It would seem that your Grandfathers full medal entitlement (which was issued to him 3 Oct 1948) is: 1939 - 1945 Star Italy Star Defence medal War Medal TD
This is what happened after Oct 1943 - http://ww2talk.com/index.php?attachments/granda-service-and-casualty-jpg.192629/
Looks as if he transferred to the SAS in Jan 1943 and SBS in April 1943 when it was formed and which was then based at Haifa I think. The last port of disembarkation is Basra in Iraq and then he is with PAIFORCE which is Palestine and Iraq and then Middle Eastern Forces. So I don't think he went to North Africa. He was involved with the invasion of Madagascar could that have been where the Malaria and the story of Burma come from getting confused after being passed down?
Hello TD, I think the service record shows him arriving in Iraq in August 1942 with 2 Skins, transferring to the SAS for training in Jan 1943 and to the SBS in April 1943 and staying with them until returning to the UK. I think the SBS was operating from Palestine then. Did the SBS operate from North Africa in 1943? If not then I don't think he ever went to North Africa.
The details also state: 1 day of operational service in the army If he was training with the SBS then that wouldn't be 'operational' I dont think TD
And the records seem to show this happening in the PAIFORCE area of Palestine and Iraq and I don't think this area qualified for the Africa Star.
obviously if he had stayed with 2 Skins then he would have faced any number of difficult encounters in Italy up to the end of April 1945 with 5th Div and then the Irish Brigade/78th Div.....one of those choices. Persia and Iraq (PAI) was a pretty rum posting by all accounts...ending up in the inner near Kirkuk or some such.. For his Italian episode in an "unknown destination", perhaps look up the battle period near Termoli in late Sept/early October..
No I remember him telling me he was in Burma and they got pinned down the gurkha's had to come in and get them our and one of them gave him his Kukri when he had Malaria attacks he referenced the Japanese attacks which seemed brutal
Hi hammy From his record he was only in and around Bombay for a month or two, and for two weeks of that he was in hospital (1 - 15 July 1942). In fact he disembarked 02/06/1942 and later re-embarked 17/08/1942 for Basra (Iraq). Anywhere in India he would be likely to catch malaria, in fact he could have caught it in Madagascar when he was there for 2 weeks (6 - 19 May 1942), in fact just before travelling to India. It would seem that he would not have been in a fit state for front line operational service or would have been there long enough to receive specialist training for Burma TD
Thanks Dicky I will have to do some more research unfortunately my Uncle just passed away last night and he was a great source for info
Must be something more in the records office I have not received as they sent me a form to claim for the Africa star today so fingers crossed
Any chance My Grandad went to Burma with the 1st skins to aid The Battle for Central Burma He was supposed to be there only a short time before they got rescued by the Gurkha's ????? The Irish infantry regiments were represented in the Burma Campaign only by 1st Bn Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, but it is certain that there were very many more Irishmen present, serving with other regiments. The 1st Inniskillings were then serving in Singapore, but shortly moved to the popular Hill Station of Wellington in Southern India, where they were located at the outbreak of World War H. When Japan entered the war, the Inniskillings formed part of the weak and ill-equipped force committed to defend Burma. Heavily involved in the dreadful retreat of 1942, they eventually reached Assam after months of fighting and marching, an exhausted remnant of a once fine battalion. It says much for their spirit that within months they had absorbed drafts of replacements, re-trained
Just received this today it's been a long battle but got his medal in the end Dear Mr Hamilton Thank you for your application concerning your grandfather George Hamilton’s medal entitlement. We have now received his service records and after a lot of research the following medal has been approved and is waiting dispatched. AFRICA STAR Medal Assessor MODMO
In February 1941, 8 Commando was detached to Layforce being sent to the Middle Eastern theatre. Once in the Mediterranean the Folbot section officially became the Special Boat Section and began training aboard Royal Navy submarines. Operating in two man groups they conducted recces, sabotage raids on high-value communications targets, and agent drops amongst the Mediterranean islands and the Italian coast. Equipment was primitive – unsuitable boats, no radios, improvised torches, no wetsuits or drysuits – but the SBS was resourceful and cunning, and were scoring successes. The SBS was 60 all ranks in size by December 1941; Courtney was promoted to Major and ordered back to Britain to establish a second special boat unit. The SBS continued raiding, reconnaissance and agent insertions along the North African coast Courtney’s departure as an independent entity, using RN submarines out of Alexandria, and later MTBs. However, the growing success of David Stirling’s SAS drew all of the Middle Eastern raiding forces including the SBS closer to the SAS. After a disastrous raid on Rhodes when only two men returned from 10, the SBS was absorbed into the 1st SAS Regiment in September 1942. The SBS ended up in 1 SAS’s D Squadron together with troops from the Greek Sacred Squadron. 1 SAS was subdivided into two units on David Stirling’s capture in January 1943,
Need your help guy's trying hard to prove my Grandad was in Burma as I spoke off before, I found a picture of the no 1 commandos and he is number 262 in the picture dated in 1943 I then checked up on their operations and found operation screwdriver which was on 11th march 1944 to 15th march 1944 which would collaborate with what I have been told by my family I see it mentions on the service casualty form he was admitted to general hospital 18/4/44 then embarked for the UK from SOS.MEF 5/5/44 do you think I have a case Operation Screwdriver Primary tabs Date commenced: Saturday, March 11, 1944 Location Alethangyaw Myanmar 20° 41' 26.9988" N, 92° 24' 20.0016" E Units: 44RM Commando 5 Commando A raid from the sea on the the village of Alethangyaw ( also spelt as Alethankyaw ) and the surrounding areas near to Maungdaw to harrass the enemy. The initial assault was made by 44RM Commando. They were relieved on the 15th March by No 5 Commando. On the 21st March 44RM Commando again returned to this operation in the area which continued into April.
