- SURNAME
Moran
- FORENAME
John Patrick (Spike)
- UNIT
SOE Greece
- RANK
Second Lieutenant
- NUMBER
251736
- AWARD
Military Cross,Greek Military Cross
- PLACE
Greece 1943
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
parent unit Royal Engineers (58 Bomb Disposal Section,formerly known as 34 BDS,Cyprus)
later Major
E-mail from his son Patrick
Hi John, Firstly I'd like to congratulate you on such a great website. I stumbled across it whilst trawling the internet to research my fathers military history. He died when I was aged 10 so I never had any discussions with him about his days in WW2. I have photo's, newspaper clippings featuring him and various army documents of his, that kick-started my research. I've recently discovered 2 books that feature him; 'Greek Assignments SOE 1943 - 1948 UNSCOB' by Michael Ward and 'A Greek Experience 1943 -1948' by Nigel Clive. Both very interesting reads. I would very much like to add my late father, Major John Patrick (Spike) Moran (Army number: 251736), to your Roll of Honour. He was awarded the Greek Military Cross for his efforts in Greece after parachuting into the mountains in Epirus, Greece, in 1943 after having joined SOE as a fluent Greek speaker. His parent regiment was Royal Engineers 58 section Bomb Disposal (formerly called 34 section BD, I believe) and based in Cyprus. He was in Greece with Christopher (Monty) Woodhouse, my brothers Godfather incidentally, and Cecil (Tom) Barnes, the latter of which was attached along with my father to General Zervas of EDES, one of the resistance/partisan/andartes group leaders. It's become clear from my readings that my fathers strongest points were his expertise in sabotage and his charm & friendliness. My mother is currently digging out old photo's for me - will offer more for your website if welcomed. The one I am attaching to this e-mail is of my dad in Greece taken by Nigel Clive the author of A Greek Experience and features in his book.
After the war my father stayed on in Greece as a British observer for UNSCOB which ended in 1952.
In civilian life he was a Civil Engineer living in England and Cyprus.
Born: 10 June 1920 Newcastle, UK
Died: 11 March 1979 Cyprus
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