5933155 Albert Reginald SEEKINGS, DCM, Cambridgeshire Regiment attached Special Air Service

Personal Number: 5933155
Rank: Lance-Serjeant
Name: Albert Reginald SEEKINGS, DCM
Unit: Cambridgeshire Regiment attached Special Air Service Brigade


London Gazette : 26 November 1942
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35799/supplement/5142/data.pdf
The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the following awards in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the field: —
The Distinguished Conduct Medal.
No. 5933155 Lance-Sergeant Albert Reginald Seekings, The Cambridgeshire Regiment.

 

Recommendation for Award for Seekings, Reginald Rank: Corporal Service No: ... | The National Archives
Reference: WO 373/46/40
Name Seekings, Reginald
Rank: Corporal
Service No: 5933155
Regiment: Cambridgeshire Regiment, Special Air Service Brigade
Theatre of Combat or Operation: Middle East Special Operations and Escapes
Award: Distinguished Conduct Medal
Date of announcement in London Gazette: 26 November 1942

 

Award Military Medal Sgt. Arthur Reginald Seekings, DCM S.R. Squadron, 1st S.A.S. Regt (5933155) Cambridgeshire Regiment

WO 373/3/199

Operation Houndsworth Seekings was wounded 27th June 1944 in France when hit by a bullet in the back of his neck narrowly missing his spine


SAS in Sicily

 

Hi,

Reg Seekings medals were sold on the 22nd September 2006, as below.


Cheers Ian

Lot 59, 22 September 2006 | Noonans Mayfair

 

Courtesy of IWM Collections; Reg Seekings war in his own words, link within the post here:

"SAS Rogue Heroes" new drama on the BBC

Always remember, never forget,

Jim.

 

Thanks JH
Seeing as there are no less than 17 Reels, I thought I'd add link with full description

Interview with Albert Reginald Seekings
Object description

• British trooper and NCO with L Detachment Special Air Service Bde and 1st Special Air Service in North Africa, 7/1941-4/1943; served with Special Raiding Squadron in Palestine and Italy, 4/1943-12/1943; served with 1st Special Air Service Regt, Special Air Service Bde in GB, North West Europe and Norway, 1/1944-5/1945

Content description

• REEL 1 Recollections of operations as trooper and NCO with L Detachment, Special Air Service and 1st Special Air Service Regt in North Africa, 7/1941-4/1943: background of joining Special Air Service; pattern of military service, 1939-1941; first day of service with L Detachment at Geneifa, Egypt; charge and punishment received; request to leave L Detachment and talk from Lieutenant John 'Jock' Lewes; guard duties; accidents jumping from trucks during initial parachute training; records kept of progress; navigational, fitness and memory training; training for operating in night-time conditions; opinion training; drop out rate from training; setting-up of camp at Kabrit, Egypt; rations; desire to succeed; exercises.
• REEL 2 Continues: parachute training, including concerns about jumping; memories of Robert 'Paddy' Mayne; lectures and organisation of unit; Lieutenant John 'Jock' Lewes' creation of Lewes Bomb and demolition training; [202597 William John CUMPER, MC, MiD, Royal Engineers attached 1 SAS] details of time pencils; fuse on Lewes Bomb; details of raid on airfield to provide assistance to Malta convoy; further details of parachute training, including clothing worn and equipment carried; training casualties; first parachute jump; railway built for training; introduction of headgear; creation and selection of Special Air Service insignia and motto; problems with white berets; wearing of badge and changes to attitude.
• REEL 3 Continues: award of wings; reaction to attacks from aircraft; composition of L Detachment; importance of comradeship; opinion of need for squadrons to be small; meal prior to first raid; description of first operational flight and parachute jump, 11/1941; problems on landing, including injuries suffered; re-grouping and casualties left behind; attempt to reach target and march to rendezvous point; wait with Long Range Desert Group for stragglers; impressions of Long Range Desert Group; decision to change method of transporting unit to raids; reaction to participation in parachute drop, 11/1941 to raid; memories of Long Range Desert Group personnel; return to camp; reason for name of Special Air Service.
• REEL 4 Continues: rapid departure from Egypt; details of participation in raids; problems with petrol supplies; receiving news of and reaction to death of Lieutenant John 'Jock' Lewes during raid in Libya, 31/12/1941; recruitment; further details of participation in raids; nature of unit vehicles; description of changes made to Willy Jeeps in Cairo, Egypt; trucks obtained prior to Battle of Alamein, Egypt, 10/1942-11/1942; memories of John Cooper; need for secrecy; briefings prior to raids; later embellishments of truth by some Special Air Service members and others.
• REEL 5 Continues: attitude of senior officers to Special Air Service; prior recollection of commando mutiny; discussion of success of raid on Benghazi, Libya; story of meting out discipline during raid on Benghazi, Libya; arrival in Benghazi, Libya and Axis opposition faced; nature of withdrawal from Benghazi, Libya, including makeshift fuel used for vehicles.
• REEL 6 Continues: story of adopted Senussi father; opinion of most difficult elements of raids; nature of journeys taken to participate in raids; hiding of Willy Jeeps and vehicle tracks, including help obtained from civilians; description of raids; troopers and NCOs chosen to drive him in and out; rations; story of getting stuck in Deutsches Afrika Korps lines during a raid; story of retrieving water from an underground river and subsequent withdrawal down a plateau; question of desperation of situation; reunion with British Army personnel.
• REEL 7 Continues: attempts of 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) armoured cars to catch him; story of attack from German Air Force Messerschmitt Bf 109 aircraft; meeting with General John Harding; story of military cadets; attitude of soldiers to specialist forces. Recollections of operations as NCO with A Sqdn, 1st Special Air Service Regt, Special Air Service Bde in Germany, 1945: incident of attracting German 88mm Gun fire and subsequent action; evacuation of casualties after action; premonition and memories of MacKenzie; stories of search for Nazis in Lüneburg area; memories of aircraft designer Wilhelm 'Willy' Messerschmitt.
• REEL 8 Continues: arrest of a Nazi including his use of faked photograph; further details of searches in Lüneburg area; final operation and contact made with 5th Infantry Div personnel; arrival at Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, 4/1945; reaction to sights witnessed at Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp; relations with German civilians; story of capturing safe and it's contents; Schutzstaffel (SS) use of micro-cameras; arrival at Kiel, 5/1945; problems in capturing Kiel and withdrawal.
• REEL 9 Continues: stories of surrendering German prisoners of war and capturing Schutzstaffel (SS) officers in brothels; return to Belgium via Hamburg, 5/1945; VE Day celebrations in Poperinghe, Belgium, 8/5/1945; story of brother's lying about age being discovered; memories of father; reception on return home to GB, 5/1945; story of dodging HM Customs and Excise officials return to GB; story of German paratrooper photographs taken at Stalingrad, Soviet Union. Aspects of operations as NCO with Special Raiding Squadron in Palestine and Italy, 4/1943-10/1943: experience of fighting German airborne troops at Termoli, Italy, 10/1943; attitude of captured German airborne troops; details of action at Termoli, Italy.
• REEL 10 Continues: memories of Major-General Miles Dempsey at Nahariya, Palestine. Aspects of operations as NCO with L Detachment, Special Air Service and 1st Special Air Service in North Africa, 7/1941-4/1943: nature supply dumps; items carried on raids; rations; problems faced travelling across desert, including clothing worn, sleeping arrangements and distances travelled in a day; problems with dust; nature of taking cover during day, including Axis air attacks and methods of camouflaging vehicles and troops; example of subterfuge; use of flares; problems with armoured cars. Recollections of operations as NCO with Special Raiding Squadron in Palestine and Italy, 4/1943-12/1943: training in Nahariya, Palestine for invasion of Sicily, Italy; voyage to Sicily, Italy, including briefings received on route; plan for involvement in Sicilian Campaign; sights witnessed during final stages of voyage.
• REEL 11 Continues: embarkation on board landing craft and approach to beach on Sicily, Italy; plan for disembarkation; figure sighted at base of cliffs; nature of raid on gun emplacement; contact with Italian civilians; reason for order to stop throwing grenades; removal of personnel from tunnel; Axis prisoners taken; story of boots; advance to farmhouse and action against German Army troops; refusal of troops to fire on Italian women used as human shield by German Army troops; casualties from attack on pillboxes; formation of unit in action; first night spent on Sicily, Italy; health of troops; patrol; visit to café; looting and attitude of Robert 'Paddy' Mayne towards it; embarkation aboard landing ship.
• REEL 12 Continues: summary of operations in Sicily, Italy; clothing worn for invasion; tactics for attack; activities of 2nd Special Air Service Regt; arguments over plans for attack on train; relations with General Miles Dempsey; warnings about female civilians at Bagnara Calabra, Italy; problems with landing at Bagnara Calabra, Italy, 9/1943; German opposition faced on arrival at Bagnara Calabra, Italy, 9/1943; role during landings at Bagnara Calabra, Italy, 9/1943; results of reconnaissance; problems from German Army mortar team; opinion of Vickers Machine Gun, ammunition carried and supporting arms; nature of action against German forces including Gestapo personnel; description of tracer fire; naval support; use of sniper and continuation of action against German forces; water shortage and withdrawal; story of deafened soldier; sight of severed arm on ground; advance towards Reggio di Calabria, Italy; role during landings at Termoli, Italy and advance inland, 10/1943; attack on German forces in farmhouse; activities of Roy Farran; journey to target; contact with 2nd Bn Lancashire Fusiliers; accommodation; visit to café at Termoli, Italy, 10/1943.
• REEL 13 Continues: problems faced from German artillery and grenades; unit and Italian civilian casualties from explosion of truck at Termoli, Italy, 10/1943; opinion of leadership from unit and effect of events on surviving troops; ammunition situation; contact with mortar team; description of fire faced; visit received from General Miles Dempsey; support received from Canadian Army tanks; help given to Corporal William 'Kit' Kennedy's section; nature of Special Air Service contact with Italian Partisans; return to own troop; story of meal taken across railway line; story of German sniper; story of cleaning area of bodies; memories of Sergeant John Jock Finlay and other casualties at Termoli, Italy, 10/1943; discussion of situation at Termoli, Italy, 10/1943.
• REEL 14 Continues: opinion of problems faced at Termoli, 10/1943; memories of Robert 'Paddy' Mayne and Major-General Miles Dempsey at Termoli; nature of changes to unit experienced, 1943-1944. Aspects of period as NCO with A Sqdn, 1st Special Air Service Regt, Special Air Service Bde in GB, 1/1944-6/1944: pay; influx of officers; promotion to sergeant-major in A Sqdn; start of training and discipline; memories of Captain William 'Bill' Fraser, Captain Hunter and tea breaks; recruitment; pattern of training in Scotland; nature of camp at Fairford; exercises; proposed role of volunteers on D-Day, 6/6/1944; knowledge of problems with Lieutenant-Colonel William Stirling. Recollections of operations as NCO with A Sqdn, 1st Special Air Service Regt, Special Air Service Bde in France, 6/1944-7/1944: role in Normandy, France; story of French Communist leader and Czech soldier.
• REEL 15 Continues: nature of French Resistance treatment of Nazi collaborators and assistance given to accused French woman; relations with French civilians; arrest of French Maquis personnel whilst wearing Special Air Service jumpsuits; importance of civilian support for operations; story of German forces' shooting of B Sqdn, 1st Special Air Service Regt personnel in France, 7/7/1944; details of flight for initial reconnaissance drop in France; problems with parachute drop and landing; story of soap issued; burial of parachutes; shelter taken for night; realisation of landing being in wrong area; contact made with French civilians.
• REEL 16 Continues: journey to operational area; problems dropping more Special Air Service personnel; story of lost aircraft; arrival of more Special Air Service personnel and casualties; interruption of church service; story of subsequent ambush by German forces and wounding; reaction to being wounded; initial medical treatment and nature of evacuation from area; nature of work of Chaplain Fraser McLuskey; relations with French civilians; evacuation to GB, including help received from American forces at Orléans. Aspects of period as NCO with A Sqdn, 1st Special Air Service Regt, Special Air Service Bde in Norway, 5/1945: role; journey to Stavanger; importance of Stavanger; details of German Navy snorkel submarines; posting to northern Norway; nature of activities.
• REEL 17 Continues: relations with Norwegian civilians; rumours of posting in Far East; post-war contact with David Stirling; disbandment of Special Air Service, 9/1945; pay; refusal of commission; senior officers' attitude towards Special Air Service; story of final parade in GB, 9/1945.

 

These reels with Reg Seekings reminisces are superb and fascinating.


Cheers Ian

 

Came across this mention of him @ Bergen-Belsen:

From: The first in...

 

I would highly recommend "SAS Duty Before Glory" by Tony Rushmer, being the biography of Reg Seekings.


Cheers Ian