MNBDO1

Discussion in 'Commandos & Royal Marines' started by Sjb007, Jan 28, 2012.

  1. Sjb007

    Sjb007 Member

    My father William Baker EX1278, was a driver in the L&M Group, MNBDO1, Royal Marines and was in Crete, Egypt, Ceylon, South Africa during the war. I would like to find out any information about where he was, what his unit did. He was hospitalised Aug-Oct 1942 but cannot find out where or why this was. Sadly my father died in 1982 and I have only been able to obtain sketchy service records for him.

    Service History known:

    William Baker EX1278(T) Landing & Maintenance Unit, MNBDO1 - Qualified Driver/Mechanic
    29 Jan 1940 - 22 Mar 1940 : Portsmouth Division - CO F B Clifford
    23 Mar 1940 - 17 Jun 1944 : HBL MNBDO 1 - CO W Sinclair
    Feb 1941 : Egypt
    Apr 1941 : Arr Port Said
    Dates Unknown : Crete
    22 Aug 1942 - 20 Oct 1942 : Hospital
    1943 : RM Tech Training Depot
    1943 : Ceylon
    18 Jun 1944 - 25 Feb 1945 : RM Training Group (W) - CO F W Phillips
    1944 : Combined Ops Base Brightlingsea
    26 Feb 1945 - 12 Oct 1945 : RM MT School - CO H C Smith
    13 Oct 1945 - 31 Dec 1945 : Portsmouth Division - CO W W Grover / J H Cawley Way

    Medals
    1939-45 Star
    Africa Star
    Defence Medal
    War Medal 1939/45

    RFR No. CHB4347
    24 Jun 1949 - 21 Aug 1955 : Enrolled in RFR Class B
    3 Sep 1951 - 9 Sep 1951 : RM Deal
    8 Aug 1954 - 14 Aug 1954 : TTC (RM Eastney)
    5 Mar 1957 : Discharge from RFR
     

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  2. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

  3. PsyWar.Org

    PsyWar.Org Archive monkey

    MNBDO1 is Mobile Naval Base Defence Organisation 1.
    L & M Group is Landing and Maintenance Group/Unit.


    There are number of war diaries for different units in the L & M Group at the National Archives in the ADM 202 series.

    e.g. This war diary might prove interesting: ADM 202/177, Landing and Maintenance Group/Unit (later Landing and Maintenance Detachment, Middle East Forces, then Transport Company and Landing and Maintenance Details, then Landing and Maintenance Unit, then 1 Landing Company) 1940 May - 1944 Apr

    Lee
     
  4. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

  5. Sjb007

    Sjb007 Member

    Hi Clive

    Thanks for that, the information I have for my father is from his service records, as I said very sketchy! Is there any where else I can find further information?

    Sarah
     
  6. Sjb007

    Sjb007 Member

    Thanks Lee

    I will try and see what information I can obtain from there.

    Sarah
     
  7. idler

    idler GeneralList

    Advanced Base may be of interest for background. The blurb doesn't mention MNDBOs per se, but it is a training film about the RM's roles.
     
  8. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Hi Clive

    Thanks for that, the information I have for my father is from his service records, as I said very sketchy! Is there any where else I can find further information?

    Sarah

    Hello Sarah

    if you could scan and post the records forum members may be able to add a bit more information.

    regards
    Clive
     
  9. Steve Mac

    Steve Mac Very Senior Member

    Welcome to the forum Sarah - enjoy!

    Best,

    Steve.
     
  10. Sjb007

    Sjb007 Member

    Hi Steve

    Thank you for your welcome. I have updated my father's details and hope someone might have some more info.

    Sarah
     
  11. Sjb007

    Sjb007 Member

    Hi Clive

    Have added my father's details and a photo album. Hopefully some members might be able to shed some light.

    Best wishes
    Sarah
     
  12. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

    Hi Sarah,
    MNBDO was part of the defence force for Crete from late 1940 and early 1941.
    About battalion size it was placed around Suda (Souda or sometimes Sunda) Bay.
    It would be worth getting the diaries Lee has mentioned and perhaps looking for the many books covering the battle and evacuation of Crete.
    Good luck.

    Mike
     
  13. Sjb007

    Sjb007 Member

    Hi Mike

    Thanks, will order them now!

    Sarah
     
  14. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

    Just to add:

    Feb 1941 : Egypt
    Apr 1941 : Arr Port Said

    Those dates make a lot of sense as Crete was effectively a forward Naval base during the Greece campaign and MNBDO personnel could well have been sent to Crete from Egypt.
    Crete was invaded by German forces in April 1941 and Allied troops were evacuated over several days mid - late April. Troops successfully taken off would have been taken to North African harbours such as Port Said (at the northern end of the Suez Canal) which was a major base at the time.
     
  15. Sjb007

    Sjb007 Member

    Hi Mike

    I'm just finding out about all this and it makes no sense to me at the moment! Could MNBDO have been sent to Egypt and then to Crete, then back to Egypt, or have I misunderstood???

    Sarah
     
  16. idler

    idler GeneralList

    Haven't seen this posted yet: one of the RM Museum's Unit Histories covers the MNBDOs (about a third of the way down the page): RM Unit Histories Part 3
     
    Richard Allen 1963 likes this.
  17. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

    Sarah,

    This is the extract Idler was referring to from RM museum unit histories:

    MNBDO I
    Formation was approved as of 12 September 1939,6 with an establishment of 78 officers and 2,150 other ranks, but the equipment available was only a fraction of that authorised (e.g. six searchlights out of 48, 17 vehicles out of 75). Arrangements were made to train tradesmen, AA gun crews, searchlight crews, and gunnery and wireless instructors, at army establishments.7 The establishment was reviewed by a small HQ set up on 29 January 1940, when a provisional strength of 202 officers and 4,089 other ranks was proposed. During February HQs were also set up for the Air Defence Group, the Land Defence Force and the Coast Defence Group. Brig Weston took command on 1 March and four days later the HQ Wing was formed with a Provost Company, Survey Section, HQ Defence Platoon and some other administrative Sections. The Landing and Maintenance Group was formed in May 1940,8 absorbing officers and men with experience of building piers, and handling stores and vehicles over open beaches, etc. Other subunits were formed from time to time, as shown in the unit history summaries for beach units, artillery regiments and battalions.
    The majority of men in the Organisation were ‘HOs’, as were eventually nearly all the junior officers. The first 2,010 recruits joining the organisation in mid–February 1940 went from depots and their homes to: 1st RM AA Rgt at Arborfield, Carlisle and Blandford; 11th RM Searchlight Regiment at Taunton and Yeovil; the Land Defence Force (later 11th RM Bn) at Browndown; and the Coast Artillery Brigade with its HQ at Fort Cumberland and Hayling Island camp.
    The MNBDO HQ in 1940 provided a training party in June — about the time of the retreat from Dunkirk — to advise army coastal batteries on techniques and equipment. Many subunits were detached; and, under army command, were employed in AA and other Home Defence deployments (see subunits’ history summaries). During the invasion scare the HQ stood to for 72 hours from 7 to 9 September. On 21 November the AA units with the army were put at seven days’ notice to revert to RM command. Exercises and training continued; then from the strength of 4,501 on 1 December 1940,11 500 experienced men were provided for MNBDO II and replaced by recruits.
    The HQ at Fort Cumberland was closed on 4 February 1941, and the Organisation sailed for the Middle East. After a five–day visit to Durban (South Africa), the men reached Tahal Camp in Egypt on 23 April and came under command of the C–in–C Middle East. Three ships carrying heavy gear reached Haifa (Palestine) the next day, and the equipment, guns, etc. were reloaded tactically during the next few weeks by men from the MNBDO, Meanwhile General Weston took elements of the Organisation to Crete, where they landed on 9 May and were in action as infantry during the German airborne landings and subsequent fighting (see chapter 3). There were nearly 1,200 casualties, mostly prisoners, from the MNBDO units.
    During the rest of 1941 the units were brought up to strength and reorganised. General Weston hoped to use the Organisation in the Far East and resisted attempts to have subunits detached, but in February 1942 1st RM (Heavy) AA Regiment went to Ceylon. 1st Coast Regiment with the Landing and Maintenance details, fortified island bases in the Indian Ocean. Various subunits had been in action while MNBDO I was in the Mediterranean, but the majority of time was spent in anti–aircraft defences and in training. All the searchlight units in the Canal Zone came under the command of the RM searchlight group for a time.
    The stores depot from Fort Cumberland moved to Geneifa (north of Port Tewfik) in 1941, and its staff, along with other elements then in Egypt, followed the AA Regiment to the Far East in 1943. Major General W. B. F. Lukis took over from general Weston in April 1943; and the HQ of MNBDO I closed in the middle east on 16 June 1943 and reopened in Colombo (Ceylon, modern Sri Lanka) on 27 June. This HQ commanded two Mobile Naval Base Brigades organised for the defence of Ceylon and training for operations in Burma. The two AA regiments — 1st RM Rgt in India, 2nd RM Rgt in Ceylon — were also administered by the HQ of MNBDO I in Ceylon, until they returned to the UK, along with the personnel of the two Brigades, during the spring of 1944. The personnel were remustered that summer for landing craft, commando and other duties, the HQ finally being disbanded in September 1944, when the principal AA units formed 5 RM AA Brigade.

    So it appears they were sent to Egypt then to Crete then evacuated back to Egypt. The date of May 1941 for dispatch to Crete seems to indicate they were sent shortly before the German invasion and those not killed, wounded or captured were later evacuated back to Egypt by Naval vessels. My mistake in previous post - evacuation was mid - end of May not April.
     
  18. Sjb007

    Sjb007 Member

    Hi Mike

    Thanks for the info. There still seems to be some gaps in the unit history and its very confusing with all the sub-units. One of the pictures I added has Durban written on it, so I am assuming my father was there at some point also. In particular, I would like to know where, when and why my father was hospitalised, possibly in Crete/Ceylon if he was with his unit? Will keep searching for info!

    Thanks again
    Sarah

    Sarah
     
  19. Sjb007

    Sjb007 Member

    Hi Idler

    Thanks for info and link - have not seen this before. Thank you.

    Sarah
     
  20. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

    Sarah, he was in Durban:

    The HQ at Fort Cumberland was closed on 4 February 1941, and the Organisation sailed for the Middle East. After a five–day visit to Durban (South Africa), the men reached Tahal Camp in Egypt on 23 April and came under command of the C–in–C Middle East.

    As he was hospitalised 22nd August to 20th October 1942 it would not have been in Crete as Crete had fallen to the Germans in May 1941.
    It appears that the unit was somewhat scattered and is difficult to say where he was in Aug - Oct 1942 without knowing exactly what he we was doing at the time. If he was definately in 'Landing and Maintenance' then the following would seem to apply:

    in February 1942 1st RM (Heavy) AA Regiment went to Ceylon. 1st Coast Regiment with the Landing and Maintenance details, fortified island bases in the Indian Ocean.

    If you have the service record it might be worth scanning it and posting here. Someone might be able to deduce some further useful snippets.
     

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