<![CDATA[Sgt. Ken Newby]]> https://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/Royal+Marine+Commando+Units/46/ken+newby2+46rm.jpg.html
My father grew up in the village of Mixbury, on the Oxfordshire/Northants border. His father was a railway worker, and he was the eighth of nine children. He left school young, as they did in those days, and became a gardener’s boy on a local estate, then a delivery boy, and so on, studying at home to pass exams to join the London police. He was accepted into the police, and during the early part of the war was based at the police station in Tooley Street, in the East End of London. The police station is no longer there, although Tooley Street itself, which runs parallel to the river on the south bank, remains. Dad went through the blitz there, then, presumably because that wasn’t exciting enough, joined up. He wanted the navy, but colour blindness meant that wasn’t on, so when he was told the marine commandos were the next best thing he believed what he was told. I got the clear impression that he later felt he hadn’t known what he was letting himself in for! Dad, like so many men who’ve seen action, in every war, was reticent about his experiences. He gave us one or two glimpses of his training, saying he enjoyed everything about the commandos (even the food!) except the cliff-climbing, which he described as the one time he, a lifelong non-smoker, could have done with a cigarette. He was described as the fittest man in the brigade, which he attributed to his love of sport; he’d play anything, although cricket was his favourite. I know that training around Fort William made an impact, because years later he took us to revisit the area, and of course, to see the memorial there. Post war he returned to the Metropolitan Police becoming an Inspector, and served in P division, which is South London. He had a postcard of the memorial in his room until he died, and in his last weeks, read and reread the little blue book. I suspect the commando days were the most vivid of his life"

Ken passed away on the 17th March 2013.]]>
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