Messages posted by: Alan Orton

Hi all,
i have come across the following whilst searching for L Detachment P.O.W.'s.

L/Cpl. J.W. Maloney, 3061334, Somerset Light Infantry, 8 (Guards) Commando attached L Det. posted missing 16/11/41 on Operation Squatter, later confirmed as P.O.W. This man was i believe to be the Pte. E. Malone, 7022315, Royal Ulster Rifles recorded by me as being 7 Commando and L Det. an error on my part.

Sgt. Ralph Lazenby, 8038479, Scots Guards, 8 (Guards) Commando attached L Det. posted missing 16/11/41 on Operation Squatter, later confirmed as P.O.W.

Sgt. Leonard Colquhuon, 2695291, Scots Guards, 8 (Guards) Commando also as above, his surname as per attestation and POW records should read Colquhown.

Gdsm. Thomas R. Chesworth, Scots Guards, 8 (Guards) Commando attached L Det. his Service No. was 2659967 and was Coldstream Guards not Scots Guards another of my errors i believe, he became a POW in June 1942.

McCormick R in the No.11 (Scottish) Commando Nominal Roll should be Pte. C. McCormack, 3061334, Royal Scots. attached L Det. posted missing 16/11/41 on Operation Squatter.

Apologises for my errors.

Alan.

Terence Ernest Manitou Frost better known as the artist Sir Terry Frost was born in Leamington Spa on the 13th October 1915, in 1933 he joined the Territorial Army, Service No. 553904 he served in France and was then sent out to the Middle East serving in Palestine, Lebanon and the Sudan he was part of Middle East Commando and was a Corporal, he was captured when the island of Crete fell in May 1941 and eventually ended up in Stalag 383, Hohenfels, Rhineland - Palanate, P.O.W. No.12199.

Alan

I have just finished reading a book called 'Desperate Journey' by Francis Clifford which is the name Arthur Leonard Bell Thompson used in the published account for his escape from Burma in 1942.
There were various mentions within in pages to 'Commandos' who for a period were attached to a ad hoc force led by Lt. Col. H.N.C. Stevenson, Commandant of the Burma Levies called the Taunggyi Force and describes the journey the author made with his mixed bunch of men to reach India. The commando detachment had between 20 and 30 all ranks led by Lt. Col. Henry Courtney Brocklehurst 135896 10th Royal Hussars, with a Capt. Lancaster (possibly William, 104108 York and Lancs acting as adjuant to Brocklehurst) also a Capt. Brown, only 1 of the other ranks is mentioned by name he being Pte. Lucas.
The commandos moved off some time in late April 1942 from Maymyo and appeared in various named places, Mong Long and Katha, here the commandos split into 4 groups and set out independently for India. Capt. Brown had with him 5 or 6 o/r's at a village near Maikawing 2 of the o/r's had to be left 1 suffering severe dysentery the other with a badly swollen foot caused by leeches.
Pte. Lacey was picked up by the authors group he coming from 1 of the other 3 groups suffering dysentery and would remain with them for some time before joining up with 2 more commandos the authors group came across, of this group 2 died and 1 became a pow.
It seems that they passed through Bhanu and Sadon having crossed the border into China having crossed the Nmai Hka river by now 1 of the group had died and Capt. Brown had to be left behind in the hills as he was too ill to continue.
The authors group were heading for Fort Hertz and took sanctuary with an Irish missionary possibly near Kajitu, they stayed here with Father McAlindon for some time along with 3 commandos who had been there for 3 weeks, they said that they were heading for the Huckawing valley which in the opinion of the others was too dangerous a prospect to engage in. Despite various attempts of persuasion the commandos insisted that this was the way they would go.
The author finally made it to Fort Hertz and was finally evacuated to India, as for the commandos Brocklehurst's death is listed as 28-06-1942 and Lancaster for the 30-06-1942, there is a possibility that he was the Lancaster in the NM for 11 (Scottish) Commando, both are commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial.
I couldn't find a record of death for Lucas for this period so he may well have become a pow.
Capt. Brown recovered enough and set out again he reached Myitkyina where he was captured by the Japanese and was sent to Rangoon, he survived captivity and was released in May 1945.
It must have been an incredible journey although most of them failed, probably of them but they must have covered close on 700 miles especially in the case of Brown a remarkable achievement.
Alan.

H W Wynter's book Special Forces in the Desert War 1940-1943 covers much of this. There is a new book out in September called SAS Rogue Heroes The Authorised Wartime History which if it is 'Authorised' may well tell us more.
I read Farran's book years ago and its a book I can go back to time and time again.
Alan.

Hi Tango,
I have sent you an email with some info on it I hope you will find it of interest.
Regards,
Alan.

Officers serving with Middle East Commando (1st S.S. Regiment) 1st July 1942

Lt. Col. J.M. Graham Scots Greys

Major W.A Knowles Royal Engineers
Major R.L. Campbell Gordon Highlanders
Major C.D. Miller 10th Hussars
Major M.R.B. Kealy Devonshire Regt.

Capt. H.C. Buck 3/1 Punjab
Capt. G.I.G. Duncan Black Watch
Capt. J.N. Lapraik Cameron Highlanders
Capt. R.M.E. Melot General List
Capt. M.L. Pilkington Household Cavalry
Capt. B.P. Schott General List

Lt. G.W. Alston Royal Artillery
Lt. H.G. Chevalier General List
Lt. T.B. Langton Irish Guards
Lt. R.E. Lea Royal Artillery
Lt. M.M. Roberts Northumberland Fusiliers
Lt. T.C.D.A. Russell Scots Guards
Lt. D.G. Sutherland Black Watch
Lt. R.H. Shorten General List
Lt. H.D. Sillito Argyl and Sutherland Highlanders
Lt. G.J.P. Taylor Wiltshire Regiment
2/Lt W.N. Macdonald General List
2/Lt. R. Murphy Northumberland Fusiliers

Also served
Capt. Ian Glennie ex No.11 (Scottish) Commando
Capt. Powers

Alan.

Anders Lassen was serving on an oil tanker in the Danish Merchant Navy on board the M/T Eleonora Maersk then in the Persian Gulf but due to the German invasion of Denmark unable to return to his homeland, the skipper refused his Governments orders to make for German or Italian ports. He would come to the U.K. via Cape Town this time serving aboard a British tanker acting as a machine gunner during the voyage. Coming ashore at Oban in Argyllshire Lassen travelled to Newcastle upon Tyne and would eventually make contact with S.O.E. who had just started to recruit Danes, he was recruited in January 1941 and sent to one of their training schools, after a rocky start that left him very restless at the tedium of in his opinion the training he was receiving he finally settled down when sent to one of S.O.E.'s paramilitary schools in the Highlands of Scotland.
In April 1941 he was transferred to the Maid Honour force and in January 1942 he took part in the seizing of the Italian ships the Duchess of Aosta and the Likomba in a neutral port in West Africa.
He would then spend some time in Nigeria still as an S.O.E. agent training local tribes in guerrilla warfare and sabotage.
Returning to the U.K. he would in the Autumn of 1942 newly commissioned as a 2nd/Lieutenant join as John said the S.S.R.F. and took part in the raid on Sark in the Channel Islands, for this and other work he had carried out he was awarded the Military Cross.
He would win a bar for spending around 3 weeks on the island of Crete whilst serving with the S.B.S a further bar was awarded for his actions on the island of Simi in the same year.
He would become the only member of the S.A.S./S.B.S. to be awarded the Victoria Cross albeit posthumously.
Hope this will be of some use to you,
Alan.

Following on from Guy 3 Commando along with 40 Royal Marine Commando supported the Special Raiding Squadron and 2 S.A.S. at Termoli under the codename 'Devon', their task was to capture the town ready for the advancing 78th Division. Once the Germans reacted to the landing they put the British forces under heavy pressure. 3 Commando fought alongside a detachment from the Kensington's positioned in an orange grove and beat off a succession of enemy attacks. The operation eventually proved to be a success, the casualties to 3 Commando were 5 dead and 29 wounded, 40 Royal Marine Commando suffered 6 dead and 30 wounded, 2 S.A.S. had 1 man killed and a further 2 wounded whilst the S.R.S. suffered worst they lost 30 killed in action, 54 wounded and 22 taken prisoner from a total of 280 all ranks deployed.
Alan.

Hi Nick,
Charles Sydney Cattell, 6141548 1/East Surreys is recorded within the Nominal Roll for 7 Commando but also served firstly in No.4 Commando being posted to them 15/07/1940 and then posted to No.3 Commando on the 11/11/1940 until he became part of No.7 Commando on the 31/01/1941.
Regards,
Alan.

Many years ago I read a book about Operation Colossus and I'm sure it gives a good account of the early training, it's by Raymond Foxall and was called The Guniea Pigs, published in 1983 by Robert Hale Limited ISBN709007620. Sadly I no longer have my copy but you can get a copy off Amazon in hardback, the cheapest price at the moment is £12.50 plus p&p.
Alan

Hi Graham,
RSM Mansie was from the Army Physical Training Centre and was there to oversee training.
The training staff at Ringway had to improvise very quickly a programme of training baring in mind none of them would have had any experience in this area and worked enthusiastically around the clock to get the project off the ground which took around 2 months to come up with the required training programme. one problem that they faced and overcame was the bulkiness of the parachutist's clothing which led them to finally jumping in battledress and Dennison smock.
Actually jumping from the Whitley was a problem and initially they jumped from where the rear turret had been, this had been removed to allow them to exit the aircraft, as the man jumped an instructor would pull his rip cord this proved to be unsafe and unsatisfactory so they cut a hole in the floor of the Whitley again this proved unsatisfactory as the jumper had to make a perfect exit other wise he would smack his head on the edge of the hole.There followed a third method which was through a hole or door cut out of the fuselage. They also ditched the standard issue 'bail out' parachute for the newer X-Type Statistute.
August came and 290 trainees had progressed to regular practice jumps and by September had completed 1000 jumps. The failure rate during this period was low with only 30 refusals, 13 injuries and 2 deaths when the parachutes failed to open and 13 of their number were returned to unit being deemed unsuitable for the continuing on the course.
After 6 months some 488 men had completed the course. Churchill was not impressed with such a low figure and let his feelings be known but by now those who had passed the course now became the 11th Special Service Battalion and they were split into a parachute wing and a glider wing.
By now there was a certain amount of discontent amongst their ranks and many applied to be returned to their parent regiments as they appeared to be falling foul to operations planned and then duly cancelled not dissimilar to those men in Layforce, all applications were duly refused and things began to look differently in January 1941 when all officers and men volunteered for a trial operation and as they say the rest is history.

Alan.

Hi Graham,
on the 22nd of July 1940 Churchill issued an instruction to General Sir Hastings Ishmay stating that he thought we need to form a corps at least of 5000 parachute troops which would include Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians and also to include troops from Norway and France.
The previous day the Central Landing School at Ringway came into being. The first recruits came from the commandos specifically 2 Commando from Knutsford in Cheshirte. On the 9th of July B and C troops arrived for training under Flight Sergeant William Brereton and 14 other men from the RAF and Regimental Sergeant Major Mansie and 9 others from the Army Physical Training Centre.
They had no equipment, no training modules, no pre-plane jump apparatus all they had was a few hundred parachutes and 6 obsolete Mk III Whitley bombers.
Hope this will be of some use to you.
Alan.

Hi Nick and Pete,
a few more names to be added are;
Gdsm. Michael D'arcy Irish Guards.
Lt. George PJR Jellicoe 124546 Coldstream Guards DSO MC MID Legion d'Honeur Croix de Guerre MC (Greek)
Sgt. J Storey 3597146 Scots Guards.

Possibly L/Sgt. Douglas Eccles 2735399 Welsh Guards executed by the Germans in 1944.

Pete,
Alastair Timpsons book 'In Rommel's Back Yard' mentions both Duncalfe and McNabola and they both appear in 'Special Forces in the Desert War' but as yet I have found no mention of Layforce connections. Duncalfe ended up in the same POW camp in Germany as my dad.
Alan.

Hi Nick,
2 further names that can be added are the following;
3710883 Sgt. Ernest Radcliffe Bond Scots Guards POW.
2719054 Gdms. Christopher O'Dowd 1/Irish Guards M.M. KIA 5-10-1943.
A.D. Stirlings service no. was 72647.
E.T. Lilley was Ernest Thomas known as 'Bob'.
G.Rose was known as 'Johnny'.
Regards,
Alan.

Hi Nick,
great to see No.8 (Guards) Commando Nominal Roll published, below is a small list of extras, awards, ranks and no's plus a few inclussions.

Almonds J.E. The E should be Edward and he was awarded the MM and bar and also the C de G.
Bennett R. Grenadier Guards awarded the MM.
Bridger Arthur 2698057 Scots Guards.
Brough W.G. L/ Cpl. awarded the MM.
Carrington most likely J 2696602 Scots Guards P.O.W.
Chesworth Thomas R. Scots Guards.
Colquohuon Leonard L/Sgt 2695291 Scots Guards POW.
Copper J.M. 2698113 Scots Guards DCM.
Evans RD 2733469 Welsh Guards POW.
Hill Daniel McFarlane 2694342 Scots Guards P.O.W.
Kershaw David 4121633 6/Grenadier Guards MM.
McKay Robert Gdms. 2698040 Scots Guards POW.
Quinton RS 2566703 Royal Horse Guards.
Leadbetter Harold J Gdms 2617519 Grenadier Guards POW.
Leitch J Gdms 2698540 Scots Guards.
Lilley E.T. 2660913 Coldstream Guards MM.
Robertson John Paterson 2811911 Gdms Scots Guards P.O.W.
Rose Graham L/Cpl. 2617725 Grenadier Guards MM and bar.
Rhodes Frank 2626982 Grenadier Guards.
Sadler John 2814251 Scots Guards POW.
Smith L.V. L/Cpl. 2719754 Irish Guards POW.
Stone Sydney 2692673 Scots Guards DOW.
Warburton Arthur Gdms 2734482 Welsh Guards POW.
and possibly Lt. Ian Collins 139780 Coldstream Guards.
Hope this will be of some use to you.
Regards,
Alan.