RSR - Gallantry Medals - Greece 1944/45

Hi

I have the RSR war diaries for December 1944 and January 1945 and within it mentions that 4 personnel were recommended for gallantry awards during operations in Greece.

Military Cross

180769 Lieutenant Alan Frederick Chalkley

186121 Lieutenant William Harrd (Harold or Howard?) Neville Scawin

Military Medal

8907754 Lance Bombardier J. Flannigan

5193305 Private H. Fitton

Trouble is I cannot find anything in the usual places to support that they actually received these awards. I have found nothing in either the The LG not The NA. No hits on Ancestry nor FindmyPast.

I did find them mentioned on http://www.specialforcesroh.com/ stating they had these awards but no source or reference.

Any help as ever would be massively appreciated.

Gus

 

Details of the Greece awards were not available due to the `sensitive` nature of the operations against ELAS I don't think any citations etc are in the public domain ..or at least they weren't a few months ago. Perhaps things have changed ?

Kyle

 

Hi Kyle.

I've found nearly 100 chaps who were awarded gallantry medals during the civil war and despite their missing recommendations at the NA, they all have been found in the London Gazette.

This is the first lot where I've found nothing at all.

Unless of course none of their recommendations were approved, but I find that hard to believe.

Gus

 

Strange how 180769 Lieutenant Alan Frederick Chalkley post war references in the Gazette omit the MC too? William Hardd Neville has the surname SCAWIN (186121)? According to the list in the link below he was called William Howard Neville SCAWIN SOE agent?

http://www.academia.edu/2323000/THE_MOST_SECRET_LIST_OF_SOE_AGENTS_S

Kyle

 

Hi Kyle

Sorry, my browser crashed and I forgot to add Alan's surname on the second attempt. I have corrected the original post. I have also found Willaim Harold Neville Scawin on Ancestry, B: 1918 D: 1997.

That's interesting about an SOE connection. Could Alan have been SOE before? Or maybe after his time in the RSR? The diaries say he joined the RSR on 24 Nov 1943 from the Glosters.

I have attached the war diary entry for clarity.

Has anyone got the Brigade War Diaries, which are mentioned? Which brigade/command did the RSR come under? Was it HQ Raiding Forces (Brig Turnbull)?

Just found a closed SOE file on discovery http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11120075

Gus

 

Hi Gus

I would suggest contacting by PM member 'Jedburgh22' as he is our resident SOE man

TD

 

Thanks TD

I've PMed Jedburgh22 as you suggested. Fingers crossed.

Gus

 

Hi

Update on this post. Found a MID awarded to Lt. Chalkley in August 1945.

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37213/supplement/4064/data.pdf

Maybe the recommendation for a MC was changed to a MID?

Gus

 

Hi

Just found this on FMP


Rossendale Free Press 13 May 1994




So 3453050 Private Frank Fitton, ex Lancashire Fusiliers, was an ex Chindit and got a MM for operations in Yugoslavia with RSR (not Greece!).

5193305 Fitton H was wounded in Greece on 05/01/45 with RSR according to Essex Regt casualty records and British Army Cas List (later deleted) and in the RSR WDs for 05 Jan 45 above.

So just have to figure out Private 'H' Fitton's first name was.

Coincidentally 4198458 Sergeant Noel Howarth Fitton got a MM in Greece with 6 Para.

Gus

 

If anyone is still interested. WHNS was my father. AFC became his Best Man.

Both were awarded, and received, an MC for the same action in Athens during the Greek civil war.

 

Well, I can’t speak for anyone else - but I’m interested! What was the action which resulted in their MCs?

 

Hi lockdown.

Yes, that would be very nice of you

Regards

Gus

 

I'm not 100% sure, but...

I believe they got somehow separated from the rest of the unit, holed up somewhere and fought off ELAS with small arms and possibly also a Vickers...for quite some time. That's about all I recall. Dad's sold off his MC post war to help fund his way thro' medical school as by then he had a wife and my elder sister.

My father was on a balcony of the Carlton hotel on, I think, Ommonia Sq when someone opened up with a machine gun on the crowd = start of the civil war. Based at Rouf barracks towards Piraeus I think. Stories of being in a Bren carrier driving up boulevards to HQ in central athens. The opposition had a nasty tactic of dropping dustbins full of flaming petrol on them. Not nice.

Prior to Athens he was with the RSR in North Greece around Mount Vermion and Joannina, moved to Athens after the Germans moved out. It was supposed to be a rest but wasn't.

Sketchy details, apologies. He died in '97 and memories get hazy. Apols also for typos, I am using a tablet for this.

 

The Carlton hotel no longer exists as such, but was still there when we visted athens in about 1972.

General Scobie's HQ was in the Grand Bretagne hotel on Syntagma. It's still there.

Edit: typo

 

Hi lockdown

This is most interesting thanks.

If you have any supporting documents. Press cuttings. Obituaries. Photos. Letters etc. That would be awesome.

I have the RSR war diaries over this period and would be very happy to let you have a copy of you wished.

I am working towards a book on the Greek troubles as my father was there too.

Regards

Gus

 

I would love to see those diaries, thanks.

Sadly I have almost no documentation or photos. Even more sadly a pile of letters that my father sent to my mother were destroyed in unfortunate (to say the least) circumstances, about which I'm not going to elaborate here. Even though appropriately censored these would have been fascinating.

I'm on holiday at the moment so don't have access to anything much, will have another look when I get home end of June.

 

Hi Lockdown.

Rouf Barracks in early December 1944 consisted of:

A detachment of 95th General Hospital (Surgical Team)
140th Ordnance Depot
23rd Armoured Brigade Ordnance Field Park (OFP)
A Detachment of the Raiding Support Regiment (RSR)
Rear HQ 4th Parachute Battalion & Medium Machine Gun (MMG) Platoon.
50th Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) Light Aid Detachment (LAD)
30th Reception Centre (soup kitchens for local populous - 300 meals a day issued)

Extract from War Diaries - 3rd British Infantry Corps - Troops Ordnance (WO 170-267) - Dec 1944

0900 10 Dec 44: Suspicious activity noticed round depot area - road blocks erected on railway. a building knocked down, a number of men on roofs of houses.

Reported to RSR who sent an Officer to 30 Rec Camp who confirmed our observations.

1944 Athens Map Rouf Area



RSR Sitrep, 10 December 1944. Found in War Diaries - Raiding Support Regiment - Dec 44 (WO 170-1364)

Local Ordnance Depot reported ELAS extending road blocks main Piraeus Road.

RSR under Lt Chalkley and Scawin attacked, supported by .50 caliber Browning guns.

Cleared two road blocks and captured communist Headquarters.

.50 Cal. very effective against building. 5 (ELAS) wounded and some booty.

2 Para Bde Sitrep: 10 Dec 44.

RSR: Machine Gun positions covering railway crossings at 353444. Numerous road blocks in area. All being cleared.

Otherwise NTR (nothing to report)

Sadly some HQ war diaries use "NTR" way too often which doesn't help our research.

If I find anything more I will post it here.

Gus

 

Excellent, thanks.

 

Hi Lockdown.

RSR Sitrep, 25 December 1944. Found in War Diaries - Raiding Support Regiment - Dec 44 (WO 170-1364)

Heavy fire ? (corrupted text in signal) regimental weapons also mortars firing on D/F (defensive fire) task.

Casualties: Lt Scawin (186121) wounded but not evacuated. L/Bdr (Lance Bombardier) R C Stevenson (5949961). Gunner George Edward Turner (2080748)

FMP British Army Casualty lists on FMP support this by stating your father was wounded in Greece but no date reported.

2 Para Bde Sitrep: 25 Dec 44

RSR (under command of 4 Para Btn from 12/12/44) : 2 Browning Mgs 35854495 OP (Observation Post) at Rd junc 35824497. 4.2 inch mortars fired on area 3?1454.

2 Para Bde Sitrep: 26 Dec 44

2345 (on 25/12: RSR fired on from west of railway. Counter fire (mortar task 2) and MG task (LION) brought down. Fire successful and enemy firing ceased.

Officer returns suggest your father joined the RSR from the Gloustershire Regiment in 24/11/43.

Lt Chalkley, your fathers best man, joined the RSR on 29/11/43 from Royal Armoured Corps.

Your parents marriage notice suggests he joined the parachute regiment after the RSR was probably disbanded.

Glamorgan Gazette - 30 August 1946






London Gazette supports this

SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 18 JANUARY, 1946



Gus

 

Thanks.

Here I can help out.

Dad was commissioned into the Glosters via OCTU as a 2nd Lt. CO was Col Vickary who he worshipped. Vickary moved on (??) or retired (??) and the new CO wasn't to his liking. A note appeared on a Bn noticeboard asking for recruits for the Paras. He went (so did many others). Then volunteered for RSR. Then back to Paras 4th Bn (I think) then Glosters ?post war?.

He was shot thro the right forearm in Athens directing fire into a building held by the opposition (note don't stick your arm out of a window when people are shooting in your general direction). Luckily the bullet went through a fleshy bit and didn't hit bone, otherwise...

He was hit previously while first going into N Greece. They were shipped from Italy into north Greece (I don't know the landing site) and then marched inland with a mule train. Presumably there was a leak somewhere as they were ambushed by the Germans and came under mortar fire. Dad got a bit of mortar bomb in the back of his thigh and was evac'd back to the coast over a mule. Very undignified he said. Was air dropped back in with a supply drop after being patched up. He carried that piece of offending metal with him until sometime in the 1960's when it wore a hole in his pocket and was lost.

Somewhere along the line he made Capt (temporary rank???), at which he was married. The above marriage details are accurate.

The H initial was for Harold (not Howard as in some references).. The Neville name was in memory of someone who would have been his uncle has he not been killed in April 1918 serving with the Machine Gun Corps.

How do you do personal messages here?