St Nazaire Commando Raid - Mar 28th 1942

[ap1]

St Nazaire Commando Raid. 28 March 1942. I visited the town yesterday and saw the submarine base. In awe of these men, I also visited the little cemetery at Escoublac-la-Baule, in order to pay my respects. The stats speak for themselves! 611 men took part in the raid, 169 men perished, 215 were captured and only 228 made it back to the UK. 89 decorations for bravery including 5 x VC's!!

But my real interest was because at least two of the men were Royal Welchmen, there may have been more!

LCpl George Stokes, from Bristol was a member of 5 Cdo. A married man, aged 22, he was part of Lt Burtinshaws demolition party and was aboard HMS Campbelltown when it rammed Normandie Dock. He died along with his boss attempting to detonate their objective. I visited his grave yesterday.

Also Ernest Chappell, a Newport boy took part in the raid, he was originally 9RWF, he was captured but survived. An audio interview with him is held by the IWM.

Nearly 300 of our regiment served with the Army Commandos during WW2. Most still wore their RWF cap badge.

[ap1]

A lovely little cemetery, beautifully kept. With an interesting story behind it:



Postscript.
From CWGC: Historical Information:

The cemetery was begun with the burial of 17 British soldiers killed in the area during 1940, 21 others who died in local hospitals, and a number of British servicemen whose bodies were washed ashore after the sinking of the troopship "Lancastria" in the Bay of Biscay on 17 June 1940. Subsequent burials include men killed in the St. Nazaire raid in 1942, and airmen shot down in the area.

The cemetery now contains 325 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 74 of which are unidentified. Three Polish servicemen are also buried here and one man of the Merchant Navy whose death was not due to war service.

Throughout the German occupation, Louise Jaouen, a resident of La Baule, dedicated all her time and energy to maintaining the graves. With money collected secretly from the generous local people she provided a cross for every grave and a small monument, had hedges planted, and employed a permanent gardener to tend the cemetery. Her devotion to this work was later honoured by the award of the King's Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom.

[jones20]

Interesting thread Al what was the reasoning behind them wearing their own cap badge whilst in the commandos.Also noticed the grave stone just said Number 5 Commando I take it they were still part of The marines

[welchboy]

Interesting thread Al what was the reasoning behind them wearing their own cap badge whilst in the commandos.Also noticed the grave stone just said Number 5 Commando I take it they were still part of The marines

Number 5 and 6 were formed in 1940 and recruited mainly from Western Command area (H.Q. Chester)

[Baconwallah]

And they were Army commandos, not Marines.

John

[welchboy]

All following enlisted RWFs before joining Number 6 Commando.
1. L/Cpl 207000 William Drapper. KIA 30.6.1944 Normandy : Buried Ranville War Cemetery. aged 20
2. Fusilier 4206066 Robert Stephen Lord KIA 30.11.1942 North Africa ( During action which became known "Battle of Green Hill" ) age 21
3. Fusilier 4206550 Arthur Charity KIA. 6.6.1944 Normandy : Buried La Deliverande War Cemetery. age 24
4. Fusilier 1460359 Albert John Blakeman KIA 15.6.1944 Normandy : Age 28

Members shown on the Nominal Roll of Number 5 Commando

4189210 J. Madden 1st Battalion
4189759 T. Price 1st Battalion
14996620 Henry James Whitley. Rank show as WO2

Number 6 Commando.

Fusilier Harold Riley ( No Regimental Number shown )

[ap1]

Interesting thread Al what was the reasoning behind them wearing their own cap badge whilst in the commandos.Also noticed the grave stone just said Number 5 Commando I take it they were still part of The marines

They were attached to the Commandos, still badged RWF, hence the cap badge on the gravestone. They would have worn Commando shoulder titles, but their own cap badge I guess. I have seen quite a few pics of them with RWF badges. As John said, Army Commandos, not Royal Marines. At the end of the war, when Army Commandos were disbanded, or subsumed into the RM's, some of these men went back to their regiments. As is the case of WO2 Maine. Who later was a CSM with 2RWF in Malaya.

[ap1]

Charity. Our first RWF casualty of the NWE Campaign.

[welchboy]

Fusilier Arthur Charity