Brigadier John Durnford-Slater DSO & BAR - The First Commando
Major John Durnford-Slater, founder of No3
Commando
Picture Courtesy and Copyright of Allied
Assortment
Introduction
The more I find out about the history of the
members of this extended family, the more interesting this subject
becomes. The name John Durnford-Slater appears in our history as he was
married to Ethel Gladys (or Gladys Ethel) Ferdinando. The name had always
intrigued me as I had recognised it from a book I was reading about the Long
Range Desert Group. He had been mentioned in there as a fleeting reference
and then, shortly afterwards, there was a Television programme all about the
Commandos and up came the name again. After some research and a
general trawl of the internet I found that he had written a book
"Commando" recounting his part in the second World War and this
article is a combination of the information from that book and the other
references I have found.
I am also indebted to John Durnford -Slater's
Daughter and Granddaughter for their very kind assistance and corrections to
the family tree and for confirmation that, John Durnford-Slater was indeed who I
thought he might have been.
Back to Top
A Little Biography
John Durnford-Slater was born in 1909, The Son of
Captain L F Slater and C D Durnford Slater. He lived in the village of
Instow in North Devon and last saw his father on the 5th August 1914 when he was
5½ years old, for a month later Leonard Slater died in the Great War. He was 38
years old and he died on the 14th September 1914. John's father was
Captain in the 2nd Bn., Royal Sussex Regiment and he is commemorated on Grave
reference or panel I. C. 12 at Vendresse British Cemetery, Aisne, France.
John tells us very little about his early life and
we pick up his story after he had entered Woolwich at the age of 18½, six
months later his Army Career began in the Royal Artillery (1929). He served in
India for six years and returned to the UK in 1935. There are a number of
anecdotes in John's book including one where he met the actor Captain David
Niven who was a Staff Officer at Combined HQ who provided one of the early
briefings for a raid.
The book "Commando" gives us few insights
into the private man, this being a book specifically about the war and No.3
Commando's place in History. The remaining sections are some highlights
from that book. At the end are a few more notes sent to me by Chuck and
Ann Flanders. These quotes from a contemporary of John Durnford-Slater
give a little more insight into his character.
The Commandos - Shock Troops
Barely had Winston Churchill been made Prime
Minister and the Dunkirk evacuation was underway when it was decided to form a
group that would "take the fight" to the enemy. It was envisaged
that the UK would not be able to undertake major landings in Europe for some
considerable time and whilst there were fronts in Africa, it would be useful to
have a Commando operation used to carry out small scale raids anywhere along the
enemy front.
John Durnford-Slater was chosen to
command No. 3 Commando and they were set up in Largs in Scotland. John
Durnford-Slater's book, "Commando" provides a detailed account of how the troops
(volunteers all) were trained, how they were treated differently to the to those
in the general Army and of the necessary qualities each needed to possess in order to
continue to be part of this elite group. The volunteers had to find their
own accommodation, be supremely fit and had a highly developed team spirit,
failure to meet the standards set would result in summary dismissal from No. 3
Commando and having to rejoin their previous unit with all the shame that would
bring on them.
Early
in their history, No 3 Commando took part in a raid against the Channel Island
of Guernsey. The experiences of this raid made John Durnford-Slater more
determined than ever to perfect the formula for future raids. There
were many hard learnt lessons including the need for better cooperation and
communication between the services
to be worked on and the disappointment of this first raid was soon put behind
them as they went on to attack Lofoten and Vaagso Islands, destroying
factories and taking those who wished back to England. Here Durnford-Slater
was to be awarded his DSO and a number of other men in his unit were also
decorated for their courage.
Dieppe was a bit of a
non event for John as the boat he was travelling in was attacked before they
reached their main objective causing him to miss the main action which was,
unfortunately, far from a success. Casualties were heavy and the objectives were
not all met.
After Dieppe, No.3 Commando went to
Sicily as part of the invasion force. John Durnford-Slater recounts in his
book meetings with Montgomery and the naming of a bridge after the Commandos
after a highly successful raid by them. They operated ahead of the Allied
advance in Italy. In Northern Europe, the Commandos spearheaded the D-Day
landings in Normandy and were in the forefront of the action through the final
campaign of the War. In the 5 years the men of No. 3 Commando won 8 DSOs,
30 MCs, more than 30 MMs and 5 DCMs.
Back
to Top
A Précis of No.3 Commando and its part in WW2
The Following Information is from the
Allied Assortment Web Site Click
here for their site. Allied Assortment are a re-enactment group and
have been most helpful in providing the photograph at the head of this page and
the following information:
Formed in July 1940 from volunteers
for Commando service under the command of Brigadier John Durnford-Slater, No3
Commando took part in one of the first Commando raids of the war attacking the
Channel Island of Guernsey. The raid turned out to be poorly planned, but
a number of useful lessons were learned and applied to future operations. The
unit also took part in a large number of raids during the remainder of World War
II for instance the very successful raids on the Lofoten islands and Vaagso
islands.
Dieppe
In 1942 No3 Commando
took part in a raid on the Dieppe area, aimed at destroying the shore defences
to the south of that port. On this raid a small detachment from the 2nd Rangers
were to accompany them. Unfortunately this raid was a complete failure on the
Canadian side where over 500 men were lost and twenty-nine of the latest
Churchill tanks fell in to German hands. For the first time in Commando history
they used the American M1 Grande self-loading rifle, finding this was a very
useful weapon through the aspects of laying down fire. One drawback was that the
Grande only held a clip of eight rounds, compared to the ten rounds in the
magazine of the Lee Enfield.
In 1943 they fought
in Sicily where a bridge was dedicated to them by Field Marshal Montgomery, in
recognition of their tenacious fighting. No3 Commando also landed on the Italian
mainland, but were unable to contain German counter-attacks due to poor
logistical support.
Upon their return
from Italy, No3 Commando re-grouped at their home station of Largs, where they
recruited, and then trained heavily in time for the Invasion of Normandy.
D-Day (Operation Overlord)
Operation Overlord
(the codename for the Normandy landings) was the biggest military operation ever
launched. No3 Commando were attached to the 1st Special Service Brigade,
under the command of Brigadier-General Lord Lovat.
The plan was to land
the Brigade on Sword Beach, with the objective of moving inland to relieve the
British 6th Airborne Division at Pegasus Bridge near Caen.
Some months later,
as the war in Europe was entering its final stages, No3 Commando was used in the
final allied push across the Rhine.
After this short,
but glorious career, the unit was finally disbanded in 1946, deemed surplus to
requirements in the post-war world.
Back
to Top
Further Biographical Information
Chuck and Ann Flanders - In Sunny British Columbia, Canada - sent
me the following information (Thanks)
"In your e-mail you mention that you are waiting for
some information on John Durnford-Slater. We checked out bookshelves and found
the following references to him in the book "March Past", a memoir by
Lord Lovat., who was the Commander of the First Commando Brigade (published by
Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London 1978). The book is not a detailed history, but
it has many stories, some funny, that give an insight into the working of the
Commando and the persons involved. It also indicates that Durnford-Slater has
had some work published. The following are some excerpts from the Lovat book:
Page 148
There is an official history, and lively accounts
of all the big raids and subsequent campaigns have been published by close
personal friends - Derek Mills-Roberts, Peter Young and John Durnford-Slater -
all men of ability and sound good sense. I have made full use of their work.
Page 201
That night the wind dropped sufficiently for a
motor launch to take a few senior officers on a round of visits, first to
Geoffrey on Beatrix and the rest of the raiding force: No. 3 Commando and its
commander, Lieutenant-Colonel John Durnford-Slater. In an age when panegyric is
frowned upon, it is difficult to describe this genial sportsman. No one would
have been more indignant if presented as a paragon of virtue, and such he was
not, though all his faults were of a loveable kind. No beauty in appearance,
going bald, stocky and of medium height, with a jerky, short-stepping kind of
action, John Durnford-Slater spoke in a high voice, but the restless energy and
drive were immediately apparent. He knew what he wanted, and damned the hindmost
into heaps with a cheerful smile. John got the best out of his men and went down
well with the navy. A Devon man, he must have had hollow legs, for he could
drink all night in the mess, parade the next day as fresh as a daisy, train for
the morning and play a good game of Rugger in the afternoon. Sea-sickness was
his only weakness.
What constitutes a leader? My dictionary says, ‘A
man of deserved influence; one who shows official initiative; front horse in
tandem; a top shoot on a tree or a newspaper article’! There must be different
answers for different situations. For a soldier, leadership is that power to
inspire confidence in battle, or unforeseen crisis, where others fail: the
quality possessed by the individual of whatever rank, whose courage lifts lesser
men with the certainty that all will go well as long as he is there. John was
such a person. A regular in the Gunners, he had served in India, where, riding
with ten necks to spare, he reached the final heat of the Kadir Cup. Living on
his pay, with champagne tastes and a beer income, he somehow managed to ride and
train his own steeplechase horse. Flutters on the turf were to prove his
eventual downfall.
Page 216
If Colonel Lister continued to live on his nerves,
John Durnford-Slater had discovered a cure for sea-sickness. The recipe:
quantities of cheese and pickled onions washed down an hour before sailing with
a bottle of beer. Should weather conditions become rough this panacea was to be
tried out ‘on the home run through the Minches by those with queasy
stomachs’."
Back to Top
Bibliography
Commando, Brigadier Durnford-Slater D.S.O. &
BAR. "The Epic Account of a Famous Fighting Unit" Published by
Universal Tandem Publishing Co. Ltd, 1973
The Second World War, 1939-1945. "A
Popular Military History by various Authors in Eight Volumes. Norway, The
Commandos & Dieppe by Christopher Buckley. London. His Majesty's
Stationery Office 1951
Back to Top
Acknowledgements
John Durnford-Slater's Daughter and Granddaughter for their very kind assistance & Chuck and Ann Flanders - In Sunny
British Columbia, Canada for their interest and sending through the details they
had.
Back to Top
