Mission 204 - a personal account of his memories by Ted Stuart of No.5 Commando
Neil Stuart says the following "A quick bit about my dad Ted Stuart (though it seems he was known as Eddie when he first joined up):
He joined the DLI up in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (which is where he was from) in September 1937. He was only sixteen so lied about his age. He went to France after war broke out with the 2nd Battalion. He got wounded in the lead up to the Dunkirk evacuation so avoided the fate that so many of his comrades experienced.
Once he had recuperated from his wound I suspect he volunteered for what was to become No5 Commnado. He seems to have been with No 5 Special Service Battalion up in Scotland in February/March 1941. And he was obviously down south in time to be part of the photograph.
The only thing I know about his Commando experience was that in 1942 he volunteered to go on an unknown mission which was Military Mission 204. Like many men of his generation my Dad rarely spoke of his wartime experiences, especially the fighting. But at the age of almost 70 he did a GCSE English course and as part of this wrote about his experiences of the early part of this mission. He never got to do what he was initially sent to. He got nabbed by Orde Wingate but then contracted first malaria then two bouts of dyssentry, the second which nearly killed him. After recuperating he was sent back to England about mid-1943. I am not sure if he remained with the Commandos then. There is a photo of him which looks to me like he was attached to a Scots regiment towards the end of WWII. If there are any people who might be interested in my Dad's account of his experience of Military Mission 204 (or how it didn't happen as planned!)"
Ted's personal account called 'Almost but not quite' can be read on this link to our main site entry for Military Mission 204.
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Date: 05/12/2010
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