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#1
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Green slip-on loops and lanyard ID
Hi all!
Khaki Drill Officers' Service Dress jackets of Regiments which saw service in the M. East, N. Africa and the Mediterranean are some of my favourite items and I am interested in purchasing one on offer by a dealer. It's a Royal Marines Lt. jacket and I would like to verify if he belonged to a formation which served in the aforementioned areas. I have made some research, looking at several nominal rolls and officers' cadres, since the name "Maxwell" is written on it, but unfortunately it yielded no results. The jacket has green slip-on loops on the shoulder tabs and a green lanyard. I found that 41, 45 and 48 RM commando used coloured loops, the ones of the second being red, but haven't found any further information regarding the other two. I have also seen reference on green lanyards having been used by Beach Group Troops, green ones for "G" or "George" for example, but could find no respective nominal rolls. There is a label, too, but I could not research any further: TD F. Grade R.M. co(mmando?) 752. Feb. 1944 Is this enough to decide on whether the jacket was worn in the Mediterranean or the Far East? Can the exact unit be identified? I would be grateful for any information! Regards, Giorgos |
#2
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Certainly HQ 3 Commando Brigade wore green lanyards during my time but can't vouch for exactly when this started.
Ritchie. |
#3
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Thank you for your reply, Ritchie!
Regards, Giorgos |
#4
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Quote:
I think the coloured lanyards worn by each commando and brigade units came from the lanyards worn by the battalions of the old RM Division during WW2 |
#5
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Thank you for your reply, James!
What I was able to find in that context was that, according to Tim Moreman's "British Commandos 1940-46", the origins of RM Commando units were as follows: 1 RM Battalion - No 42 (RM) Commando 2 RM Battalion - No 43 (RM) Commando 3 RM Battalion - No 44 (RM) Commando 5 RM Battalion - No 45 (RM) Commando 9 RM Battalion - No 46 (RM) Commando 10 RM Battalion - No 47 (RM) Commando 7 RM Battalion - No 48 (RM) Commando Since No 45 wore red slip-ons, No 48 is a possibility I guess, also having been formed in March 1944 and the jacket having been tailored in February of that year, although no "Maxwell" appears in the available nominal rolls and officers' cadres. I will have to keep searching! Regards, Giorgos |
#6
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Giorgos ... There is a Major John Maxwell RM obituary listed in the Globe and Laurel obituaries index dated 1946 ... unfortunately I don't have access to any G and L dating that far back.
Ritchie. |
#7
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Ritchie, could it be this man, the one you are referring to?
Maxwell, John J. Maxwell Son of Arthur Henry and Vereana Estelle Beresford Maxwell, of Corduff, Co. Dublin, Irish Republic. 12.08.1913 - 20.07.1945 [age 32] [Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore, collective grace 23.A.12-14] 2nd Lt. 01.01.1932 Lt. 01.01.1935 Capt. 22.05.1939 A/Maj. 20.04.1944-20.07.1945 Bt. Maj. 30.06.1944 (09.1932) - (05.)1933 RM Depot, Deal 1933 - (06.1933) Chatham Division RM ? - (01.)1934 Portsmouth Division RM 1934 - (07.1934) Plymouth Division RM 04.01.1935 - (07.1935) HMS Queen Elizabeth (battleship) (Mediterranean) (02.1936) no appointment listed 03.06.1936 - (02.)1937 HMS Ramillies (battleship) 1937 - (07.)1937 Plymouth Division RM 10.07.1937 - (02.)1938 HMS Coventry (cruiser) (Portsmouth) (06.)1938 - (08.)1938 Plymouth Division RM (10.)1938 - (08.)1939 Portsmouth Division RM 07.10.1939 - (02.)1941 HMS Furious (aircraft carrier) 1941 - (12.1941) Portsmouth Division RM 24.03.1942 - (12.1943) HMS Anson (battleship) ? - (04.1944) Portsmouth Division RM (06.1944) - (10.1944) no appointment listed (03.1945) - 20.07.1945 HMS Lanka (RN base, Colombo, Ceylon) [head of a Small Operations Group party that had landed by canoe from a submarine in March 1945 on the island of Phuket on the West Coast of Siam (Thailand) (Operation Copyright); captured and eventually killed (beheaded) by the Japanese. http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RM_officersM.html |
#8
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This could well be the man ... there are four former RM officers shown in the obituaries index but only Maj. John Maxwell served during WW2. He was a member of RM Detachment 385 based in Ceylon (Blondie Haslar had a hand setting this unit up) Will attempt to locate more info soon !
Ritchie. |
#9
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I doubt that this tunic was the property of Major John Maxwell RM as at the time of his execution,20th July 1945, as he was not a member of a 'commando' unit but was OC No.1 Troop RM Detachment 385. They did not wear a green beret but the blue pattern ... their area of operations included Burma, Thailand, Sumatra and Malaya.
Maj. Maxwell and C/Sgt E.C.Smith were captured by the Japanese on Phuket Island during Operation 'Copywright' and executed, Singapore. There's an interesting book from The Royal Marines Historical Society, Special Publication No. 18 with other information concerning RM Detachment 385. |
#10
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Perhaps I'm overlooking the blindingly obvious, but going from the label, wouldn't the owners name have been FD F. Grade or Grado?
Wouldn't Commando have been abbreviated with a capital 'C'? Also there seems to be another letter after 'co'. Rgds, Thomas Last edited by fougasse1940; 21-02-19 at 09:15 PM. |
#11
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Ritchie, I also think that it did not belong to Major John Maxwell, as he had already become a Captain on May 22, 1935. An interesting story, nonetheless and such a tragic death, so close to the end of the war...
Thomas, that would also be my guess, but as already stated, the jacket has the name "Maxwell" written on it. So, I don't know if the label bears some other kind of information, with FD (or TD?) being some kind of abbreviation (D for Detachment or Depot for example?), instead of initials and F. Grade being a grade of some sorts? Also, there really is the question whether the letters "co" and the following letter are for commando or anything else... Then there is the number "752." It surely got me confused, since the other examples in my collection only bear the owner's name and a date on their labels. An absurd example with unit details on the label? Or a double-named one? Again, thanks a lot to both of you for your time and answers! Regards, Giorgos |
#12
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The '752' number is most likely a tailors client number, based on other uniform tailors labels.
Rgds, Thomas |
#13
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Moss Bros are still around, you could try to get in touch with them and see if they are willing to explain the label info?
https://www.moss.co.uk/ Rgds, Thomas |
#14
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Thank you very much, Thomas, for all the info provided!
Giorgos |
#15
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If you look at the sellers other items they have a post war beret ‘from the same man’. I don’t think it’s WW2
Lee |
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