Home Guard Auxillaries
One of the members of Operation Titanic which was the first SAS operation that took place in France on the night of 5th and 6th June 1944 was Pte 'Chippy' Saunders. He had previously served with the Wiltshire Regiment pre WW2 and was evacuated fron Dunkirk in 1940.
Back in the UK he became a member of the Auxnits as they were known before being selected for 1 SAS in 1944.
He and the other five on the operation were captured in August 1944 having been behind german lines since landing on their DZ on the 5th/6th June.
All of those on Op Titanice survived the war and did not share the same fate as later captured SAS men in all probability because they were thought of being members of the Parachute Regiment who had landed in the wrong location.
Of those that took part in the operation the two officers were awarded the MC and one of the Troopers Merryweather was awarded the MM.
I do have a list of all those who were members of the Dorset patrol and later became members of the SAS which I will try and find. If I do I will post the names.
Cheers
Arnhem
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