Liverpool Daily Post from Liverpool, Merseyside, England • 6

i QUEEN HONOURS MEN AND WOMEN OF FLOODS Liverpool Daily Post Wednesday April 29 1953 men of good physique for hazardous raiding work! Farmer found punt in tree saved 31 CLIFF-CLIMB HEROINE-MBE THE heroes and heroines of the flood the ordinary folk many bereft of all they possessed who risked their lives to those who could not save themselves have been honoured by the Queen In a long list of awards announced in last night's London Gazette one woman is appointed MBE another is awarded the BEM and a third receives the Commendation for brave conduct Altogether there are three MBEs three George Medals and seventeen BEMs with forty-seven Commendations for brave conduct and one Commendation for valuable service in the air At the same time it was announced that a number of awards for good service during the floods will be made in the Coronation honours list on June 1 Yesterday Brigadier Durnford-Slater began his Commando story with a description of the first trial raid on Guernsey To-day he goes back to the inception of the Commando units and tells of the breath-taking speed with which on Churchill's order the first raiding force was formed By John Durnford-Slater WIEN the letter came in mid-June 940 Dunkirk was past and the last of the BEF had been evacuated from France The letter called for volunteers to raid the enemy coast I liked that Men of good able to swim and navigate initiative and hazardous Those were the phrases in it I was tired of training men for action I wanted action myself I tore upstairs and burst in to see my Commanding Officer Colonel Naisby I waved the letter before him exactly the thing I want to I said you release I was Adjutant of hrs unit the Commandos scaling a cliff face stop until finally I had the officers I needed Then I sent them out in teams of three to comb the command for other ranks Each team of three officers was given a selection of units from which to choose men to form their troop I gave them four days to select their men and get them to Plymouth My appointment had come through on the 28th June 1940 By the 5th July No 3 Commando was in existence The Commando consisted of ten troops each of three officers and forty-seven men so with my headquarters I had a strength of thirty-five officers and five hundred men Instead of putting troops into barracks the Commando system was to give each man a subsistence allowance of 6s 8d a day the man was then required to find his own accommodation and food This was in every way a splendid arrangement it increased a self-reliance and self-respect developed his initiative and made him available for training at any time of the day or night Nobody had to be left in barracks for administrative duties and every officer and man was able to concentrate entirely on training the old barrack-room boredom and bad language were eliminated Furthermore wherever we went we were always welcomed by our landladies who took a pride in the unit and did evqj-ything to help the men they were billetting I 23rd Medium and Heavy Training Regiment Royal Artillery We were stationed at Plymouth The night of horror on the East Coast when the angry sea burst in over the land proved once again the courage and devotion to duty of the British policemen many of whom figure in the list Firemen too won a high percentage of the awards A farmer Mr Douglas Harold Rayner of Shoeburv Essex who is 'awarded the MBE rescued thirty-one people froip-frFoulness Island and led to the rescue of 1325 head of livestock The citation reads: Mr Rayner set out for Foulness Island in a small boat Finding a punt fitted with a winch lodged in a tree he floated the punt and transferred to it He then rescued thirty-one people from the island and led a rescue party which made repeated journeys to and from the island rescuing others He organised the collection of cattle into groups and arranged for feeding and watering until they were rescued and brought back to the mainland TRAPPED House flooded Through his leadership the party succeeded in rescuing 1325 head of livestock Throughoift the period of rescue Rayner showed courage and initiative Another MBE is Miss Helen Barclay of Wiveton Norfolk! county officer of the British Red Cross Society Miss Barclay set out to two old people trapped in a house at Wiveton which was flooded to a depth of four feet The citation states: There was great danger from the morning tide and the possibility of further breaks in the banks Two ambulance men and another helper joined her and led by Miss Barclay they climbed down a steep cliff and entered the house which was in total darkness By torchlight they waded through the lower BURIAL MOUND BULLDOZED TO SOW CORN Fwas learned yesterday that the destruction of Long Barrow a collective burial around at Manton Down near Marlborough Wiltshire took place last summer A farmer who rented the land said he was not told of any burial mound He had bushes bulldozed intending to plough the land to sow corn Youth Hostel Association members discovered its destruction when they were taken to inspect the tumulu (mound of earth) Mrs Todd whose husband a farmer and racehorse owner owns the 1000 acres of land surrounding their home Manton House confirmed yesterday that the barrow had been on her property in an enclosed cattle penning The farm was let to Mr King a farmer of Tuffley Park Gloucester last summer Mr King said: There is nothing to mark that the spot is an ancient monument It is not fenced just a rabbit warren There are some stones there but then there are hundreds of stones in that behalf of 275 other thrifty L' pupils fourteen year old Agnes Owens head girl of St Roman Catholic School Old Swan yesterday received the Liverpool Schools Savings Trophy Agnes who lives at 6 Mill Lane Liverpool 15 was told by Mr John Ainsworth (City Treasurer) in making the presentation that the school had two feathers in its It had come otit top of 308 schools in the area and it was the first Roman Catholic school to win the cup Telling the girls whose ages range from eleven to fifteen of the importance of putting a little by for a rainy Mr Ainsworth added: It is not how much you save it is the fact that you are learning to save so young that matters Saving is a part of good citizenship and helps you to get that independence which is a tradition of the British He thanked Sister Mary Camillus the headmistress of the school and her staff for their work The school which now has 100 per cent membership of its savings group is one of thirty-iwo groups in Roman Catholic schools Also present during the ceremony were the Mother Superior of the Sisters of Mercy in Liverpool and Mr Kneale (chairman of the Schools' Savings Committee) Agnes pictured above receiving the trophy from Mr Ainsworth ment It was part of the 1940 mentality The War Office regarded us as Winston priwtie army and wanted to abolish us The Plymouth staff had the square and thin red line outlook What is all this nonsense about creeping about at night and slitting was their viewpoint The pompous old-timers who for the most part made up the staff in Plymouth could not bear the thought of anything new such as our unit Admiral of the Fleet Lord Keyes came down in his capacity as Chief of Combined Operations late in August to see War training I had a wonderful day which ended with a dinner party given by Amiral Dunbar Nasmith the naval Commander-in-Chief at Before the dinner I told- Admiral Keyes about the difficulties we had encountered with the military authorities One or two of these military authorities were the dinner and he spoke to them in severe terms here if you help these Commandos going to be most unpopular in high This caused a slight improvement in the situation In September 1940 Roger Keyes developed a project for the capture of the island of Calm yourself John" the Colonel said eyeing me with mild disapproval and he reached for the letter He read it and put it down with a sigh plenty of work here going to do your It took fifteen minutes to win him round I can see made up your he said finally you sir I'll need a recommendation from you of He looked up at me rubbing his chin Suddenly he grinned an old soldier John: write your own recommendation sign Which we did Appointed to command There was a War Office interview of course Then I was bacn in Plymouth and almost before I had time to settle back into mv old routine Colonel Naisby walked into my room He seemed pleased That must have been a good recommendation I he remarked and dropped a signal! on my desk It read: Captain Durnford Slater Adjutant 23rd Medium and Heavy Training Regt RA is appointed to raise and command Number 3 Commando in the rank of Lieut -Colonel Give every assistance and release front present appointment forthwith operational role imminent At that time No 1 Commando and No 2 Commando did not exist: it had originally been intended to form them as air- Sir Winston looks in and women Tories cheer SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL got an enthusiastic reception yesterday when with Lady Churchill he paid a brief visit National Advisory Committee the 1 Conservative rooms which were strewn by wreckage and very unsafe "Eventually Miss Barclay got the old people on to stretchers and with the help of ambulance men and by using table and furniture as stepping stones she brought them across the water and up the steep bank to Mr Laurence Frederick Fillen-ham chief engineer Middle Level Commissioners March Cambridgeshire who also becomes an MBE waded for more than two miles through water foul feet deep from Sutton-on-Sea with ditches on either side of him into which he might have easily fallen After reporting the situation to a police inspector he returned to Sutton-on-Sea in an Armv lorry which he guided through the floods He continued to guide this orry into and out of Sutton as long as it was possible and personally rescued a number people from their flooded says the citation He remained in the town until rescue work was oroperly organised and in full operation bv which time he was completely exhausted IMPASSABLE Gale lashed water Awarded the George Medal are: Inspector Charles Lewis Lincolnshire Constabulary of Mable-thorpe Leading Fireman Frederick WiLiam Sadd Great Yarmouth Fire Brigade of Caister on-Sea and Constable Leonard Charles Deptford Lincolnshire Constabulary of Chapel St Leonards Mablethorpe police station was surrounded bv water several feet deep all services were put out of action arul the road was impassable The London Gazette states: Hearing cries for help Inspector Lewis opened a window and climbed out The water was rush-ng by in a torrent carrying with it railings parts of sheds and boxes The gale lashed the water into waves which came up to the inspector's neck but he reached the garage drive where an elderly man and his wife were in danger of drowning The inspector managed to get the Woman on to his shoulders and struggled across the street and found shelter for the two old people in the upstairs room of a house" Inspector Lewis then got a lorry and went to Sutton-on-Sea where the main street was under water up to eight feet deep About 100 people had taken refuge in a cinema and he organised the evacuation of these and of old people and others from houses and bungalows Then at Trusthorpe he rescued a man and three women from three bungalows and a man and twowomen from two cottages EVACUATION On duty 54 hours water was nearlyup to his neck and at one stage he went under through stepping into a dyke Inspector Lewis returned to Mablethorpe and continued with the evacuation of the inhabitants until 1130 pm on Monday February 2 when he went off duty having been continuously engaged for fifty-four hours for twenty-six of which he was constantly in and out of ice-cold Leading Fireman Sadd was in charge of a fire appliance in a fire call to Gorleston where an estate Tif sixteen prefabricated bungalows and some thirty two-storey houses was flooded to a depth of more than five feet Several people were trapped and Leading Fireman Sadd asked a fisherman to get a boat Meanwhile with something like panic reigning in the flooded buildings he with two members of his crew started to wade but with the water becoming too deep for his cempanions he ordered them back and continued alone It was pitch dark the water was rough Hie citation adds: At times Sadd was completely submerged but he alternately waded and swam his way from house to house reassuring the occupants and promising them that he would return with a boat to rescue When Leading Fireman Sadd returned to the high ground the fisherman had got a boat but no oars were available Sadd refused to abandon the attempt and by wading and swimming and pushing and pulling the boat he went to each bungalow and rescued the persons found in them After rescuing five adults and five children in this manner Sadd collapsed was given first-aid treatment and returned to his station A short while after he responded to another call where under similar conditions he personally rescued a further six adults and nine children from the houses on the Constable Deptford made' his way to some flooded' bungalows and searched one which had collapsed into the' sea He then made a most hazardous jouraevy sea" across the remains of the and sandhills to a IRON CURTAIN TRADE MOVE By oar Political Correspondent Four Ministers last night attended a meeting in the Commons of the Conservative Finance Trade and Industry Committee to discuss the possibilities of expanding trade between Britain and countries behind the Iron Curtain The Ministers were: Mr Se'wyn Lloyd (Minister of State) Mr Peter Tnorueyerott tnreuner Board 'of Trade) Brigadier ft Mackeson (Secretary ior Oversea? Trade) and Mr Anthonv Nutting (Foreign Under-Secretary) I understand various suggestions were put fo-ward bv- MPs on how trade with Russia China and the Eastern European satellites could be increased Mr Thorneycroft promised that the Government would closely consider the matter I understand he explained the difficulties which prevent clear exposition of the commodities over which for strategic and other reasons tight control must be exercised to limit their export to the Communist nations Crepe nylons Crepe nylons described as the most revolutionary development in the British nylon stocking industry were introduced at a London luncheon yesterday The manufacturers claim that the new stockings do not wrinkle and are ladder resistant undesirable that we should serve together He thought we were too lighthearted An incident in the first fortnight of the war while we were both serving in Colonel Anti-aircraft Regiment at Plymouth brought matters to a head One evening Charlie and I had taken two ATS girls out for a couple of beers in Devon-port We had known them both well when they were civilians back in Cornwall They now worked at the ATS mess and after we had all sipped beer for an hour or so they said they must get back to serve dinner there One was cook the other mess waitress Durin dinner the waitress stumble with a bowl of soup which unfortunately flew into the lap of a -senior ATS officer Under angry cross-examination the girl admitted at last that she had been out for a beer with John Durnford-Slater and Charlie Those two officers are a bad influence on our girls" the high-ranking soup-stained ATS complained to Colonel Barbary He agreed In fact he decided that we were also a bad influence on one another Charlie was promptly posted away to Weymouth In some ways he was absolutely right in August 1952 I wrote a list of over fifty incidents in which we had been involved together each one of which might have led to one or other or both of us bein court-martialled all I am glai to say good clean fun Cheery product of Lancashire The Colonel was also however absolutely wrong Like many of our critics he did not realise that when Charlie Head and I went to war fooling and liquor were put aside and our joint energies concentrated on the opposition Private Charlesworth of the Lancashire Fusiliers was a typical regular soldier and product of Lancashire Always cheerful and always quickwitted he served me for years as a most faithful batman What I was seeking and what I obtained were men of character beyond the normal I considered that morale was the most important single factor making for success in war that is the spirit which moves men willingly to strive and to endure I intended that every soldier in the Commandos should be a potential leader that he must be mentally and physically tough and must radiate cheerfulness enthusiasm and confidence The characters described are typical of our first selection I remember our first troop meeting It was held upstairs in a small requisitioned house which we had obtained as a headquarters in a Plymouth back street Plymouth had been selected as our first station on account of the training facilities both naval and military I sat behind a bare table The troop commanders formed a semi-circle around me They looked good they were oung keen and fit and they eaned forward eagerly to listen going to operate months before anyone I said up to us to make ourselves the greatest unit of all I meant iU Why not? Every man and officer in the unit had been hand-picked and had the true volunteer spirit Back in Plymouth after the almost comic Guernsey raid No 3 Commando got down to really serious training learning the lessons of our mistakes in Guernsey We had acquired several naval cutters and two very large motor boats the Sweet Marie and Sweet Content which had been used in peacetime as pleasure cruisers in Plymouth Sound With this fleat wc carried out landings every day up and down the coast with sea approaches of up to twenty miles By mid-August we were expert at these landings which were always followed by a battle on annual conference at Central Hall Westminster The packed gathering stood and cheered and then sang he's a jolly good They laughed and cheered again when Sir Winston commented: I hope you mind me looking in here oji my wav to answer questions in the House of Commons where they are not all quite so unanimous as you are here" He told the conference: You know our task is a simple one We have to do our duty That is all we are trying to The Government were not running party stunts but were tiwmg to stretch across the ranks of party so enable our country to be community which can hold its position in the world and then perhaps regain something of the influence and prestige which it enjoyed at the time when the Great War ended This is a hard job We want the confidence of the whole country We will let nothing stand in the way of our faithful this task Mr A Butler the Exchequer' a to support the movement He pointed out that the total of 400000000 invested in National Savings was less than £10 per head of the population and £25 per head of those liable to tax Mr Butler said that his new look Budget had been designed to put the responsibility back on the people on farms and factories pull us through Whether the next Budget will be as agreeable or not depends on you A little saving between now "and the next Budget will make things better for us all Mr Selwyn Lloyd (Minister of State) referred to the fundamental disagreement between the Soviet Union and the countries of the West and went on: It is true that at present there are signs of a change There have been certain minor developments so far We hope very much they will be followed up by events by facts which will justify greater optimism about the Pantelleria an Italian island which lies in the Mediterranean not far from Malta We called this operation the Shake-the-World project as Admiral Keyes was very fond of using this phrase The Admiral decided io concentrate the bulk of his ten Commandos at the Combined Operations base situated at Inveraray in western Scotland so that we could develop our training technique and rehearse the actual details of the attack on Pantelleria No 3 Commando left Plymouth thankfully no one could have been kinder than the citizens of the town and no one could have been more helpful than the Royal Navy but the continual nagging and obstruction from the army authorities was really beginning to get us down Now we could operate At Inveraray we made oui first acquaintance with properly armoured assault landing craft I had been pestering Admiral Keyes to let us start training in these craft Our very first morning in Inveraray I had a message from him to the effect that two such craft were on the way to me for No 3 Commando With my officers and I rushed to the beach We were just in time to see them coming in at about six knots a big wave foaming at each square bow They low in the water and had no superstructure I felt a glow of excitement as they came right up to the stee beach and lowered their rempsr Now I thought we were ready to operate Half an hour after the two craft arrived I had each of them loaded with thirty men and full equipment At the time a Command? troop consisted of forty-seven men and three officers Our work became so identified with these assault craft that it was not long before we re-formed our troops into sixty men and three officers This meaht the one troop would fit exactly into two landing craft Just then however my principal concern was to practise landings I insisted on from twenty to thirty each morning and each morning Charlie Head would shout at the men until he was hoarse: on: you cgn do better than merely allotted an area of Plymouth to each troop and left the officers and men to find their own accommodation We rejected criminal types The first selection of officers and men was good Nobody in a ten-minute interview can be sure but the proof of the high quality of our initial intake is the high performance which many of our original members gave in the years to come The first intake of officers and men contained all sorts of interesting characters On the whole the type I looked for was the quiet modest type of English- man who knew how to laugh and how to work We never enlisted anybody who looked like the tough-guy criminal type as I considered that this sort of man would be a coward in the battle Typical of thfe best type of our initial intake was Private George Herbert of the Northampton Regiment He joined us having already won the MM at Dunkirk and was subsequently awarded the DCM In 1943 he was commissioned in the field and proved to be just as good an officer as he had been a rivate soldier The first time met him was a few days after we arrived at Plymouth when he and another soldier came before me in the office Fighting in Lieutenant Peter Young his Section Commander produced the charge sheet The charge was conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline ie fighting in There had been a dispute over a matter of wo pounds and Herbert had stuck a knife into the other fellow They were two fine looking men There was no evidence as to whose money it was Herbert was an MM and I want to lose him If I send Herbert away I send the other fellow We tolerate this sort of behaviour fighting in civilian billets particularly with knives have to send you both back to your I told them Give us whatever punishment tou think fit! but send us back to our Herbert said I then asked Peter Young for their characters and he spoke well of them both I said: Well divide the moiey: the next small charge against either of you and out you It was my impression that Herbert was right but it was merely one word against the other Herbert had a wonderful record at Dunkirk and MMs were very rare in those days He had had a hell of a battle in France and fully unwound yet In later days he always maintained that I owed him a pound Private Johnny Dowling came to us from the Durham Light Infantrv He was small onlv about five feet five was full of life and a wonderful boxer and soldier He had learned his boxing at Father St Club in Liverpool and subsequently soent three seasons in the boxing booths where Gus Foran was one of his sparring partners I first got to know him after seeing him box and he was equally good company whether in the gymnasium in battle or merely talking about some past or projected operation he was always as much at ease ts'king to generals as to private soldiers Action was what he wanted whether in the boxing ring or in the battle I cuts fares to more destinations than any other airline to covfer twenty-five yards away Forrectcrs in ten seconds Rough good for them Private Dowling learned his boxing in Liverpool borne units a policy which was subsequently abandoned This made me the first Commando soldier of the war I had wanted action: I was going to get it I should have been delighted to join in any rank but was naturally pleased to get command Troops of the Hunter On June 4 1940 immediately following the completion of the Dunkirk evacuation Churchill in his speech to the House of Commons declared: We shall not be content with a defensive That same afternoon he wrote to General Ismay his right-hand man in the War Cabinet Secretariat: We should immediately set to work to organise self-contained thoroughly equipped raiding Two Bays later he wrote Enterprises must be prepared with specially trained troops or the hunter class who can develop a reign of terror down the enemy coasts I look to ne joint Chiefs of Staff to propose measures for vigorous enterprise and ceaseless offensive against the whole German-occupied coastline leaving a trail of German corpses behind them These promptings by Mr Churchill brought about 'he formation of the Commandos Under' pressure from him the various armv commands were instructed to call for volunteers for special service of a hazardous nature" Ten Commandos of five hundred men each were to be formed The War Office letter which I had received implemented this decision and called for volunteers for these new Commandos The Germans were forming up on the other side of the Channel It seemed that invasion could not be far off I saw General Sir Robert Haining then Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff He impressed upon me the importance of forming No 3 Commando as quickly as possible and suggested that I should form it in Plymouth You might have to operate in a he said I was given Southern Command as my recruiting ground The sort of men I wanted Fortunately I had had prewar experience in the selection of territorial officers This helped From volunteers who like myself had answered that first letter 1 made my choice I wanted cheerful officers not groaners A good physique was important but size was not I looked for intelligence and keenness If I found a man 1 thought would do I telephoned nis former civilian employers in my own time during the evening 1 looked for some indication of success of initiative If he was a regular officer I checked up on his record of service and tried to find someone I knew to tell me if he was a suitable type I was in a mad hurry but I had to find first-class officers I visited the headquarters towns of the Southern Command Weymouth Salisbury Winchester Oxford Exeter to interview the candidates 1 travelled and Interviewed interviewed and travelled non JS Save at least £1 in every £5 The Tourist services listed below with their greatly reduced fares are already making it possible for thousands of people to enjoy the advantages of air travel for the first time You will find that the same high BOAC standards prevail on all Tourist services and on additional services planned for the near future Troop 1 at Alg make his the best troop in the best unit in the world Peter Young's Troop with a time of fourteen seconds held the record for re-embarking The country round Inverary was also ideal for our land training There was a great stretch of uninhabited hilly country with rivers and moors and the sea all nearby Landings from the sea followed by long approach marches and difficult river crossings continuued the process of eliminating the unfit Nothing to do but workn Throughout my five years of Commando work I never found a better method of spotting weaknesses except in the actual battle Any officer or maa who weakened or showed lack of humour was instantly dismissed I thought that we had found out all the weaknesses at Plymouth but this Tough life at Inverary sorted out still more who could not take it It really was a hard life There was nothing to do but work i We would start on the landing craft at 8 am and follow on with drill marching shooting and long schemes on the hills We also went in for obstacle courses and close combat which included wrestling and work with knives and pistols taught by two ex-Shanghai policemen We learnt methods of getting into houses throwing grenades in front of us and shooting with tommy guns A normal day would end at dark but at least three times each week the men were out at night I knew the importance of getting them good at night work At first they were awkward and noisy apt to lose their way They gradually and steadily improved All of us did many long night marches across the wild and trackless hills In a month they weren't the same men: they could almost see in the dark They were used -Jo it and it had become a natural thing and that was what I wanted To-morrow: The Lofoten raid These extracts are from two-storey bouse where seven persons mostly elderly were sheltering in the upstairs rooms Part of the house had disintegrated and the foundations were in a precarious state Constable Deptford took command of the situation and organised an immediate evacuation He then rescued an aged bedridden couple and their daughter when no boat was available by roping together six forty-gallon tanks and laying the couple on stretchers on this improvised craft He continued with rescue work throughout the next twenty-four hours FISHERMEN Among the Also awarded the were: William Victor Burrell fisherman of Aldeburgh Suffolk Leading Fireman John Edward Barlow of Ipswich Fire Brigade whose home is at Beccles Suffolk Sergeant John Geoffrey Brav Lincolnshire Constabulary of Mablethorpe Constable George William Baumber of Great Yarmouth County Borough Police Sergeant Gerald Bunney Norfolk Constabulary of Dersingham Constable Henry Ernest Nobbs Norfolk Constabulary of Snettis-ham Frederick Jones Mavhew inshore fisherman of Southwold Suffolk Henry William Thomas Bradford general foreman of Felixstowe UDC Harbour Master Frank Smith of Wells-next-the-Sea Norfolk Sub Officer Sidney William Lancaster of StaDiam (Norfolk) Fire Brigade St John Ambulance Brigade Divisional Officer Basil William Elsden of Holt Norfolk Gilbert Paul joiner of Chapel St Leonards (Lines) Constable Francis Joseph Midglev Lincolnshire Constabulary of Mablethorpe Bird Sanctuary Warden Reginald Partridge of Orford Suffolk Stanley Scott Wood pumpman at the Vacuum Oil Cory-toH refinery of Basildon Essex Special Constable Joseph Batchelor Essex Constabulary of Clacton-on-Sea Corpora Loftv King of the Rifle Brigade was very tall and verv tough He was a hard fellow in manv wavs and very hard with his men: he give a damn if he knocked a man down Sometimes I to'd him he was being too rouch: Loftv would sav: good for them Colonel it do them any harm" Peter Young joined us a second lieutenant He left us in 1945 as a brigadier with the ard three MCs He had done well at Dunkirk and found that he liked action He didn't fanev staving in England and thought that he would get experience and promotion in th" Commandos Peter was full of ideas and full of work: he keot working out new ideas to imnrovo the froon attack continuously seeking perfection lieutenant Char'ie Head from Helston Cornwall was also an original starter In Sentember 1938 I was posted as Adjutant of a territorial regiment in Mv Colonel was a verv ab'e Cornishman named Barbarv He was justly n-ond of his Cornish ancestrv and had never troubled to alte- his Cornish wav of sneaking Shortly after my arrival he took me Helston where the brothers Charlie and Jack Head were in charge of the loca' contingent of the terri-torals Colonel Bn'barv introduced me to the Heads using these words: 'ee go out with thev bov 'ee got a bellyful of food inside When I applied to Colonel Rrbary for the release of Charlie Head in order that he might join No 3 Commando the Colonel Wrote a letter to the War Office saying that it was highly Corporal Lofty King very tali and very tough shore with the remainder of the Commando and re-embarkation under counter attack The invasion scare was at its height and our arrival from the sea usually caused grave panic among the mothers and children enjoying themselves in the sun on the beach even though we invariably sent an officer on ahead to warn them At the same time intensive training in musketry weapon training and troop manoeuvres was carried on and the greatest attention was paid to discipline marching and turn-out Some of our early training schemes were veryjough indeed and I would have the medical officer present at the end of the exercises to examine all men for physical fitness Anyone showing any signs of tiredness or other infirmities was at once returned to his unit By the end of August we had weeded out quite a number of unfit officers and men The naval authorities in Plymouth could not have been more helpful to us Admiral Dunbar Nasmith gave us skilled seamanship instructors and everv man was trained to be exDert in boat-nulling and in details of handling boats On the other hand the military Command at Plymouth looked on ui with suspicion and resent Book where you set this sign or at BOAC Airways Trrminat Victoria I (Victoria 2323): 75 Regent St 1 (MAY fair 0611) or fficei in Glasgow Manchester Birmingham and Liverpool BOAC TAKES 0000 CARE OF YOU FLY" Brigadier John Durnford-Slater's book Commando published by William Kimber at ISj IRITISH OVERSEAS AIRWAYS CORPORATION.