Great Uncle

Discussion in 'Special Forces' started by Ian S, Apr 28, 2004.

  1. Ian S

    Ian S Member

    Hello all

    My Great Uncle joe was in the first ever Regiment of the SAS

    He was captured when in italy and he escaped then recaptured then escaped :rolleyes:

    He was a great man and died about 4 years ago :(

    I would always speak to him but never about the war to him as it made him 2 emotional. I was wondering if any 1 has any info about The SAS operations when in Italy/Italian occupation country.

    I will post a picture of his regiment back in the day and also a plate we were sent when he died from the Army. Theres only 200 of them in the world and is giving to all who served in the First regiment of the sas. I will try get some pictures up of them l8r tonigt :D
     
  2. Ian S

    Ian S Member

    any 1 ?
     
  3. Wise1

    Wise1 There We Are Then

    Humper,

    Can you post some more details about your Great Uncle, full name, rank, service number, etc....

    The more the better to help you.
     
  4. Ian S

    Ian S Member

    lol ye np sry if iam been a pain with posts like the above :|
    been stressed with exams and work at moment lool day off now and time to study :| anyway enough of ma life story lool

    i will post them in the morning along with pictures etc :)
     
  5. Wise1

    Wise1 There We Are Then

    No Problem I will search all my material for you once I get the details
     
  6. Ian S

    Ian S Member

    ok here we go

    His Name was Sidney Joseph Swann. He enlisted at Bedford on the 5.2.1940 for Army Class D/E.

    Army Number was 2617954

    He enlisted in the Commandos then the SAS

    He was in the Grenadier guards to start with and i have a photo of him on April 1940 with the rest of his Sqaud

    it was called Sgt. Green's Squad, Grenadier Guards,

    iam not totally sure when he enlisted into the commandos but iam 60 % sure it was in 1941 maybe 1940

    thanks inadvance :)
     
  7. Ian S

    Ian S Member

    The detials are above i thought i would post some pictures of a Plate we were sent from the Army once his death. Only around 300 hundred were made :)

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]


    The date on the camera is wrong i took them 2 days ago :)
     
  8. No.9

    No.9 Senior Member

    As he was in the Guards originally, there is a good chance he then volunteered for No.8 Commando as these mainly comprised volunteers from the Guards. When they, as part of Layforce, were disbanded, a number joined David Stirling in his newly formed SAS. After Stirling was captured, the SAS became the SRS for operations in Italy (for a while) under Paddy Maine.

    Various info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Commandos

    No.9
     
  9. Ian S

    Ian S Member

    Thanks for you help m8
    What you just said is excatly what he did
    he was at the jump when stirling broke his legs showing them how to parachute.

    Ive been getting lots of information from other sources also thank you for your input :)
     

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