular his role at St Nazaire. My father was in 5 troop and was on ML443 as part of a demolition squad. His demolition party was accompanied by No.4 troop whose role was to protect the demolition guys like my father. I know that there was a Sgt from 4 troop called Arthur Wardle I believe on board ML443. Just wondering if your Uncle was related in any way to the Mather listed and if so what ML was he on?
Ps. Hope Fred's eye op goes well

the above info was sent by pete rogers

Jim/Mark

There was a guy known as " Tiny " in No.2 Commando 5 Troop. He was a Lance Sergeant and everyone knew him as Tiny Burke although his initial was "E". I will endeavour to find out what that stood for. Here is a recent quote from Eric Buckmaster No.2 Commando about him:
"Tiny Burke was a Large lad. I was 6ft.1 ½ inches and slim, but he made me feel small in size. And he had that wonderful Liverpool / Lancashire accent in his voice. He used to get Stanley & I mixed up, he could never remember which of us was which. Especially when he had had a few."

There is also a picture in the No.2 gallery of him and others which i replicate here. I'll leave you all to guess which one Tiny is. The arms might give a clue !!

I have had the great pleasure of chatting via email with Eric Buckmaster who was, along with his brother Stanley, in 5 troop No.2 with my Dad Joe Rogers and Uncle Ken MacAlister. The latter 3 sadly all received their final posting to that regiment in the sky over the last few years. Eric has kindly helped me put a couple of names and locations to photos that I have posted, and I have updated these accordingly. Eric has also given me permission to update the forum or gallery on items that might be of interest which I will do. One such note from Eric which I have read about before somewhere I copy here for those that might not know about it :
"Commando C/Os attempted to standardise some aspects of their Unit?s appearance, but the Men still wore their original Regiments Hat Badge.
When 2 Commando was first formed the Tam O? Shanter was our Unit
headgear. When I joined them Mid 1942 after St Nazaire, that is what I wore initially. However, The C/O had adopted the Fighting Knife as a Standard Hatbadge, and we had Shoulder Flashes which were the Fighting Knife with SS on either side of it. We were given the Flashes, but the Hat Badges were not at that time on issue, they had to be made by ourselves.
I joined 2 Commando very late one night in Boscombe, Bournemouth, when I got to my Billet I was met by one of the lads from HQ Troop, who showed me to my room, Gave me my Tam O? Shanter, and also gave me a Teaspoon and said you can make your Hatbadge out of that. We had to file the fighting knife Badge out of the teaspoon with a Nail File. We sewed them on to our Hats with a loop of cotton round the handle, and another loop under the haft. Some time later they actually issued the Hatbadges as a general supply for 2 Commando."
I thank Eric for sharing his memories with me.

Hi Mark... I see Jeff is listed in our No.2 History section " They also served ". I will ask a No.2 Commando whom I know if he has any knowledge of him...Do you have any idea what troop number he was in ?

Hi Nick good timing on this one. I contacted James Dorrian recently, the owner of the website and author of amongst others " Storming St Nazaire" - a great book and he emailed me today. I gave him the details that I posted on the Forum earlier titled " A Commandos thoughts as they approached St Nazaire" with the story of my father and Leading Seaman Patrick Brady DSM and the football jersey. James advises me that he has passed the details of the story to a contact in New York where a screenplay for a new film about the raid is being worked on. He has also offered to forward me a copy of the questionnaire my Dad filled in about the raid prior to the book being written so if there's anything interesting I'll post it. On another note he will be passing details of Patrick Brady and his DSM to the Australian Fairmile Association as he says there seems to be little or nothing documented about his award in Australia. The phrase " We will remember them" comes to mind.

Try contacting the Adjutant Generals' Corps on 01962 887887

http://www2.army.mod.uk/agc/staff_personnel_support_branch/sps_history.htm

Hi Janet good to hear from you again and hope you are well. As you already know I could not find anything on the man himself, however the photo location is exactly the same spot as a photo I posted in the gallery of No.2 on page 4. Bob seemed to think on that occasion the photo contained some well known faces of No.2, and also some new ones who had come from the " in-house training class for replacements recruited from the 8th Army in Italy. " If Robert hasn't already done so ask him to have a look at it and see if he spots anyone he knows. It would be great to see the pictures from Albania that he has.

Regards to you and all the family