Hello All, Can anyone help me with this? I have been researching Sgt John Joseph MANNION [3651857] South Lancashire Regiment + L’Det SAS but am unable to find details of his death. CWGC records state he was ‘Att 1st Special Service Bn’, that his date of death was 14/02/42 and that he was the son of Mr and Mrs John Mannion and husband of Mary B Mannion of Warrington, Cheshire. He is commemorated on a plaque in Freetown King Tom War Cemetery so I am presuming he was lost at sea en route to the UK whilst passing West Africa. I have looked to see if there were any U-Boat victims on this date without result - can anyone put me on the right track to finding how this man died? All the best, Skip
Skip, Ive searched for details of Sgt Mannions death in the past, with little sucess. The Army ROH states that the theatre of war in which he was killed was 'South Africa', however the CWGC background to the Freetown Memorial states the following. A MEMORIAL located in Freetown (King Tom) Cemetery commemorates 35 casualties from both World Wars whose graves elsewhere in Sierra Leone were deemed unmaintainable.
Hello Phil, Yes - this is a very strange case. There were no L'Det/1st SAS ops in Sierra Leone but I know that Freetown was a regular stop for ships bringing wounded back to the UK from the Middle East. Because of the U-Boat threat they went the long way round the bottom of the Cape and up west Africa. If Mannion is buried elsewhere in Sierra Leone I will be very interested in locating and visiting the grave. Can anyone else help? By the way Phil do you still require a photo of Lt B McManus' grave in Rawalpindi? If so I might be able to organise this. All the best and thanks for the reply, Skip
With that service number he must have been a pre-war Regular (3644001 was first no.) Doubt any of the lads i am in contact with will know what happened, but will ask for you. Its more likely an SAS buff will know I reckon. What is your connection (if any) with him? Pete.
Hello Pete, I have no connection to him but am researching several wartime SF casualties. Unfortunately, I seem to be getting nowhere on this one so thought I'd ask for a bit of help. The SAS Association have no details of his death but he is included on their roll of honour. Interesting to know that he was a pre-war regular. Perhaps the South Lancs archives might provide some results.... Cheers, Skip
Hello Phil, Yes - this is a very strange case. There were no L'Det/1st SAS ops in Sierra Leone but I know that Freetown was a regular stop for ships bringing wounded back to the UK from the Middle East. Because of the U-Boat threat they went the long way round the bottom of the Cape and up west Africa. If Mannion is buried elsewhere in Sierra Leone I will be very interested in locating and visiting the grave. Can anyone else help? By the way Phil do you still require a photo of Lt B McManus' grave in Rawalpindi? If so I might be able to organise this. All the best and thanks for the reply, Skip Skip, the Army ROH usually states 'At Sea' when a casualty has been killed at Sea, so likely he was on land at the time of his death. It may be worth while applying for his death cert as it may state the casue of death. The CWGC state the below about Sierra Leone, so is it possible he was training recruits? During the Second World War the four territories in West Africa - including Sierra Leone - became bases for recruiting and training men for the armed forces and their ports and harbours were of great value to convoys bound for the Middle East, India, South Africa and South America. By the end of 1942, coastal defence artillery had been installed and manned in all the principal West African ports. Freetown became a naval base. With regards to Brendan McManus's grave at Rawalpindi, yes I am still looking for this one, so any help would be appreciated
This may be worth following up. 4 Commando at the time where part of 1st Special Service Brigade. Operation Puma (4 Commando) After returning from Norway, training started for Operation Puma, the occupation of the Canary Islands. The operation was planned following intelligence that Spain was going to join the war on the side of the Axis forces. The intention was to prevent Germany using the islands as a U-Boat base. The force assembled included five commando units, an army brigade, two Royal Marine brigades and supporting arms. Training for Operation Puma culminated in landing exercises in the Hebrides from the Landing Ship, Infantry HMS Royal Scotsman. The operation was renamed Operation Pilgrim and after a number of delays was put on hold by the Chiefs-of-Staff. On 13 September a token force including a troop from No. 4 Commando was dispatched to West Africa. The troop was based in Sierra Leone and Nigeria until returning to Britain in February 1942, after the cancellation of the operation. While this was happening a new second in command (2IC) was appointed, Major Charles Vaughan, and a Captain Lord Lovat joined the unit as the training officer. Lovat had been attached to the Lofoten raid as an observer and had applied for a posting to the commandos. SOURCE : Wapedia - Wiki: No. 4 Commando http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/brigade-guards/23536-operation-pilgrim.html
Cheers Phil - all good pointers which I will look in to. I have no idea how I would apply for his death certificate but it sounds like a very good idea. With regards to McManus I will organise this as soon as possible. If anyone else needs photos taken at Rawalpindi they should get in touch sooner rather than later. All the best and cheers again, Skip
Cheers Phil - all good pointers which I will look in to. I have no idea how I would apply for his death certificate but it sounds like a very good idea. With regards to McManus I will organise this as soon as possible. If anyone else needs photos taken at Rawalpindi they should get in touch sooner rather than later. All the best and cheers again, Skip Skip, see the following link for ordering Death Certs https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/default.asp For Rawlpindi, plenty of requests here http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/war-grave-photographs/29345-war-graves-pakistan-offer.html
Cheers Phil - will get on to the death certificate and have added all the Rawlpindi requests to the list.
