Royal Air Force Servicing Commandos

Roll of Honour

Those who died.

(Extract from RAF Servicing Commandos pages 148-150)

On a careful study of the Official Permanent Historical Records for each of the Servicing Commando Units, together with other information supplied by ex-members of the units where sections of the Official History are missing, the recorded total number of deaths was fortunately very low.

When bearing in mind the kind of Army-type Commando training that was undertaken, the invasion landings, air raids, artillery shelling of airfields, bombing and strafing that were encountered, only seventeen names are listed out of approximately 2,400 officers and men who volunteereed or were posted to the units.

Their known graves are now given in accordance with the records held at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Head Office at Maidenhead, Berks, together with those lost at sea.

All units had casualties caused through motor vehicles, accidents, mishaps or other causes. The total loss of life, together with the vital loss of unit technical equipment for the whole period of the various SCU's was a very low percentage.

Even though the landings on the Normandy beaches had their problems for the units involved, with a landing craft being blown up by an E-boat and two trucks failing to make the shore, the loss of life was minimal, bearing in mind the circumstances that prevailed at the time.

The names of those who died are recorded in style at the RAF Memorial at Runnymede in the atmosphere of a quiet imtimate garden, with a cloister and shrine on a hilltop overlooking the River Thames, with Windsor Castle in the distance, but without reference to the RAF or Commonwealth War Graves Commission records, this Memorial does not tell us where servicemen have died or where they have been buried. Many ex-Commandos never know where there dead colleagues were buried or even attended the burial service.

So now after many years we the ex-members of the 15 SCI's now honour our dead, with a list of their names in alphabetical order, together with other details as officially recorded.

"Lest We Forget"