The Collection of Second World War and Modern Gallantry Awards formed by the late William Oakley


‘Until dawn 3 Commando had a marvellous time, shooting up everything which came along, until the road approaches to the bridge were littered with overturned or burning vehicles, but their arrival had been detected and the Germans began to mortar their positions heavily and, never slow to react, soon brought up a Tiger tank, which began to flay the Commando positions with its 88mm. gun, while staying sensibly out of range of their only anti-tank weapon, the infantry PIAT. A party, sent to stalk the tank could not get close enough over the open ground, and German paratroopers were moving up to box in the troops, causing a steady stream of casualties.


By 0430 hours, with no sign of 50th Division, the Commando position was becoming untenable. They had many wounded, their positions in the open valley could be overlooked and enfiladed, enemy infantry were arriving in ever increasing numbers and the tank kept rumbling about behind the ridges, appearing at regular intervals to put down more fire. The only thing missing was 50th Division, held up by the enemy at Lentini some miles away. Around 0500 hours, Durnford Slater gave the order to withdraw from the bridge in small parties, either to lie up in the hills until the Eighth Army finally arrived or, if possible, infiltrate back to their own lines. Widely deployed and still under tank fire, the Commando withdrew. They were forced to leave the wounded behind, to be captured by parachute troops from the 4th Brigade of the Hermann Goering 1st Parachute Division, who looked after them well - a kindness No. 3 Commando was able to repay a few weeks later at Termoli.’


And, as confirmed by Peter Young, the wounded were cared for by Walsh in a cave, with the assistance of a German doctor, for, in common with large numbers of the Commando, he had indeed been taken prisoner: but when the Germans fell back, he made his escape.


No. 3 Commando, which was slowly reformed over the next few days, lost a total of five officers and 23 men killed, four officers and 62 men wounded and eight officers and 51 men missing - some 45% of the unit’s strength. So impressed was Montgomery, that he later ordered Durnford Slater to have a slab of stone, carved with the unit name, cemented into the Punta dei Malati Bridge, where it remains to this day.


Termoli - October 1943


On the night of October 2-3 October 1943, as part of during Operation “Devon”, the 2nd Special Service Brigade, which comprised No. 3 Commando, 40 (Royal Marine) Commando and the Special Raiding Squadron landed by sea and cleared the town of most of its German defenders. During the first day these forces set up road blocks around the town and were joined by British infantry advancing across the Biferno river to the south-east. They did not know that the 16th Panzer Division was on its way to create a new defensive line. On 4 October British reinforcements arrived by sea and land, but tanks were unable to cross the river until engineers completed a bridge for heavy traffic. On 5 October the Panzers attacked, pushing much of the British line back in disarray. At the end of the day they were only a short distance from the town. However, further reinforcements arrived at the port, and the engineers completed their bridge allowing our tanks to cross. On 6 October the Germans renewed their attack, but it soon stalled and the British, with Canadian tanks in support, counter-attacked. They were successful and by 7 October the Germans were pulling back to their next line of defence.


As cited in the above recommendation, Walsh distinguished himself on the 5th, the day the Panzers moved in. D-Day - June 1944


No. 3 Commando returned to the U.K in January 1944, in readiness for the coming Allied invasion at Normandy. The Commando’s allotted task on D-Day was to land with 1st Commando Brigade at La Breche to the west of Ouistreham. They were then meant to advance four miles to the bridges over the River Orne, and if the bridges had been destroyed, they were to ferry themselves over in rubber boats. They were then to continue their advance in a north-easterly direction, seizing the high ground near Le Plein.


Peter Young describes the run-in to the beaches, including a close-call for Walsh and his comrades in No. 6 Troop:


‘The enemy fire by now was far too accurate to be pleasant, and the small craft were rocked by the explosions from near misses while shell splinters rattled on the decks. Away to the left a tank landing craft was burning fiercely and the crew were seen scrambling off as the ammunition exploded. Three of the Commando’s craft received direct hits from high-velocity shells. No. 6 Troop’s was badly holed and all the three-inch mortar ammunition exploded. The Troop sustained at least twenty casualties before the craft beached. Nevertheless, in view of the sustained and accurate enemy fire, overall casualties during the landing were much less than expected ... The beach was negotiated without much difficulty in spite of wire and obstacles, and soon the Commando was being assembled under cover of the houses between the sand dunes and the road. It was a scene of confusion. Large numbers of troops lying about in the sand dunes and very little appeared to be happening, although the enemy were maintaining sporadic mortar fire.’


No. 3 moved off the beach “at the double” and, with occasional halts for clearance purposes, made their way to “Pegasus Bridge” on the River Orne, where they linked up with the Airborne before proceeding to the vital high ground around Le Plein.


A few days later, at Chateau D’Amfreville on 10 June 1944, Walsh once more came to Peter Young’s notice for volunteering to assist the depleted ranks of No. 1 Troop - ‘the first man to step forward was Walsh, the old Irish Guardsman, a very cool man under fire.’ Young, undoubtedly exasperated by the failure of his previous recommendations for Walsh’s gallantry at Vaagso and Termoli, now put Walsh up for the D.C.M. and endorsed a copy of the document which he gave to to him - ‘You have won your award at least three times over.’


The Commando remained actively employed in the Normandy operations until early September, when the whole returned to the U.K. in readiness for deployment to the Far East in 1945: an indication of the severity of the fighting encountered in France may be gleaned from the Brigade’s casualties - of the 146 officers and 2252 other ranks that had landed on D-Day, 77 officers and 890 other ranks became casualties.


Walsh, who received his M.M. at Buckingham Palace and was demobilised in December 1945, died in December 1973.


Sold with a wartime typescript of the recommendation for his M.M., with accompanying hand written endorsement from Peter Young, dated 17 July 1944, and a quantity of research, including a number of letters from veterans of No. 3 Commando.


www.dnw.co.uk


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