Unknown Missions

[Raffaele]

We have the military record of my late father-in-law which shows
4 Jul 1940 Assigned to the 8th Buffs in Bodmin rank CQMS
31 Dec 1940 posted to Paignton
19 Feb 1941 Posted to Totnes
24 Sep 1941 Posted to Launceston
14 Oct 1941 Posted to Y list after 21 day in Hospital
24 Oct 1941 Assigned to 10th Buffs posted Canterbury rank CQMS
8 May 1943 Posted to 653 AOP squadron Culverthorpe rank BQMS
31 Dec 1943 Posted to the Home details of this unit location UK
(It looks like the posting to Culverthorpe was training and he is back in Canterbury area. My wife was born Dec 1943 in Ashford)

He did end up in France and Germany as the war closed and got the medals to prove it.

So thats the official line.

One night we shared a bottle and he told me some stories of raids on German U Boat pens. I will not go into graphic detail but he did.

Some time after he died I shared this shory with my wife and mother-in-law who knew nothing of the tale save the fact that when they were in Kent they could hear his voice on the parade ground training troops. Apparently, every now and then he would go very quiet and then go missing for some time. His wife knew he was on a mission somewhere that he had volunteered for. His son, told us of a family surprise when it was discovered that they were both in Italy at the same time but on different sides of the country. History has it that the main push was in the West but the SAS did lead a short offensive in the East.

I have been in touch with the SAS archives and they cannot find anything about him. As the SAS was formed in North Africa 1941/2 they probably had nothing to do with any odd visits he made to France. I am assuming that these forays would have been SOE operations. All of this was presumably so secret that it did not find its way onto his record.

We have no reason to believe that he was lying, in fact many military people confirm it was rare that they told close family, only revealing things to outsiders. His son, my wife's brother, even now will not tell us what he did in the SAS in Malaysia. Apparently he was the butcher.

Has anyone got any idea how to find out anything of his exploits. Daniel Cecil Root 5435136

[Browneyes]

You mentioned that he was in France and Germany towards the end of the war. I don't suppose he was involved with the Special Operations Executive (SOE)? If he was it'll probably be a long hard road tracking down his details. Your search would be helped by knowing what his expertise was. Did he mention anything about "parachuting in", sabotage or wirelesses for example?

There were some pretty intensive SOE missions going on at the end of the war.

This is what the National Archives has to say about SOE records:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/r...12/default.htm

[Raffaele]

Thanks for that but I did check that one out.

In 1943 he transferred to 653 AOP squadron. AOP stands for Air Observation Post and they operated Auster light aircraft. These were the tiny little aircraft that could land in fields. For reconaissance purposes they flew low, slow and were unarmed. Not really ideal. Landing in French fields, absolutely ideal. Why did the RAF need an observer from the Army ?

The missions he spoke about were before he transferred to AOP, but whilst I cannot recall it absolutely, I am sure he dropped off a few people.

Most likely his missions were SOE inspired but all of the SOE detail I can find is about the agents who operated in enemy territory.

[Browneyes]

Snippet in case anyone wants to know:

A Company Quartermaster Sergeant (CQMS) was a non-commissioned officer in charge of supplies and a Battery Quarter Master Serjeant (BQMS) had similar duties in the Royal Artillery