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Displaying 1 - 67 of 67Northforce section of No 12 Commando in operations in the Norwegian Fjords.
A combined operations raid on Axis shipping in the harbour at Kopervik, Norway. This raid was a No 14 Commando operation. The raiders managed to sink several ships using limpet mines, but were eventually captured and initially taken to Haugesund for interrogation before being transported to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.
Night of 31st May/1st June. This was a planned operation by 100 men from No 12 Commando at St Valery en Caux which was aborted after the raiding party were spotted by German naval forces.
Lieut. R.D. O'SULLIVAN Lieut. R.E.C. PRICE Sgt. V.J. COX Cpl. A.H. BLOUNT Cpl. S.E. CHETWYND |
These are some of the operations that No 12 Commando took part in, either on their own, or as part of a Combined Operations assault. In many cases only a handful of Commandos from No 12 took part rather than the Commando as a whole. They are in date order and form part of our overall history of No 12 Commando.
Click on the links for more detail about each.
Operation Chess - France, July 1941
Operation Kitbag - Norway, November 1941(aborted)
Operation Anklet - Norway, November 1941
Sheet indicating Troop locations 1st-30th June 1942 12 Commando
National Archives Document Ref WO218/41
A letter to Captain Oswald B (Mickey) Rooney of 4 (Para) Troop, No12 Commando from Lord Lovat, HQ Special Service Brigade, on the reallocation of No12 Cdo.Lovat has added a footnote to Mickey Rooney
OC No 9 'is short of a good subaltern who can be added to the 27 other ranks. Please contact him.
Document courtesy of Capt Rooney's son, Chris Rooney
Letter sent from Lord Mountbatten to Lt Col Harrison after a visit to No 12 Commando .....troop mentioned is E Troop commanded by Lt Pinckney.
The exact circumstances of the death of Gunner Stanley Dexter are not known to this archive.
Corporal Ferguson was one of the commando contingent embarked on board HMS Campbeltown for Operation Chariot, the raid at St. Nazaire on 28 March 1942. He was wounded, taken prisoner of war and transported to Stalag 3A at Luckenwalde, Germany.
Sources
Army Casualty Lists 1939-45 / National Archives file WO417/41 and WO417/45.
Prisoners of War 1715-1945 / National Archives file WO392/11.
St Nazaire Society website.
Sgt John Huntington was in E Troop No 12 Commando and 3 Troop No 1 Commando.
This document is Johns memories as detailed in letter form over the course of 5 years to John Mewett. Unfortunately before the project was complete JH died but what was related makes for a very interesting first hand account of life in a commando unit.
Lance Corporal Harry James died during operations in Normandy.
Lance Corporal Fred Lemon embarked on HMS Campbeltown for Operation Chariot, the raid at St. Nazaire 28 March 1942. Reported missing after the raid, found to have been taken prisoner and transported to Stalag 344 at Lamsdorf, Poland.
Sources
St Nazaire Society website.
British Army Casualty Lists 1939-45 / National Archives file WO417/43.
Prisoners of War 1715-1945 / National Archives file WO392/1.
300 men from No 12 Commando, and some from the Royal Norwegian Army, landed on the Lofoten Islands about 300 miles North of Vaagso. Since the first Lofoten raid in March such operations were seen as a useful tactic to confuse the enemy and consequently divert enemy forces for future defence.
Captain Philip Pinckney was executed whilst a prisoner of war. At the time he was serving with 2 SAS and had been captured on Operation Speedwell after parachuting with 6 others into Bologna, Italy. The aim of the operation was to disrupt enemy railway movements.
Lieutenant Randall Price died following an operation Wrexham hospital. [1] and [2]
Captain Robert Waldie, OIC 2 troop, was awarded the MC was awarded the MC in recognition of gallant and distinguished service on the 4th October 1943 at Termoli.
Corporal Robert Wright was one of the commando contingent embarked on HMS Campbeltown for Operation Chariot, the raid at St. Nazaire on 28 March 1942. Reported missing after the raid he was later found to have been taken prisoner and transported to Stalag 344 at Lamsdorf, Poland.
Sources
St Nazaire Society website.
British Army Casualty Lists 1939-45 / National Archives file WO417/44.
Prisoners of War 1715-1945 / National Archives file WO392/1.
Joe Rogers MM
No 2 Commando
Bob Mewett
No 12 & No 1 Commando
Mick Collins
No 5 Commando