- PHOTO GALLERY - INSIGNIA IN USE
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On this page you'll find a wide variety of examples
of the Combined Operations Insignia in use from the 1940s to the present day. If
you have any examples you're happy to share, please send them in with a brief
note for possible addition to this page. Please use the 'contact us' link at the
bottom of this page.
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Service Personnel ~
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My Father, Reg Coy served in No. 2 Commando and this photo was taken about
1942. See also shoulder flash and cap badge. He served in Greece, Albania, Yugoslavia
[where he was involved in training Tito's partisans], Italy, Sicily and
Sardinia. He began in the Territorials; as war broke out he joined the
Royal Artillery and volunteered for the Commandos in 1942. Clive Coy. |
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This photograph is of soldier John Rufford
Hodgett broadcasting on Radio Gibraltar. His son writes; My father
spoke little about his war service but I believe he was part of a mixed
group of men that set up communication posts in France. One year around
D-Day, while we watched the movie "The Longest Day," he said his lot wore
a white band around their helmets. I think he was in the Sherwood
Foresters. He was born in Keyworth, near Nottingham and died age 70 in
1993. John Hodgett
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Bill Newell writes from Canada; Many years ago before
I became aware of the existence of either the RN Commando Association
and crest or the Combined Ops. Association and Crest, I designed, and had
made, the one I now wear on my blazers. See Bills message at the
bottom of the RN Commando page. |
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No3 Commando taken at the 'MONTGOMERY
CLUB' Brussels on Wednesday March 15th 1945. Commandos on a two day
respite from the snow covered Holland countryside. |
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Grandchildren' of Jack 'taffy' Bennett No3 commando. Scott Thompson,
Louisa Davies, & Ross Morgan from
Caerphilly South Wales. Photo taken Sunday
June 6th 2004 at Benouville during the 60th
Anniversary ceremonies. Note the Combinedops Insignia
proudly displayed. |
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Canadian Army in England 1942-43. Sgt L G (Les) Ellis DCM, front
left, was an instructor at the 2nd Division Sniper School. Sgt Ellis was at
the time with the Royal Regiment of Canada. The CO patch is clearly visible
on his left arm. There
is a 2nd CO patch (just visible) on the left arm of the servicemen in the back
row 3rd from the left. |
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Instrument Section at RAF Dundonald in Ayrshire, Scotland.
516 Squadron was attached to Combined Operations and this may be the only
plane bearing a Combined Operations insignia. See
516 Squadron for information about the
squadron's role in Combined Operations training. |
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A Guard of Honour from No 9 Commando which was part of No 2 Commando
Brigade, Headquarters, Mediterranean Theatre on the 6th April 1945. They are
wearing a black feathered hackle in their Green Beret and also the round
version of the Combined Operations red design on dark blue with a shoulder
title of white letters on black. |
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Extract from official WW2 records
held at the Public Records Office, Kew, London. 19th Sept 1942 - US Army
are now wearing their own version of the Combined Operations Badge, which is
very similar to ours. These were worn by members of the Engineer Amphibian
Corp. These badges were produced with the American Eagle replacing the
original; embroidered in yellow on a light blue backing. Photo shows
provisions
being
delivered on Omaha Beach
on
D-Day + 2 or 3.
The
Combined Operations
insignia
are
on
the
left upper arms and on helmets.
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Les Ellis DCM CD wearing his many medals with pride including the coveted
Dieppe Bar (with the Combined Operations Insignia) on his Canadian Volunteer Service Medal.
Lance Corporal Ellis earned the Dieppe Bar and the Distinguished Conduct
Medal in the Dieppe action at Puys on August 19 1942. Les was born in Ogmo
Vale, Wales, UK and lives in Ontario, Canada. |
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LAC Karl Work in England shortly before his return to
Canada in 1945. He
served on Fighter Direction Tender 217off the Normandy beaches.
The FDTs provided radar cover, intelligence gathering and fighter
direction until land based mobile radar and communications units
established themselves in Normandy. Click here
for the full story of FDT 217 and her sister vessels FDTs 13 and
216. Insignia on lower arms. |
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Leading
Seaman, Harry ‘Dusty’ Millar, was a Gunnery Instructor at HMS Armadillo
between 1943 &1945. Harry's son
Robert said, I've been living in Australia for the past 33 years and hope
that somebody might remember him from those days. Sadly
my father died in December 1988 and seldom spoke about the war. If you have
any information likely to be of interest to Robert you can contact him at
deburgh@bigpond.com. (Photo; Harry taken outside his parent's home in
Bannockburn c 1943).
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This photo, taken sometime during 43/44, of
Henry John Clifford Elcome, known as Cliff to his friends. He joined the RAF in
1942 as a 'Volunteer Reserve,' later volunteering for the
RAF Servicing Commandos. He was
posted as a Leading Air Craftsman (LAC) to 3204 Unit where he took part in the Sicily/Italy invasions.
When the unit was disbanded in February 1944 he returned to the UK to serve in
the 2nd-Tactical Air Force at various UK bases.
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Telegraphist H .Ware. Photo taken July 1944 whilst
serving with No.16 Royal Navy beach signals section. (Photo
and information
courtesy of Michael Whittaker).
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Petty Officer Richard Hamer. Unit Unknown.
(Photo and information courtesy of Michael Whittaker).
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Harold R. Smith, Leading Seaman, RCNVR had
this photo taken in the spring of 1944. He was about 23 years old. He had been
wounded during the landing at Reggio [Italy] and was back in Canada at the time
of this photo. He volunteered for the RN Commandos in 1942 and was assigned to
LCI(L)115. He was one of two Canadians (the other being the Captain) on the
ship. He had been in action in North Africa, Sicily and Italy before being
wounded while his ship was reloading for a return trip to the landing beaches at
Reggio. He now lives on Vancouver Island in Courtenay, B.C., Canada with his
wife who he married in 1944.
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Wedding photo of Christian Chilton taken in May 1943 at the Metro
Studios, High Street, Slough. During WW2 he served in the Royal Navy under the
Combined Operations Command. From information provided by his grandson, Keith
Chilton, it's likely that his granddad served on landing craft ferrying soldiers
to the beaches of Normandy, although it's known that he took a Landing Craft
Tank to Scotland around the time he was demobilised. If anyone remembers
Christian Chilton please contact us. |
 ~ Medals
with Insignia ~
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Added to this Canadian Volunteer Service Medal is the Dieppe Bar with
the Combined Operations Insignia. The bar was awarded to those who
took part in the Dieppe Raid of August 19 1942. All ranks and
branches of the Canadian Armed Services were eligible for the CVSM on
honourable completion of 18 months total voluntary service between
3/9/39 and 1/3/47 while on active service. On this particular example
there is also the Overseas Service Bar which was awarded to those who
spent at least two months overseas. The inscription reads 1939 CANADA
1945 around the top and VOLUNTARY SERVICE VOLONTAIRE around the
bottom.
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Other ~
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A Commando Certificate made out to 14870625 Sgm. E.J.Timms. (R. Signals.)
confirming that he served in Commandos from July 1945 to November 1945.
The certificate was signed by Laycock, then Chief of Combined Operations,
on the 8th November 1945. (Courtesy of his son Dr Alan Timms).
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I bought a little wooden box at a car boot sale. On the inside of the lid,
inlaid into the wood, is a Combined Operations insignia with the
inscription '9 Commando, 14 August 1944, Sorrento.'
At the top are the initials G.R.B. I would really like to find out more
information about the soldier concerned. Can anyone help or offer advice?
Shaun Smoorefamily@aol.com
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Bill Newell was a member of a small Canadian Commando Unit designated 'W'
Commando. This is his
battle dress tunic with the round CO badge which was worn by all ranks. |
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It's Christmas 1945 and Headquarters ship, LCH 75, was on its way to
Norfolk, Virginia after being recalled while steaming eastwards in the
Indian Ocean. When she dropped anchor in Aden, Austin Prosser, gunnery
officer and watch keeping officer, sent a copy of the ship's Christmas Card
to his parents in England. Click here to read
Austin's account of his wartime service and to see the inside of the card. |
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This is 1:12th scale
DUKW nearing completion (working lights
still to be added). It
has a fully operational 6 wheel
drive/differential system, steering,
propeller and rudder. It is
fitted out as a WW2 Royal Marine amphibian.
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Memorial at Petiville, France. Under the command
of Lt Col Peter Young, No3 Commando, 1st Special Service Brigade, liberated
Petiville on August 17th 1944. The Combined
Operations insignia can be seen centre of the memorial.
(Photo courtesy of Bernard & Fay Robins). |
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I'm a tattoo artist in Chelmsley Wood,
Birmingham. Recently I tattooed the Combined Operations Insignia on
the right forearm of 78 year old Mr `Dicky` Bird. He
took part in 'Normandy June 6th 1944' and 'Walcheren November 1st 1944.'
I was so taken by this extraordinary character that I did a search for the
best insignia I could find, and, obviously, landed upon your site. It was
his first ever tattoo and he said he most definitely plans to have another
on his left forearm. May I commend you on a most informative & enjoyable
website. Thanks. Jon Davis. |
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This locally prepared festive poster from Christmas 1945 celebrates the
successful conclusion to WW2. If you'd like to read about RAF Dundonald,
which was part of the Combined Training Centre, read about
516 Squadron. |
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This memorial is sited outside the old regulating office at HMS Armadillo
at Ardentinny, Argyllshire, Scotland. It is now a picnic site. |
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This is the funnel badge of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's Sir Tristram taken
in June 2004. The legacy of WW2 Combined Operations lives on! In the
unlikely event that other examples of post WW2 insignia come in a separate
page similar to this one may be opened! |
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I note you're looking for examples of the Combined Ops insignia still in
use. Here are some examples: 1) The staff of the Commander UK Amphibious
Forces (COMUKAMPHIBFOR)... a Royal Marine Lt General. His staff wear the
badge on their right arm in black on green; 2) the funnels of all UK
Amphibious Shipping, HMS Fearless L10 and Intrepid L11 (now
decommissioned), HMS Ocean L12 (LPH), HMS Albion L14 (LPD) and HMS Bulwark
L15 (LPD) and all the RFAs Sir Tristram, Bedivere, Galahad etc. as per
your example immediately above. (Information and photo
courtesy of Sgt Tom Clow RM, LCU Coxn). Other photos welcome.
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This shoulder patch is currently (May 05) used by the UK Joint Force Air
Component Headquarters, based at High Wycombe. The JFACHQ was formed in Apr
2000, adopting a variation of the Combined Operations badge as already used
by the deployable Joint Force Headquarters at Northwood. Since formation,
the JFACHQ has deployed on operations including PALLISER (Sierra Leone),
ORACLE/VERITAS (Afghanistan) and TELIC (Iraq). A new patch, more
recognisable as unique from the JFHQ, is under development however, although
it will retain the Combined Operations badge as its centrepiece. [N.D.] |
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Memorial at Ouistreham.
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~ Postscript
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The use of the Combined Operations badge since WW2 is
unclear, at least to the editor. However the badge is still in use today as this
e-mail and the funnel badge above confirm.
The Combined Ops badge is currently worn by the staff of the
Joint
Force Headquarters (JFHQ) which is the deployable element of the UK's
Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) based in Northwood. This explains why it is
worn by a large variety of cap badges and all three
services. PJHQ staff wear a similar badge, smaller but on a square background of
the three colours of the Services (i.e.
Dark Blue for Navy, Red for Army and light blue for the RAF). I know - I used to
wear one!
Any information on the post war period will be warmly
welcomed. Use the 'contact us' link at the bottom of this page.
~ Further Reading
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On this website read about the
design and development
of the Combined Operations Insignia and see
examples in close-up
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