RN FOB

Discussion in 'Searching for Someone & Military Genealogy' started by wtid45, Dec 14, 2009.

  1. DannyM

    DannyM Member

    Hi,
    There were 42 FOB parties/teams allocated to the assault units in Operation Neptune. 6 were allocated to 6 Airborne Div and one was allocated to 16 RCT on Omaha Beach. There were also Bombardment Liaison Officers on the bombarding warships.

    The insignia used was a mix of Army and Navy. Some if not all of the teams attached to the 6th Airborne Div wore the maroon beret with the Parachute Regiment cap badge. The Telegraphists wore "Royal Navy" shoulder titles and parachute wings, not the "light bulb" badge.
    The RA in the unit wore the "Royal Artillery" shoulder title and parachute wings.

    Other teams wore the Combined Operations formation sign and some Telegraphists wore their trade badges.

    Don’t really want to get into the para wing - lightbulb issue in here but there is a long thread on this subject on the Army Rumour Service website if you want to know more.

    I believe that at that time if you were not in a Parachute Unit and had not done P company then you wore the light bulb. There were exceptions to this and the rules have changed over the years.

    I believe one of the reasons that there is very little written about the COBU is the way they operated attached to different units and the high casualty rates in the Normandy landings. One of the recommendations in one of the After Action reports is that the teams should not land in the initial assault waves but in the follow up waves. Don’t think this was acted on as the FOB teams landed with the Commandos at Walcheren.

    They do get a mention in some books and there was a book published after the war by the COBU Association. There was also an article in the "Elite" magazine published in the UK in the 1987.

    Below is a list of books they have been mentioned in just in case you might be interested in delving into this units very interesting history.

    C.O.B.U. General Information : Approximately 1000 men in the C.O.B.U.’s. Approximately 40 were qualified parachutists.


    Regards

    Danny


    A_024343.jpg
    A couple of photos from the IWM


    "Soldier, Sailor" By Geoffrey Sanders 1947, The Bombardments Units Assoc.
    Sometimes copies available on the AbeBooks.co.uk website

    “The Elite” Magazine 1987 7 Page article, “Fire From The Sea” starting on page 2414 By Hugh McManners

    “The Ditty Box - The navy’s Own Magazine” September 1944

    Operation Neptune, by Commander Kenneth Edwards, RN, 1946, Collins

    They Did What Was Asked Of Them 41 (Royal Marines) Commando by Raymond Mitchell
    Firebird Books 1996

    Commando Dispatch Rider (41 Royal Marines) Commando by Raymond Mitchell
    Leo Cooper 2001

    The Story of 45 Royal Marine Commando Written by the officers and published privately (1946 ?)

    Gold Beach – Jig, Jig Sector and West – June 1944 Tim Saunders Pen & Sword

    From Omaha to the Sceldt (47 RM Commando) John Forfar Tuckwell Press 2001

    The History of 47 Commando Royal Marines 1943 – 1946 Printed “in house” by HQ Orderly Room ?

    48 Royal Marine Commando Published Privately in 1946

    6 June 1994 The 1st Battalion The Suffolk regiment and D Day The Liberation of Colleville-Montgomery Eric Lummis Edited by the Association “Les Amis du Suffolk Regiment 2002

    Dropzone Normandy Napier Crookenden Ian Allan 1976

    The Pegasus & Orne Bridges Neil Barber Published: 17 June 2009 Pen & Sword Books

    Post War

    "Suez Touchdown" by D.M.J. Clark. FOB Suez landing in 1956. Publicished in 1964 by Peter Davies, London.

    Falklands Commando by Hugh McManners
     

    Attached Files:

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  2. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    Hi, I am looking for info on FOBs that went with the 6th Airborne Division on D-Day, is there any museum archives that holds any thing on the Combined Operations Bombardment Unit?

    I have checked with RA Museum, RN Museum and Commando Museum, who were all very helpful. They all have the book "Soldier, Sailor" By Geoffrey Sanders 1947, which I was lucky to buy through Oxfam, but there is no other info. Any help or direction would be appreciated.

    brithm
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2022
  3. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

  4. 5 Parachute Bde
    FOB 95 Capt HODGE RA - MAURITIUS (BLO Capt ASSER RA)
    FOB 96 Capt ELLIS RA - SVENNER (BLO Capt MUDDEMAN RA)
    FOB 94 Capt RITCHIE RA

    3 Parachute Bde
    FOB 91 Capt THOMSON RA - ARETHUSA (BLO Capt EMERTON RA)
    FOB 92 Capt PRICE RA - SCORPION (BLO Capt BROWN RA)
    FOB 93 Capt NOEL RA

    Ships and their BLO are those initially attached, if any.
    Sequence of listing is the one used in ONEAST and may or may not be significant with respect to the allocation to individual battalions within each brigade, which I do not know.

    Michel
     
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  5. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    "SAILOR WHO LANDS BY PARACHUTE"
    Telegraphist Alex Boomer (Liverpool Daily Post 30 June 1944)
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  6. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    NORMANDY: IN FRONT OF THE NAVY'S BIG GUNS, FOB'S IN ACTION. 21 AND 22 JUNE, IN THE SWORD AREA. MEN OF THE "FORWARD OBSERVATION BOMBARDMENT" AMONG WHOM ARE NAVAL TELEGRAPHISTS, VOLUNTEERS FROM HM SHIPS, THAT THE GUN CREWS OF THE ROYAL NAVY RELY UPON FOR CORRECT RANGES AS THEY BOMBARD ENEMY STRONG-POINTS AND GUN-NESTS ASHORE
    (Lt. C.H. Parnall)
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    IWM A 24339 Men of the FOB going down into a captured enemy deep shelter with everything necessary for a good night's rest.
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    IWM A 24340 Naval telegraphists Crooke, Sherry, Rose and Winch, of an FOB unit (Forward Observation Bombardment) with Captain J F Burgess, RA, moving forward to an observation post in the Sword area. The gun crews of the Royal Navy rely on them for correct ranges as they bombard enemy strong-points and gun-nests ashore. Note two of the men carrying a spool of telephone wire in the foreground.
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    IWM A 24341 At work in one of the forward observation posts.
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    IWM A 24342 Men of an FOB unit (Forward Observation Bombardment) at work in one of the forward observation posts in the Sword area. The gun crews of the Royal Navy rely on them for correct ranges as they bombard enemy strong-points and gun-nests ashore.
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    IWM A 24343 The wireless set being manned by telegraphists from a Royal Navy FOB unit (Forward Observation Bombardment) in the Sword area. The gun crews of the Royal Navy rely on them for correct ranges as they bombard enemy strong-points and gun-nests ashore. It is from here, the forward HQ of the FOB, that the spotting teams move forward, and it is also from where messages are sent to HM Ships and shoots are co-ordinated.
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    IWM A 24344 J T Rose a volunteer (Tel) nicknamed "Good-o", from Bethnal Green, engaged in cookhouse duties when off duty.
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    IWM A 24345 W J Crooks, a volunteer from Leeds, having a shave in a Normandy backyard.
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    IWM A 24346 A friendly exchange. A few cigarettes and voila! out comes the egg. Window-sill barter in progress.
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    IWM A 24347 In a rest billet less than two miles from the front line. Seen through the doorway of a damaged building Captain J F Burgess, RA, briefing his party of FOBs (Forward Observation Bombardment) before setting out for the observation post. The party will move off in an armoured lorry for a certain distance while the remainder of the journey is made on foot.
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    IWM A 24348 Three more of the Royal Navy (Tels) off duty in a Normandy Farmyard. Bombardier T H Digings, from Dedham, Essex, cleans a Bren Gun. Sergeant L Sherry, from Wimbledon, writes home, and Telegraphist G W Winch, from Birmingham does some reading.
    upload_2022-6-12_1-5-36.png
    IWM A 24349 Naval telegraphist W J Crooks operating from a forward observation post in the Sword area. He is sending back the range of a vital enemy target situated on the outskirts of Caen. It is men of the "Forward Observation Bombardment" among whom are naval telegraphists, volunteers from HM ships, that the gun crews of the Royal Navy rely on for correct ranges as they bombard enemy strong-points and gun-nests ashore.
    upload_2022-6-12_1-7-25.png
    IWM A 24350 A general view of the enemy front line. Smoke can be seen in the distance, result of a direct hit from the guns of the Royal Navy on an enemy dump. This picture was taken between Colville and Bieville and facing the Caen district.
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    IWM A 24351 Major R A H Arnolds, RA, (left) in charge of the Forward Observation Bombardment Unit talking to Lieutenant Colonel Seccombe of Combined Operations as the pair consult a map in the Sword area. It is men of the "Forward Observation Bombardment" among whom are naval telegraphists, volunteers from HM ships, that the gun crews of the Royal Navy rely on for correct ranges as they bombard enemy strong-points and gun-nests ashore.
    upload_2022-6-12_1-10-39.png
    IWM A 24352 The team of Telegraphists in a garden at Normandy, with them are some French people with whom they had already cemented a friendship.
    upload_2022-6-12_1-12-55.png
    IWM A 24353 An FOB unit (Forward Observation Bombardment) armoured lorry in operation in the Sword area. The telegraphist inside is protected from snipers by a colleague with a Bren Gun whilst the ranges are sent through to HM Ships. Sometimes a land-line is run from the lorry for a mile forward where the observation post is in action. It is men of the "Forward Observation Bombardment" among whom are naval telegraphists, volunteers from HM ships, that the gun crews of the Royal Navy rely on for correct ranges as they bombard enemy strong-points and gun-nests ashore.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Jun 17, 2022
  7. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    WITH A COMBINED OPERATIONS BOMBARDMENT UNIT 22nd June 1944
    (Sgt. Christie AFPU)

    IWM B 5862 Ouistreham lighthouse from which the fire was observed
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    IWM B 5863 Members of a "watch" coming off duty. Left to right:- Telegraphist W. Fortune of 22 Wood Street, Middlestone Moor, Nr. Spennymoor, Co.Durham, who landed on "D" Day by parachute; Telegraphist A. J. Boomer, DSM; Captain F. Vere Hodge, MC, Huntspill, Highbridge, Somerset, and Telegraphist K. F. Moles of 112 Stortford Road, Rye Park, Hoddesdon, Herts.
    upload_2022-6-17_0-26-28.png
    IWM B 5864 Telegraphist A. J. Boomer, DSM of 16 Halspill Street, Prescot, Nr. Liverpool, who wears an Airborne beret, Royal Navy shoulder flash and Army parachute wings, landed in Sicily by parachute and won the DSM. He went to Taranto by sea and landed in France this time by parachute. He sends the messages from the observer to the naval gunners
    upload_2022-6-17_0-27-42.png
    IWM B 5865 Telegraphist K. F. Moles on duty in the Observation Post. He went to Sicily by glider, to Salerno by sea with the U.S. Rangers and to Normandy by parachute. Although he's a sailor he wears an Airborne beret.
    upload_2022-6-17_0-29-42.png
    IWM B 5866 Captain F. Vere Hodge, MC, observing the naval shelling. He was at Sicily and Taranto and parachuted to Normandy this time.
    upload_2022-6-17_0-31-9.png
    IWM B 5867 A view from the lighthouse showing shelling in progress on Franceville.
    upload_2022-6-17_0-32-38.png
    IWM B 5868 A view from the lighthouse showing shelling in progress on Franceville.
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    IWM B 5869 A view from a ruined power house by the side of the Caen Canal showing naval shells bursting in the distance.
    upload_2022-6-17_0-35-0.png
     
  8. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    Work of F.O.O.s "Eyes" of the Naval Artillery

    AMAZING BOMBARDMENTS
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    The Scotsman 27 September 1943
     
  9. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    "F.O.O.'S RUSH IN-"

    Somerset Man is "Eyes" of Naval Artillery
    Capt. Hodge, Capt. Llewellyn & Naval Telegraphist Alex Boomer
    upload_2023-1-4_2-37-15.png
    Newcastle Journal 27th September 1943
     
  10. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    F. Gordon Sykes, COBU
    upload_2023-1-4_2-44-58.png
    Nottingham Evening Post 16th May 1963
     
  11. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    Telegraphist John Edward Hughes, COBU
    upload_2023-1-4_2-49-54.png
    upload_2023-1-4_2-51-10.png

    Nottingham Evening Post 22nd November 1971
     
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2023

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