Hi Simon,
Alas I won't be able to come to the meeting, as I'm busy that weekend. Hopefully I might eventually make one of the meetings. As the south branch has now disbanded, I think it's my closest one!
Happy New Year,
Steve
Hi Stuart - I must have missed these replies, apologies. Sadly the Dutch tweeter doesn't know where it is - someone else asked the same question. I imagine that the IWM will hold a much higher resolution print than the one online, as they certainly do for other images. But it'll cost to obtain it......
Hi David and welcome to the forum. I can't help with MTB 72 I'm afraid, but in Gunboat Command, written by Anthony Hichens about his father Robert, there is a reference to MGB 112 (A British Power Boat 71 ft 9 in Motor Gun Boat) carrying a Blacker Bombard. It's actually mentioned during the descript...
Quite a late reply to this thread, but on Twitter this morning, a Dutch user posted this image. I'm afraid that there isn't sufficient detail at this resolution to read the names, but it looks a lot like the grave marker (down to the position of the writing) posted a few pages earlier on this thread...
Hi David, I'm afraid that if her log isn't at Kew, then it probably doesn't survive. Large numbers of Coastal Forces logs, and even those of much larger ships, were simply disposed of. I saw a frightening statistic the other day that when the War Office were organising their records for deposition, ...
Apologies for my delayed reply - I was away much of the last week. Although Reynolds' book are out of print, you can find Mediterranean MTBs at War on ebay for about £25 right now and Dog Boats at War for as little as £7.40. I'd recommend them both. The third book in Reynolds' series, Home Waters MT...
I've had a good rummage in my research guidance and online, but unfortunately I've drawn a blank on these. I do wonder though - the number for nationality seems extraordinarily high for a 'code' of some sort, even if that nationality were Ireland. The same goes for rank or rating. Of course, cause o...
Hi Simon and welcome to the forum. I'm sure that Admin can help out with your queries with the branches better than I, but I can perhaps recommend some more reading material for you. All three vessels you list above get some mention in the works of Leonard Reynolds. Operations involving 84 and 406 a...
Hi David, Very brief reply as I'm on my way out. You might find this tweet thread of interest, as only a few weeks ago someone brought MTB 85 to my attention, adopted at the same time. When I have a bit more time, I'll see what I can find in my books on MTB 83's service. https://twitter.com/SeaSpitf...
That spelling makes sense, good spot. And Stoomloodsvaartuig no. 4 gives us this: https://www.europeana.eu/portal/en/record/2021650/memorix_7c14f71d_ffdf_1684_1e5e_e3bf60e7f9c2.html and this: https://www.europeana.eu/portal/en/record/2021650/memorix_b628b57a_d78e_755d_c8a1_4b013b85026c.html and thes...
Good research! My only observation is that my reading of the annotation in red is that it says "unable to verify whether S/S or M/V", ie. steam ship or motor vessel.
Quite strangely, I cannot find a record for this name in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission anywhere, despite them including Merchant Seaman and even civilians. I notice in the bottom right corner a small inscription in red saying "Not to be included in the R.O.H. pers Mr. Prater." I s...
Hi Sid, I think this must be Stroomloodsvartuig 4 , also called Pilot Boat 4 , a Dutch/British (apparently) cutter that had the misfortune to be chanced upon by three German destroyers south of Cornwall on the night of the 28th. The German destroyers Lody , Galster and Beitzen sailed from Brest in t...
I'm afraid I can't offer much assistance. As far as I'm aware, there were no commando raids on Denmark during the war, nor were there any submarine pens there. The only commando raids I know of in August 1944 were in France, largely to support Normandy operations. If there were a raid on a significa...
Hello Hospers,
I intend to visit the Netherlands next month and was wondering if it would be possible to visit HDML 1301 then? I'm not sure exactly what day yet, but I think it will be around Monday 19th September.
Regards,
Steve
Hello David, I can't offer anything personally, but you might find a few books I know useful for context and adding further memories of these events into your narrative (I expect you've already found them though). One is A Leaf Upon the Sea , by Gordon Stead. He commanded ML 126 of the 3rd ML Flotil...
The prolific author of maritime fiction Douglas Reeman (sometimes known as Alexander Kent) died last week on the 23rd January. During the Second World War, after serving in destroyers, he transferred to Coastal Forces and served in the Mediterranean and then in home waters. He was first lieutenant o...
Much as Clarkson can be quite irritating, his three war documentaries have been quite good. The one most relevant to this thread is The Greatest Raid of all Time, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXusKM5uX0s . I'm currently putting together a page on various film depictions ...
I'm fascinated by the growth of this thread and the story of 916. I shall most definitely try and find something at The National Archives when I'm there.
Kevin, I've sent you a private message, which you should be able to access from the menu bar, top right.
Hi Stuart, For my own part, I work for a charity called Maritime Archaeology Trust. My principle day job currently involves studying 1,100 First World War wrecks along the south coast of England, but previous projects and work have covered D-Day (on both sides of the Channel), Landing Craft, protect...
Some lovely pictures there Stuart. I'm not sure of the significance of HDML 1010 in your father's story, but I can tell you that it was built as Anderson Rigden & Perkins in Whitstable and completed in May 1941. It looks like the photo may show it nearing the end of its construction, although I ...
Hi Kieth, welcome to the forum. Glad to see you here as well as on Facebook. You've already seen these, but for everyone else's benefit (and I hope some of the early contributors do return), here are the two pages relating to this event in the Coastal Forces Log for June 1944 (The National Archives,...
There's a good deal of information about this in Charts and Surveys in Peace and War: The History of the RN Hydrographic Service by Rear Admiral R O Morris. The service was separate to Coastal Forces, but did employ some HDMLs which were re-designated SML (Survey Motor Launch). There's a list of the...
No idea who these guys are. Don't think they are officer training as there seem to be a lot of ratings present. Any ideas? My father is second row third from right, not looking at the camera. Thanks again Stuart Hi Stuart, The white cap bands suggest that these are candidates for training for an of...
For info, MGB 81 and RAF High Speed Launch 102 will be opened to the public on the 11th and 12th March, at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. There are plans to have some period reenactors on site as well.
Steve