129133 Roy Alexander FARRAN, DSO MC**, 3 Carabiniers attached 2 SAS

Discussion in 'Special Forces' started by adrian roberts, Jun 6, 2006.

  1. adrian roberts

    adrian roberts Senior Member

  2. Kiwiwriter

    Kiwiwriter Very Senior Member

    Sorry to hear of his death. He was quite a character and warrior.

    Sounds like he did get that "long and happy life at peace," though.

    :ukflag[1]:
     
  3. Gabriel

    Gabriel Junior Member

    I heard about Cpt Roy Farran (later Major) by one of my correspondent in France who met him in 1944, in north-eastern France, when she was 14 years old.
    Her father was a member of the local Resistance that joined force with Farran's unit.

    A real character out of a fiction book this Cpt Roy Farran!

    Campaigns of North Afica,Crete,Sicily,Italy and France.

    Wounded twice (Crete and El Alamein), POW (Greece) and escapee.

    Infortunately his military career took a plunge in Palestine where he was court martialed for the murder of a young member of the Group Stern.

    Moved to Canada (Alberta) in the 50s.


    Major Roy Farran [Archive] - Military Photos
     
  4. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Gabriel

    if you were to study the Obituary in the Telegraph of Major Roy Farran.D.S.O. 3 M.C.'s and numerous foreign honours - your will find nothing ficticious about his life and career- he was indeed a hero - and was acquitted of the charge of the murder of that young man- who incidently was involved on Blowing up an Hotel full of British Officers - BUT it didn;t stop the jewish stern gang led by a future president of Israel - Begin - from sending the first letter bomb in history to his home near Wolverhampton - killing his brother Rex and severely injuring his Mother

    While working in Africa he met and married a Canadian girl and went off to Calgary in
    Canada and started a community newspaper- became a councillor in Calgary then politician for Alberta taking on the Communications ministry with his usual flair and success - he died in Calgary of cancer some five years ago.

    We often met to talk of old Army times and I was always happy to call ROY - my friend ! Cheers
     
    Steve Mac likes this.
  5. Warlord

    Warlord Veteran wannabe

    Transferred from the Armoured Corps to the SAS somewhere down the middle years of the war.

    With his MkVI coffin shure wrought havoc among the fallschirmjägers around Galatas, down in Crete.
     
    Gabriel likes this.
  6. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    warlord

    after recovering from wounds after Alamein - in England - ROY wangled a trip to Algiers and met up with David Stirling's brother Bill who was forming a 2nd battalion of the SAS - so he joined up there and then - this would be the back end of '43 - he quickly became a squadron leader- and I think that his first action would have been at Termoli - as he was always finding trouble ! even fell out of an Aeroplane on one occasion.....

    Cheers
     
  7. Warlord

    Warlord Veteran wannabe

    Tom, Termoli as in an armed jeep raid, right?
     
  8. Gabriel

    Gabriel Junior Member

    Tom Canning

    No mastering the english I probably did not express myself properly. What I meant is that Cpt Farran was a warrior, the kind we found on the fictionals war books and movies, but a real one.
    I am sure if Farran had been an american, Hollywood would had made a great film about him.

    I hope we are clear. ;)
     
  9. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Gabriel-

    no question that the film industry lost out on that character- but I can't see the likes of Brad Pitt or any of the contemporary "stars" doing what ROY did

    Warlord
    Termoli was a bit more than an armed jeep job - ask anyone from the 78th div
    where they all took a pasting at the brickyard especially when the 16th Panzer div came over from trying to stop the Salerno landings went bad to even worse ...
    Cheers
     
  10. 17thDYRCH

    17thDYRCH Senior Member

    Gabriel

    Mr.Canning recommended a book by Roy Farran " Winged Dagger - Adventures on Special Service". ISBN 0-85368-734-X.
    An excellent read.
     
    Harry Ree likes this.
  11. phylo_roadking

    phylo_roadking Very Senior Member

    (Just make sure you get the FULL version, there are editions out there with a couple of chapters discussing the Rubowitz affair removed for foreign markets.)
     
  12. Warlord

    Warlord Veteran wannabe

    Gabriel-

    Warlord
    Termoli was a bit more than an armed jeep job - ask anyone from the 78th div
    where they all took a pasting at the brickyard especially when the 16th Panzer div came over from trying to stop the Salerno landings went bad to even worse ...
    Cheers

    Tom, as usual, thanks to your "coercion", just got me hands on "The SAS in WW2", by Gavin Mortimer; have to dig deeper into this Termoli affair, you know... :D
     
  13. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    Tom, as usual, thanks to your "coercion", just got me hands on "The SAS in WW2", by Gavin Mortimer; have to dig deeper into this Termoli affair, you know... :D
    This link has been posted before but I cant find it so......... The Battle for Termoli, World War II
     
  14. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Warlord

    The Battleaxe Div and Algiers to Austria will give full accounts also of TERMOLI as it was a bit of a mix up at times - started off as a bit of a giggle then got serious - like many other Battles

    Cheers
     
  15. Warlord

    Warlord Veteran wannabe

    This link has been posted before but I cant find it so......... The Battle for Termoli, World War II

    Warlord

    The Battleaxe Div and Algiers to Austria will give full accounts also of TERMOLI as it was a bit of a mix up at times - started off as a bit of a giggle then got serious - like many other Battles

    Cheers

    What would I do without you, me good old chaps?;)
     
  16. bugleboy2323

    bugleboy2323 Senior Member

  17. gacock

    gacock Junior Member

    Well spoken Tom - my father served under Farran in 1943 and 1945 in Tuscany. I worked in Edmonton Canada for a while and rang up Roy at his home just north of Calgary. he invited me down to his home - sadly life got in the way.
    Graham Alcock son of SSM J Alcock 2 SAS
     
    Chris C likes this.
  18. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Just in case you expect a reply, and in case you missed this, FYI -
    Tom Canning has left us
     
  19. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Came across this article on the mainly US blogsite on counter-insurgency and related matters. The author I think is British and although I have seen the name before cannot recall much about Major Farran.

    The article's title then: From Partisan to Policeman: Roy Farran and Carte Blanche in Western Europe and Palestine 1943-48. There are a mass of footnotes and a bibliography. Link: From Partisan to Policeman: Roy Farran and Carte Blanche in Western Europe and Palestine 1943-48 | Small Wars Journal

    Here is a "taster":
    There are over eighty threads returned from a search that contain his name, this hopefully is the best place.
     
  20. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Have merged a couple of threads
     
    davidbfpo likes this.

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