[Photo courtesy of Jeff Gordon, son of Sgt. Jack Gordon 43 RM Cdo].
Inspection held in the Timber Yard, Port Gruz on the 28.12.1944 by the Commander of Land Forces Adriatic Brigadier Davy, accompanied by Brigadier O'Brien-Twohig, Commander of the Adriatic Brigade which included Floydforce.
The 39-year-old Dubliner, Brigadier Joseph Patrick O'Brien-Twohig was actually the commander of the Adriatic Brigade, based on Vis Island (named Vis Brigade prior to Sep ’44, when O’Brien-Twohig assumed command of the unit). As his enormous regimental...
The 39-year-old Dubliner, Brigadier Joseph Patrick O'Brien-Twohig was actually the commander of the Adriatic Brigade, based on Vis Island (named Vis Brigade prior to Sep ’44, when O’Brien-Twohig assumed command of the unit). As his enormous regimental caubeen (of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers), rakish moustache, and overall impish visage suggest, in these photos of the 28 Dec 44 inspection by Brigadier George Mark Oswald Davy, Brigadier O'Brien-Twohig was an extremely flamboyant character. He was no doubt the most conspicuous leader then on the island of Vis, since he arrived right after Marshal Tito departed the island for his soon-to-be liberated capital of Belgrade. Floydforce was a temporary, mission-specific taskforce, most of whose elements came from the Adriatic Brigade (which belonged to Brigadier Davy's Land Forces Adriatic), so Brigadier O'Brien-Twohig did indeed command Floydforce as well. The taskforce was assembled in late Oct '44 to support Partisan forces in the vicinity of Dubrovnik and Nikšic at disrupting the Nazi withdrawal from Greece and Albania. But since deteriorating political relations between the Anglo-Americans and the Partisans had built to a crescendo by then, the deployment of Floydforce proved to be an abject failure.
Posted by Pete Rogers (Admin) on Thu 13 Aug 2026 16:20:56 BST
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| show fullshow summaryThe 39-year-old Dubliner, Brigadier Joseph Patrick O'Brien-Twohig was actually the commander of the Adriatic Brigade, based on Vis Island (named Vis Brigade prior to Sep ’44, when O’Brien-Twohig assumed command of the unit). As his enormous regimental...
The 39-year-old Dubliner, Brigadier Joseph Patrick O'Brien-Twohig was actually the commander of the Adriatic Brigade, based on Vis Island (named Vis Brigade prior to Sep ’44, when O’Brien-Twohig assumed command of the unit). As his enormous regimental caubeen (of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers), rakish moustache, and overall impish visage suggest, in these photos of the 28 Dec 44 inspection by Brigadier George Mark Oswald Davy, Brigadier O'Brien-Twohig was an extremely flamboyant character. He was no doubt the most conspicuous leader then on the island of Vis, since he arrived right after Marshal Tito departed the island for his soon-to-be liberated capital of Belgrade. Floydforce was a temporary, mission-specific taskforce, most of whose elements came from the Adriatic Brigade (which belonged to Brigadier Davy's Land Forces Adriatic), so Brigadier O'Brien-Twohig did indeed command Floydforce as well. The taskforce was assembled in late Oct '44 to support Partisan forces in the vicinity of Dubrovnik and Nikšic at disrupting the Nazi withdrawal from Greece and Albania. But since deteriorating political relations between the Anglo-Americans and the Partisans had built to a crescendo by then, the deployment of Floydforce proved to be an abject failure.
Posted by Pete Rogers (Admin) on Thu 13 Aug 2026 16:20:56 BST