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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: Joanna Tolhurst on Saturday 28 November 09 11:52 GMT (UK)
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Captain Frank A L Waldron was called up for the Scots Guards 5th Ski battalion which existed Jan - Mar 1940. He then was in the 2nd battalion and sent to the middle east. Apparently wayward unconventional officers ended up in the 2nd. On March 6 1943 he was involved in the Battle of Medenine. He returned to Scotland before joining the Amoured division in Jan 1945.
Any infomation as to the 5th ski battalion or the 2nd battalion in these years would be appreciated.
Jo
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Try the following:
http://www.scotsguards.co.uk/history1.htm
Dee :)
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i have some pictures of 5th Scotts guards in Chamonix my father joined with his good mate Basil o.brien
there were a number of others who were at school with my father
i will need a direct address to send the pics
Chris
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i have some pictures of 5th Scotts guards in Chamonix my father joined with his good mate Basil o.brien
there were a number of others who were at school with my father
i will need a direct address to send the pics
Chris
Chris, would it be possible for me to get copies of the photos? I am currently writing up an alternative history of the Winter War online with a great deal of real history and photos embedded within. There is not much available on the 5th Scots Guards anywhere and if it would be OK, I would really like to be able to use some genuine info on them along with any real names and bios.
My online project can be seen at http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=172747 - What If-Finland had been prepared for the Winter War? Truely appreciate any help.
Cheers............Nigel
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I am also looking for any information available on Captain Count Richard Dudley Melchior Gurowski - Capt. Gurowski was a Captain in the Scots Guards and Commander of Y Company in the 5th Battalion (Ski) Scots Guards which trained at Chamonix.
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OK, if I may add to that. Heres the OrBat for the 5th Battalion Scots Guards on embarkation to France in 1940 (for training in Chamonix one imagines). Help and info on any and all info and photos on these would also be greatly appreciated.
5th (Ski) Battalion Scots Guards
29th February, 1940 - On Embarkation for France
N.B. * Denotes SCOTS GUARDS Officer or Warrant Officer
BATTALION HEADQUARTERS
Lieutenant-Colonel J.S. COATS, M.C., COLDSTREAM GUARDS - Commanding Officer
*Major B. MAYFIELD - Second-in-Command
*Captain W.D.M. RAEBURN - Adjutant
Captain M. LINDSAY, Royal Scots - A/Adjutant and i/c Ski equipment
*Major A.F. PURVIS, M.C. - Liaison Officer
*Lieutenant J. QUINN - Quartermaster
Lieutenant E.H.L. WIGRAM, R.A.M.C. - Medical Officer
Captain C.E.V. ROOKER, M.M., R.A.P.C. - Pay Adviser
*A.K. MADDEN - Regimental Sergeant-Major
*A. WILFORD - Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant
*L. PARSONS - Orderly Room Quartermaster Sergeant
RIGHT FLANK
*Major A.D.B. CRABBE
Lieutenant K.R. ASHBURNER, Royal Fusiliers
Lieutenant N.E. MacMULLEN, 10th Royal Hussars
Lieutenant P.M.G. ANLEY, Royal Fusiliers
D.H. STACEY - Company Sergeant-Major
W COMPANY
Captain J.L.M. GAVIN, Royal Engineers
Lieutenant J.P. HALL, Middlesex Regiment
Lieutenant C.W. SUTER, London Rifle Brigade
Lieutenant F.G. GOUGH, London Rifle Brigade
J. ROYLE - Company Sergeant-Major
X COMPANY
Major L.C.D. RYDER, Norfolk Regiment
Lieutenant V.A.P. BUDGE, GRENADIER GUARDS
Lieutenant R.N. CHARRINGTON, Suffolk Regiment
Lieutenant D.C. BAYNES, Queen's Regiment
?. RUSSELL - Company Sergeant-Major
Y COMPANY
*Captain R.D.M. GUROWSKI
Lieutenant G.W.E. POTTER, GRENADIER GUARDS
Lieutenant P.S. CHAPLIN, King's Royal Rifle Corps
Lieutenant M.R.G. HOWARD, King's Royal Rifle Corps
J.R. FRASER - Company Sergeant-Major
LEFT FLANK
Captain C.J. STONE, East Surrey Regiment
Lieutenant J.R.G. BIRD, Sherwood Foresters
Lieutenant A.G. DICKSON, Cameron Highlanders
Lieutenant M.R.E. KEALY, Devonshire Regiment
J.A. LINDSAY - Company Sergeant Major
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so long since i have been on one of these sites i have to work out how to use it i have photos with some names i also have list of left flank compny
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Thx Chris
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Greetings,
I have attached an article from the Halifax Herald (Nova Scotia, Canada) from 1940. At least six Canadians who at the time were serving with the 2nd Manchesters volunteered for this unit. By the time of the German Offensive in May 1940 five of the six had returned to the Manchesters & were serving in France.
Article caption:
Canadian volunteers have had training during the last winter such as would fit them for service in Norway’s mountain areas, especially in winter. Here is a group of the first ski battalion in the history of the British Army. It was taken in the French Alps on the slope of Mount Blanc and included in it are Don Morrison of South Park Street, Halifax, Jack Foster, Halifax and probably other Nova Scotians. The training which also took place in Scotland was to fit the men to fight in the expeditionary force which was to have gone to Finland.
Dave
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Whooaaaa - thx DaveyG. This story gets more and more interesting.
FYI, the list of members of Left Flank Company I posted below includes 1 confirmed Canadian (Pte Neville, from Ottawa) also from the Manchesters, as well as a possible 2nd (who gives his home address as c/o Bank of Montreal in London which indicates some sort of Canadian affiliation)
Cheers............Nigel
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tried to upload my photo which is identical but taking too long
i wonder if i try and upload the lot whether we might get a response
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tried to upload my photo which is identical but taking too long
i wonder if i try and upload the lot whether we might get a response
I can try and upload it for you later this evening
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try and put as many on as you can
this is starting to look interesting i will see if i can find the bloke who sent me the left flank company
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Here are a series of photos of the 5th Battalion, Scots Guards. Mostly taken at Chamonix while training in 1940. Photos were taken by Oswald Basil Rooney (OBR) and are posted courtesy of his son, Chris Rooney. These photos have not been published online before as far as I know.
(http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/1716/5thbattalionscotsguards.jpg)
5th Battalion Scots Guards training in Chamonix, 1940
Will post more in a few hours.
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More photos of the 5th Battalion Scots Guards from Chris Rooney
(http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/9019/5thscotsguards2.jpg)
5th Battalion Scots Guards marching through Chamonix, 1940
(http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/9593/5thscotsguards3.jpg)
5th Battalion Scots Guards training in Chamonix: this picture has a few names - Munro was a a well known Skier, it is thought that Cyclops Bradley went to the Small Scale Raiding Force, OBR was Oswald Basil Rooney - later known as Mickey - at this stage he was a Guardsman.
(http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/1386/obrchamonix1940.jpg)
OBR at Chamonix, 1940
(http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/724/obrontheleft.jpg)
OBR on the left. Chamonix.
(http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/9229/rcbr008.jpg)
OBR front right and his mate Basil O'Brien at the back. OBR and Basil joined up in 1939 and they have consecutive army numbers. Basil O'Brian was a rugby playing mate of OBR's at The Harlequins. Basil could ski so he talked OBR into putting his name down "skiing in Chamonix much better than square bashing in London."
(http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/6488/rcbr009.jpg)
OBR front right. Basil O'Brien on his left. Looks like London and might have been as Guardsmen before Chamonix
(http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5429/rcbr010.jpg)
Playing silly buggers
(http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/7213/rcbr021.jpg)
Chamonix. OBR, then Basil O'Brien
(http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/7148/rcbr063.jpg)
London, probably just before going to Chamonix at a guess
(http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/5817/rcbr070.jpg)
London, probably just before going to Chamonix at a guess
(http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/3070/brien23fromrt.jpg)
OBR third from right. Basil O'Brien on his left
(http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/7687/scotsguard.jpg)
OBR went to the Scots Guards in Oct 39 so this is between then and Chamonix. Basil O'Brien second from Right in the back row, OBR just above and left of the gentleman in the Bowler hat
No idea who the others are, but of anyone has any ideas and names, would appreciate you posting them.
(http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/2260/stirlingmaxwellgreenlee.jpg)
This is Stirling and his cousin (Gavin) Maxwell (who after WW2 would write the book, Ring of Bright Water). OBR went to same school as Stirling and Lovat. The Stirlings, the Frasers (Lovat) and the Maxwells are all related, Greenlees was another School friend of OBRs.
(http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/1165/chamonix.jpg)
Newspaper or magazine clipping about the 5th Battalion. The Polish ship mentioned as the Botany was more likely the NS Batory, which had been used to ferry troops and equipment to Narvik.
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Left Flank Company, 5th Battalion Scots Guards - list of names
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P2 - Left Flank ompany
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P3 Left Flank Company
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P4 - Left Flank Company
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P5 Left Flank Company
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P6 - Left Flank Company
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P7 - Left Flank Company
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P8 - Left Flank Company
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P9 - Left Flank Company
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P10 - Left Flank Company
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P11 - Left Flank Company
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P12 - Left Flank Company
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P13 - Left Flank Company
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P14 - Left Flank Company
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Any and all info on any members of Left Flank Company, 5th Battalion Scots Guards would be really appreciated.
Also, being ex-NZ Army I have never come across this Company naming before - can someone clarify for me why two companies in the Bat were called Left Flank and Right Flank - and what they actually did? Were they Rifle Companies but just named differently?
Many thx..............Nigel
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OK, I am going to run through the Orbat to start with and add whatever information I can come up with on each of the Officers listed. No particular order. If anyone has any information to add, please add. Photos are especially welcome, as is any info at all relating to the 5th Battalion.
Thanks.............Nigel
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Captain W.D.M. RAEBURN - Adjutant:
Full name and retiring rank = Maj Gen Sir (William) Digby (Manifold) RAEBURN (1915-2001)
William Digby Manifold Raeburn, the son of Sir Ernest Raeburn, who was in the shipping industry, was born on August 6 1915. He was educated at Winchester and Magdalene, Cambridge, where he took a First in History. He originally intended to follow an uncle and his grandfather into the Navy, but he opted instead for the Scots Guards, into which he was commissioned in 1936. During the Second World War he saw service in North Africa, and in 1945 he was awarded the DSO for his part in an action which took place between April 1 and April 3 near the German town of Nordhorn.
When peace came, Raeburn continued his Army career, becoming Commander 2nd Battalion Scots Guards in 1953; Lieutenant Colonel Commanding Scots Guards in 1958; Commander 1st Guards Brigade Group in 1959; and Commander 51st Infantry Brigade Group in 1960. From 1963 to 1965 he was based at the Ministry of Defence in London as Director of Combat Development (Army), responsible for developing tactical policy. He then spent two and a half years in Oslo as Chief of Staff to C-in-C, Allied Forces, Northern Europe. This was a posting much enjoyed by Raeburn, who was a fine skier - as a schoolboy he had been selected for the British junior Olympic team, but Winchester refused to allow him to take time off from his studies.
From 1968 to 1970 he was Chief Instructor (Army) at the Imperial Defence College (now the Royal College of Defence Studies) in London. He was appointed CB in 1966, and KCVO in 1979. His successful career in the Army was followed with an eight-year appointment as Governor of the Tower of London and Keeper of the Jewel House. He married, in 1960, Adeline ("Addie") Pryor, who skied for Britain in the 1956 Olympics at Cortina. She survives him.
If anyone reading this is based in London and feels like visiting the National Archives and taking a look, there is one file which consists of - Some recollections of a Scots Guardsman, 1935-1947', a memoir covering his military career during the period 1935-1947, notably his service at General HQ, Middle East Land Forces, 1940-1943, and with the Scots Guards in Italy, 1943-1944 and 1947, and Germany, 1945, written in [1992].
Be interesting to see if this includes anything on his time with the 5th Battalion.
(http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/1920/sirdigbyraeburn1.jpg)
25th January 1978: Major General D Raeburn, CB, DSO, MBE, MA, Resident Governor of the Tower of London. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=659&inst_id=21&nv1=search&nv2=
Reference code(s) : GB 0099 KCLMA Raeburn
Held at : Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London - click here to see details of the physical location of collection
Born in 1915; educated at Winchester College and Magdalene College, Cambridge; commissioned into Scots Guards, 1936; General Staff Officer Grade 3, General HQ, Middle East Land Forces, 1940-1941; HQ, Western Force, Greece, 1941; served with 2 Bn, Scots Guards and at HQ, 22 Guards Bde, 1941; General Staff Officer Grade 2, General HQ, Middle East Land Forces and HQ, 8 Army, 1941-1942; General Staff Officer Grade 1 (Intelligence), General HQ, Palestinian and Iraq Force, 1942-1943; Deputy Director of Military Intelligence, General HQ, Middle East Land Forces, 1943; served with 2 Bn Scots Guards, Italy, 1943-1944, and Germany, 1945; Staff College course, 1945-1946; Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General, Guards Div, 1946-1947; served with 1 Bn, Scots Guards, Italy, 1947; 2nd-in-command, Guards Depot, 1948; Deputy Adjutant and Quartermaster General, London District, 1949; member of Directing Staff, Staff College, 1950-1952; served with 2 Bn, Scots Guards, 1952-1955; member of Senior Directing Staff, Staff College, 1956-1957; Lt Col Commanding Scots Guards, 1958-1959; Commander, 1 Guards Bde and 51 Infantry Bde, 1960-1961; Director of Combat Development (Army), War Office and Ministry of Defence, 1963-1865; Chief of Staff to Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces, Northern Europe, 1965-1968; Chief Instructor (Army), Imperial Defence College, 1968-1970; retired, 1970; Resident Governor and Keeper of Jewel House, HM Tower of London, 1971-1979; died 2001.
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BATTALION HEADQUARTERS
Captain M. LINDSAY, Royal Scots - A/Adjutant and i/c Ski equipment
Sir Martin Alexander Lindsay, 1st Baronet, CBE, DSO (22 August 1905 – 5 May 1981) was a British army officer and explorer. He came to fame in the 1930s leading a succession of expeditions to Greenland, and later went into politics; he was elected as a Conservative Party Member of Parliament after the Second World War. His father was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles, who sent his son to Wellington College. After leaving Wellington, Lindsay went to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1925, and two years later was seconded to the 4th Battalion, the Nigeria Regiment. During his time in Nigeria, Lindsay won the Nigeria Grand National horse race.
At the end of his two years in Nigeria in 1929, Lindsay undertook his first expedition, travelling from West to East Africa through the Ituri Rainforest then in the Belgian Congo. In 1930 he was appointed Surveyor to the British Arctic Air-Route Expedition to Greenland, led by Gino Watkins. Lindsay later wrote up his experiences in a book called "Those Greenland Days" (1932), paying tribute to Watkins' team building. He was awarded the King's Polar Medal for the success of the expedition. Lindsay enjoyed writing about explorers and in 1933 wrote "The Epic of Captain Scott" about Robert Falcon Scott. In 1934 Lindsay was the Leader of the British Trans-Greenland Expedition. The expedition aimed to explore and map a 350-mile long stretch of Greenland which had not previously been visited but contained the highest mountains in the Arctic Circle. Andrew Croft was the photographer for the expedition; Lt. Daniel Godfrey was in charge of survey and navigation. The expedition crossed Greenland from west to east, and succeeded in fixing the positions of many important features including Gunnbjørns Fjeld. On the return journey the team headed south-west to Amassalik (now Tasiilaq) and on their journey discovered the extent of the Kronprins Frederik Bjerge mountain range. Lindsay's expedition set a new world record after sledging for 1,050 miles (700 of which were through unexplored territory). Lindsay had written his report of the expedition for The Times and in 1935 wrote a book called "Sledge" based on these reports.
n 1936, Lindsay left the army. He had married a distant cousin, Joyce Lindsay, in 1932 and they had a young family. He moved to Lincolnshire where he was adopted as Conservative Party candidate for Brigg in June 1936.[4] The constituency was held by Labour with a majority of only 203, and Lindsay began to attend social events in the constituency in an attempt to build up his chances of election. He was a Deputy Lieutenant of Lincolnshire from 1938. On the outbreak of the Second World War, Lindsay enlisted again, and served in a staff post in the Norwegian campaign in 1940 where he was mentioned in despatches. In July 1944 Lindsay was placed in command of the 1st Battalion The Gordon Highlanders, in the 51st Highland Division. He commanded sixteen parachute operations between July 1944 and May 1945, being again mentioned in despatches, wounded in action, and receiving the Distinguished Service Order. He ended the war as a Lieutenant-Colonel. As was already his pattern, he wrote up his experiences in "So Few Got Through: The Diary of an Infantry Officer" in 1946; this was followed by a recap of his Arctic exploits in "Three Got Through: Memoirs of an Arctic Explorer" the following year.
Following WW2, he was elected to Parliament and was an MP for many years.
(http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/1230/sirmartinlindsay1.jpg)
British former army officer and explorer Sir Martin Lindsay (1905 - 1981), Conservative MP for Solihull, 1962. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) - photo taken in 1962
If anyone has is book, So Few Got Through, does it make any mention of the 5th Battalion Scots Guards?
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There is a reference to the 5th Scots Guards in Freddy Spencer-Chapman's book "The Jungle is Neutral" chapter one "in search of war"
Regards
James
Right flank is the senior company in Scots Guards but they were just rifle companies, now of course they are mechanised infantry with far greater roles than "just" rifle company.
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Nigel, I did notice G. Neville’s name on the posted list of the Left Flank Company & he is indeed one of the ‘Halifax Hundred’ though currently I do not possess much info on him nor regrettably do I have a photo of him. I did not have him on my list of the six known men who had volunteered so this was a wonderful find. I do know he enlisted in the 2nd Manchesters in the summer of 1939 & had returned to them after the ski battalion was disbanded. He was later evacuated from Dunkirk. I don’t know where he went after that but the information you’ve provided might assist me in locating his family. Thank you so much.
Chris, your father’s photographs are brilliant! All I ever had of the group was that old newspaper clipping so to see these great shots of the men means a great deal to me. Thank you for sharing them.
I have included brief bio’s of the six men that either through newspaper reports or family confirmation have them serving in this unit.
Attached photo (L-to-R):
Arnold ‘Slim’ Carver
Italy Cross, Nova Scotia Canada
Enlisted in the 2nd Manchesters April 1939. Volunteered for 5th (Ski) Battalion Scots Guards & returned to the Manchesters after unit was disbanded. Served in France & safely evacuated from Dunkirk. In 1941 transferred to the West Nova Scotia Regiment serving in Sicily, Italy & Northwest Europe. Wounded late in the war Arnold was Acting Company Sergeant Major at time of discharge in 1945. Passed away December 1988 Bridgewater NS - Age 69.
Charles ‘Norm’ Eisener
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Canada
Enlisted in the 2nd Manchesters March 1939. Volunteered for 5th (Ski) Battalion Scots Guards & returned to the Manchesters after unit was disbanded. Served in France & safely evacuated from Dunkirk. In 1941 transferred to the Canadian Army serving in Sicily, Italy & Northwest Europe. Served as Field Marshall Montgomery’s driver during the Northwest Europe campaign. Passed away Middleton, NS 1995 - Age 78
Jack Foster
Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada
Enlisted in the 2nd Manchesters March 1939. Volunteered for 5th (Ski) Battalion Scots Guards & returned to the Manchesters after unit was disbanded. Served in France & safely evacuated from Dunkirk. Reported to be serving in the Merchant Navy at the end of the war. I am still attempting to locate Jack’s family.
Donald Morrison
Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada
Enlisted in the 2nd Manchesters March 1939. Volunteered for 5th (Ski) Battalion Scots Guards & returned to the Manchesters after unit was disbanded. Served in France & safely evacuated from Dunkirk. Palestine Police Force at the end of the war. I am still attempting to locate Don’s family.
Richard Serrick
Jollimore, Nova Scotia Canada
Enlisted in the 2nd Manchesters November 1938. Volunteered for 5th (Ski) Battalion Scots Guards & returned to the Manchesters after unit was disbanded. Wounded in France May 1940. Transferred to the Royal Artillery in 1941 serving the remainder of the war in Burma returning home in 1946. Also served in the RCA 1949-1956. Passed away April 2007 New Glasgow, NS. - Age 88
Edward Vere-Holloway
Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada
Enlisted in the 2nd Manchesters March 1939. Volunteered for 5th (Ski) Battalion Scots Guards though he did not return to the Manchesters after unit was disbanded. I have just located Edward’s family so hopefully I will soon have more to share on his life.
Cheers,
Dave
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Thx Dave, thats interesting indeed.
And one more photo (from the Scots Guards website) - Sgt A D Stirling. Assume it is from the 5th Battalion as this was the only period he was not an Officer/
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that looks like the same brick wall in my pics
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i wonder if we can motivate the Scots guards to look at their records
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I notice in one Picture that Stirling's cousin Maxwell has Sargeant's stripes on his great coat but Stirling has not.
i wonder if he lost them, all the reports about his early days were that he was pretty uninterested and like to go out partying and gambling.
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i wonder if we can motivate the Scots guards to look at their records
I will email and ask the association how to go about this. lets see what happens. They have a newsletter too, might be worth trying that as well.
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A further reference is in Durand and Hastings The London Rifle Brigade 1919-1950. Two of their officers (one of whom was Freddie Gough, later of 1 Abn Recce Sqn fame) joined them.
There was a fairly large British contingent that did get to Finland as 'volunteers' - One man John Summers had his F/S dagger and browning P35 pistol confiscated by customs in Scotland.
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When the Second World War began, Gough was recalled from the Territorial Army Reserve of Officers and as a Captain rejoined the London Rifle Brigade, posted to H Company of the 2nd Battalion. However two months after the Russian invasion of Finland in December 1939, the British government expressed a desire of lending clandestine support to the Finns, and so Gough left the London Rifle Brigade in favour of the 5th (Ski) Battalion of the Scots Guards. This was an experimental unit, a factor which no doubt attracted the adventurous Gough who was not in the least deterred by obligatory loss of rank, and it consisted entirely of volunteers who were experienced in skiing and mountaineering. Needless to say this unit attracted a wide range of characters who went on to achieve distinction with such pioneering units as the Chindits and the SAS; among them was David Stirling, the founder of the Special Air Service. After a period of intense training and a brief spell in the French Alps, it was planned that the force would be posted to Norway in March, from where they would make their way to Finland to help fight the Soviet invasion. However on the eve of setting sail there came the news that the situation in Finland was fast becoming hopeless, and so the operation was cancelled. Gough returned to the London Rifle Brigade,
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Dear Chris,
Many thanks for sharing your photographs off the 5th Battalion at Chamonix. Currently, I am carrying out research in to the 5th Battalion and in particular three men who were Polar explorers - Captain Martin Lindsay, Freddie Spencer Chapman and Colour Sgt Quintin Riley.
The research is part of a book concerning the war of Patrick Dalzel-Job with a considerable section on Norway where PDJ, Lindsay and Riley were closely linked.
If its any help, I have the titles of books which may help you further with your research and the role of the 5th Battalion.
Kind regards
Bob
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Hi Bob
For what it's worth, I did a fair bit of digging on the 5th Battalion last year, much of it with Chris's help, working thru the list of names that Chris provided. Results are available on the link below
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=172747&p=1703821&hilit=scots+guards#p1703821 (http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=172747&p=1703821&hilit=scots+guards#p1703821)
- just keep in mind that the writeup is part of an alaternative history so bits and pieces have been "tweaked" with regard to Finland.
Re titles of books, would be VERY interested in those if you could post them.
Cheers..............Nigel
Dear Chris,
Many thanks for sharing your photographs off the 5th Battalion at Chamonix. Currently, I am carrying out research in to the 5th Battalion and in particular three men who were Polar explorers - Captain Martin Lindsay, Freddie Spencer Chapman and Colour Sgt Quintin Riley.
The research is part of a book concerning the war of Patrick Dalzel-Job with a considerable section on Norway where PDJ, Lindsay and Riley were closely linked.
If its any help, I have the titles of books which may help you further with your research and the role of the 5th Battalion.
Kind regards
Bob
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Donald Morrison was my grandfather. Send me an email if you have any questions and I would like to ask you a couple as well. Thanks!
MOD COMMENT: Emeail address removed as per Rootschat anti-spam policy.
Please use PM System for exchanging personal information
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Hi Andrew
Welcome to Rootschat! ;D ;D
We have an anti-spam policy which means that we cannot post email addresses on the site. There is a Rootschat Personal Message (PM) system for exchanging personal information.
You will need to make 3 posts to send or receive though. If you make a couple of replies to this you will be good to go ;D
In the meantime - please take a look around Rootschat - there are lots of interesting conversations going on.
Regards
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The Polish ship mentioned as the Botany was more likely the NS Batory, which had been used to ferry troops and equipment to Narvik.
Very interesting. I was sent out on the Batory in December 1963 selling shore excursions on board for Thomas Cooks London. She cruised during the winter months and we called at Cadiz, Majorca, Tunis, Cagliari, Algiers and Gibraltar. Many of the passengers were Scandinavians.
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i have some new names, in the process of reading Peter Kemps book "no Colours or Crest
quote page 19
Lt Col Brian Mayfield Scots Guards, who was to command the expedition, was a regular soldier, who had left the army before the war to go into business. An experienced Skier, he had recently been second in command to Col Jimmy Coats in the 5th Scots guards- a composite ski battalion raised by the war office at the end of 1939, consisting almost entirely of officers from various units of the British Army; intended for operations in Finland it was disbanded early in 1940.
there is mention of Bill Stirling saving he could not ski so he was obviously never in the 5th battalion
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jim gavin is also mentioned further down the page
it also mentions Ralph Farrant, a regular officer in a line regiment and David Stacey
apart from Stirling
--the others all had been in the 5th Scots Guards
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These are the two 5 Scots Guards war diaries at Kew:
WO 166/4110 5 Scots Guards 1940 Feb-Mar
WO 166/4111 5 Scots Guards 1939 Sept-Oct
And these are the 2 Scots Guards diaries up to 1943
WO 169/342 2 Scots Guards 1939 Aug.-1940 Dec
WO 169/1700 2 Scots Guards 1941 Jan.-Dec
WO 169/4983 2 Scots Guards 1942 Jan.-Dec
WO 169/10170 2 Scots Guards 1943 Jan.-Dec
If anyone would like copies of any of the above diaries drop me a message.
Cheers
Andy
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I am looking for information about the 2nd battalion Scots guards as well. I raised another topic and I have put some of the information I have already there.
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=760703.new;topicseen#new