Freddie Farrington, 'Nutty' Edwards, Peter Cooke, 30 AU, May 1945
Date: 30/08/2024
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Owner: Pete Rogers (Admin)
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No. Commando panorama photo, number 16
*** Photo updated.Register and post a message on our Forum if you have any relevant photos*** No.16 is my father, Joseph Shaw. He was born in 1918 in the East End of London and died in 1988 aged 69. He has four children (myself and three daughters), eight grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
Posted by Joe Shaw on Mon 31 May 2010 07:28:34 EDT
message from John Davies
*** Photo updated.Register and post a message on our Forum if you have any relevant photos*** Number 247 is my dad Victor Oliver Davies (known as Vic) He passed away on the 6th Dec 2010.
John Davies (son)
Posted by Pete Rogers (Admin) on Thu 16 Dec 2010 13:37:04 EST
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No 19 is my father Frank Edmund Allum born 9th May 1919, died 26/2/1980. He had 2 children, my sister Valerie and myself. He joined the Royal Artillery Territorial Army in May 1939 and was posted to 99th Field Regiment September 1939. Joined BEF and was evacuated from the eastern mole at Dunkirk on the night of 1/2 June 1940 on the Winchelsea. 6th July posted to 145th Field Regiment Royal Artillery, stationed at Bangor NI where he volunteered for the Commandos. 9th August 1940 posted to 12 Commando, was involed in raids, notably on the French coast at Ambleteuse July 1941 and Operation Anklet on the Lofoten Islands Dec '41. 12 Commando was disbanded in July 1943 and he was posted to 1 Commando at Winchester, hence his apprearancre in the photograph. He was in Burma from Jan 44 to November 44 where he was involved in 3 landings, 2 against enemy forces. He...
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No 19 is my father Frank Edmund Allum born 9th May 1919, died 26/2/1980. He had 2 children, my sister Valerie and myself. He joined the Royal Artillery Territorial Army in May 1939 and was posted to 99th Field Regiment September 1939. Joined BEF and was evacuated from the eastern mole at Dunkirk on the night of 1/2 June 1940 on the Winchelsea. 6th July posted to 145th Field Regiment Royal Artillery, stationed at Bangor NI where he volunteered for the Commandos. 9th August 1940 posted to 12 Commando, was involed in raids, notably on the French coast at Ambleteuse July 1941 and Operation Anklet on the Lofoten Islands Dec '41. 12 Commando was disbanded in July 1943 and he was posted to 1 Commando at Winchester, hence his apprearancre in the photograph. He was in Burma from Jan 44 to November 44 where he was involved in 3 landings, 2 against enemy forces. He was then posted to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and then to India, returning to UK in March 1946. A fascinating life that he never spoke to me about. I was only vaguely aware he was in the Commandos and later assumed that as a young boy that was wisheful thinking on my part as in the early post-war years the Commandos occupied a very special, exciting and glamnorous position in everyone's minds, especially young boys. I found out all the above a long time after his death which is a great pity to me.
Posted by Richard Allum on Sun 09 Jan 2011 20:01:04 EST
message from Margo Hathorn
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No 101 is my father Sgt Arthur (Toby) Hathorn 1915-1985,No 142 is George Pearson,also deceased, a close friend of my father. Margo.
Posted by Margo Hathorn on Sun 24 Apr 2011 14:35:47 EDT
Major James Willis Gardner
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No. 331 is Major James Willis Gardner born Weybridge, UK 28/02/1915, died Rome, Italy 11/11/1997. Following the war he worked for Procter and Gamble in Newcastle and left for Lausanne, Switzerland in 1952 to start up company operations in continental Europe. He retired from the company in 1980 as administrator of the Italian branch and lived out his retirement in the 'Castelli Romani' a renowned wine region of central Italy. He married Leila Tusgioglu from the island of Rhodes and had three children Marina, William and Alexia. His grandchildren live in three continents, with one niece married to a 'James' working for P&G from and in weybridge(!).
Posted by William Patrick Gardner on Mon 19 Sep 2011 21:19:33 EDT
No 105 is my father Harry Morrell
*** Photo updated.Register and post a message on our Forum if you have any relevant photos***No 105 is my father Harry Morrell 1913-2000 he had 2 children Roma and Anthony wife Ada morrell sent in by son anthony morrell
Posted by anthony morrell on Sun 06 Nov 2011 16:26:07 EST
My Father Sgt John (Jack) Thomas no.391
I believe this is my father John Thomas 1911-1991,born and raised in Wales and originally a member of the Welch Regiment. Is there anyone who could verify this for me? I know he was in 1 Troop No.1 Commando and many of the names in the photograph are familiar to me from my conversations with him. Any comments please?
Posted by Gerald James Thomas on Fri 30 Mar 2012 17:24:13 EDT
Photo updated
Alison Bond identifies 490 as her father Pte Hugh MacKenzie
Posted by Pete Rogers (Admin) on Tue 04 Dec 2012 17:18:29 EST
Photo updated
Roger Pilling identifies his father CSM Harry Pilling, and Sgt's Jack Hillier and Percy Smith.
Posted by Pete Rogers (Admin) on Fri 15 Feb 2013 05:05:03 EST
No1 Commando panorama photo No 327 and 335
*** Photo updated.Register and post a message on our Forum if you have any relevant photos***No 327 is my late father James Henry Davies. At the conclusion of the war he was a Major serving in Burma/Malaya.
I can also identify No 335 as his younger brother, Alan J. Davies who also served in Burma/Malaya, ending the war as a Captain.
Posted by Bill Davies on Wed 06 Mar 2013 17:16:24 EST
my dad
number 31 is my dad THOMAS JOHN (Jack)PRICE
Posted by richard james price on Sat 07 Sep 2013 08:08:28 EDT
Photo updated
with names from comments
Posted by Pete Rogers (Admin) on Sun 08 Sep 2013 11:47:51 EDT
Photo updated
Jimmy Smith identified by his daughter Pamela Hook as 309
Posted by Pete Rogers (Admin) on Mon 02 Jun 2014 13:23:12 EDT
The date of the photograph of number commando is wrong ,it was taken in April 1943 and not November 1943 I know this to be fact as No 46 is my grandfather ie seargeant john rigby and he was killed on 25th may 1943! however that is not to say that the film may not have been developed until November 1943.
Best regards
Mark
Posted by Mark Harrison on Sun 10 Aug 2014 18:58:00 EDT
Ref comments posted with query on date
Email sent to Mark
Posted by Pete Rogers (Admin) on Tue 12 Aug 2014 06:49:55 EDT
Hi peter i recently emailed you with regards to my grandfather No46 Sergeant John Rigby No 2613497 ,and you recommended that i obtain a copy of his military record, i have done that ,i had to get it from the grenadier guards adjutant ,He has informed that my grandfather was a cooks sergeant who achieved Full sergeant status i.e. Gold Sergeant ;from his record i can deduce that he served with following units grenadier guards 2nd Bt 9/2/1933 ;Transferred to HB=Heavy Bomber 29/4/40 Transferred to 3 = reconnaissance 16/6/1940 Transferred To Y Company 18/6/40 Y company = Royal Marines Based Defence Unit ie protection of Naval Bases From this i think its likely that his duties would have been to work within Heavy bomber plane maybe on the guns or something like that apparently on these planes it needed Ten Crew to man it; i would assume that their duties would been to bomb or shoot down any enemies approaching any of our naval bases.With regards to Y company My Grandfather then transferred back To HB=Heavy...
Hi peter i recently emailed you with regards to my grandfather No46 Sergeant John Rigby No 2613497 ,and you recommended that i obtain a copy of his military record, i have done that ,i had to get it from the grenadier guards adjutant ,He has informed that my grandfather was a cooks sergeant who achieved Full sergeant status i.e. Gold Sergeant ;from his record i can deduce that he served with following units grenadier guards 2nd Bt 9/2/1933 ;Transferred to HB=Heavy Bomber 29/4/40 Transferred to 3 = reconnaissance 16/6/1940 Transferred To Y Company 18/6/40 Y company = Royal Marines Based Defence Unit ie protection of Naval Bases From this i think its likely that his duties would have been to work within Heavy bomber plane maybe on the guns or something like that apparently on these planes it needed Ten Crew to man it; i would assume that their duties would been to bomb or shoot down any enemies approaching any of our naval bases.With regards to Y company My Grandfather then transferred back To HB=Heavy Bomber 11/8/40.Ycompany was a commando trained unit of the royal marines so it seems very appropriate to me that all personnel protecting these naval bases receive the very best training available order to protect the bases and themselves in order to survive.Most of my grandfathers service seems to of been at home during the 2nd world war protecting these bases until he went North Africa 26/2/1943 and was killed on the 25/5/1943 as result of a land mine,he was in jeep at the time.Whilst all of this apparent with regards to your photograph i think could have been no later than the 26/2/1943 or indeed much earlier ,i also think it may not be solely commando No1 operatives ie there maybe other types of commandos in the photo to, i suppose you have go through all their military records to find this out, Any how No 46 is Sergeant John Rigby.
Yours sincerely
Posted by Mark Harrison on Sun 02 Nov 2014 13:37:43 EST
Hi Peter
To add further weight as to this pictures date and finally put end to date of this picture not being correct ,please think about this, you will agree that they are waring different caps and different regimental cap badges ,in 1942 it was agreed by the powers that be that this was absolute nightmare and as such by october 1942 all commando units were issued with the green beret ,moreover they most certainly would have been by November 1943, so this picture must be some where between 1940 and 1942 ,as to the cap badges i know that some commando units had different ones for example middle eastern commando etc however, theres two many different cap badges in the picture ,any how if there all No1 commandos(Please note i don't that they all commandos) they'd all be waring The Royal Marines cap badge by Nov 1943.Please accept my apologises as i'm not trying embarrass you or your association if any of my post sound that way ,that is not my intention in anyway, it just bamboozled as why grandfather...
Hi Peter
To add further weight as to this pictures date and finally put end to date of this picture not being correct ,please think about this, you will agree that they are waring different caps and different regimental cap badges ,in 1942 it was agreed by the powers that be that this was absolute nightmare and as such by october 1942 all commando units were issued with the green beret ,moreover they most certainly would have been by November 1943, so this picture must be some where between 1940 and 1942 ,as to the cap badges i know that some commando units had different ones for example middle eastern commando etc however, theres two many different cap badges in the picture ,any how if there all No1 commandos(Please note i don't that they all commandos) they'd all be waring The Royal Marines cap badge by Nov 1943.Please accept my apologises as i'm not trying embarrass you or your association if any of my post sound that way ,that is not my intention in anyway, it just bamboozled as why grandfather is in a picture dated Nov 1943 When in fact he died on the 25/5/43 now i know why , i accept it is difficult and can be misleading to get historical facts correct but this simple observation i have made and is factually correct.
Yours Sincerely
Mark
Posted by Mark Harrison on Sun 02 Nov 2014 17:11:00 EST
Cooments from Mark
Hi Mark. A lot of the statements you make are factually incorrect. You have my email address if you wish to contact me and I will advise you....Pete
Posted by Pete Rogers (Admin) on Sun 02 Nov 2014 17:29:15 EST
Billy Coman No 269
*** Photo updated.Register and post a message on our Forum if you have any relevant photos***No 269, who is directly behind No 329 Lt Col. T. Trevor, is Private William Joseph Coman, known as Billy Coman.
Posted by Thomas Nash on Sun 06 Aug 2017 19:04:29 EDT
No 269 Billy Coman
Sorry, I forgot to mention the identification details requested earlier in the thread. No 269, Billy Coman, as identified by my mother, who is his first cousin
Posted by Thomas Nash on Sun 06 Aug 2017 19:23:55 EDT
Dennis Bear No 148
No 148 is my dad Dennis Bear. His official number was 14402581, he became a Sergeant in Burma. I lost dad 05/02/1986, the day before my birthday. I am a former Royal Marine Commando and I miss dad every day, RIP Dad
Posted by Simon Bear on Sun 12 Nov 2017 15:49:15 EST
Leslie J Hansell No59. My grandfather Leslie Hansell, confirmed by my grandmother. He sadly died in 1948 in an accident in Maldon, Essex.
Posted by Robert Wilson on Tue 01 Jan 2019 07:04:30 EST
Photo updated
Names added from comments
Posted by Pete Rogers (Admin) on Fri 04 Jan 2019 09:46:17 EST
1. James Casbolt & 465. Albert Bacon
Hello, I know my distant relative Philip Bacon has identified these people already. Sjt James R. Casbolt was my grandfather's cousin and Pte Albert W. Bacon was James' brother-in-law.
I wondered if there was anybody within this community who actually remembered my granddad's cousin and his brother-in-law. There were known to my family as Uncle Jim and Uncle Bert and while I know Jim went to Norway and they both went to Burma that's about it.
I am new to this society and only starting to learn the bravery of these men but if anyone has any information it would be much appreciated as I never met my dear Great-Uncle Jim neither Uncle Bert and would love to know more.
Kind Regards
Posted by Jacob Gosling on Wed 04 Mar 2020 08:56:53 EST
Henry Loudon
Number five, top row , is my Grandfather Henry Loudon. Also confirmed by my Mum.Amazed to find this as, apart from knowing where he served, we had very little information on his particular unit. Just new that he was a very proud Royal Marine. He lived in Alva, Scotland and passed away in 1984.
Posted by Pam on Thu 17 Sep 2020 04:11:25 EDT
No. 1 Commando panorama photo
Number 251 I believe is my father, Terence "lofty" Cooling I'm keen to know if anyone knows anything at all, as he died in 1990. And I've only just found this picture
Posted by Michael John Cooling on Fri 07 Jul 2023 14:18:31 EDT
No. Commando panorama photo, number 16
*** Photo updated.Register and post a message on our Forum if you have any relevant photos*** No.16 is my father, Joseph Shaw. He was born in 1918 in the East End of London and died in 1988 aged 69. He has four children (myself and three daughters), eight grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
Posted by Joe Shaw on Mon 31 May 2010 07:28:34 EDT