Another sad loss of an officer totally supportive of the Coastal Forces Veterans and especially to the Veterans of Vis, where as Lieut Commander RN he served as the Senior Naval Officer (SNOVIS) in Vis, January 1944, controlling the operations and patrols around the islands of Dalmatia. It was from a small house that became known as Navy House which overlooked the famous jetty at Komiza that our Commanding Officers of MTBs, MGBs and MLs would be briefed, and details discussed for the nightly patrols in support of the landings made by Tito’s Partisans assisted by British Forces based on Vis to recapture those islands occupied by the German Forces.
My first post war meeting with Admiral Morgan Giles was during the presentation arranged at the then Yugoslavia Embassy here in London to present to the then Yugoslav Ambassador H.E. Zivan Berisavljevic, a painting of Komiza Harbour, as we all knew it in 1943/45, as an expression of our condolences and in memory of President Tito. The painting of
Komiza Harbour can be seen in the article
Pirates of Dalmatia Part II .
- The presentation in London of the painting of Komiza Harbour, painted by Harold Garland. From left to right: Captain Peter Dickens, Harold Garland (artist ), Rear-Admiral Morgan Morgan-Giles, Wife of Ambassador, Peter Bickmore, Sir Fitzroy Maclean, Eddie Lucy and one other
This was the beginning of the formation of the British Veterans of Vis. At the suggestion of His Excellency the painting was transferred to the War Museum in Split Croatia, where it gave us the many opportunities to visit the area these past 30 years. Rear-Admiral Morgan-Giles will always be remembered for his gracious support for granting chapters 14 and 15 of his memoirs to be included in a book that I compiled
With Tito's Partisans, that revealed in great detail the role and actions of Coastal Forces and the British Forces engaged in the Dalmatia Islands war that never seem to catch the headlines.
His memory with others will be honoured by the British Veterans during the Services held at The British Cemetery in Vis at the end of this month.