SAS Riley, Charles George Gibson (Pat)

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John Robertson

John Robertson

Administrator
Staff member
  • SURNAME
Riley ​
  • FORENAME
Charles George Gibson (Pat) ​
  • UNIT
L Detachment SAS ​
  • RANK
Sergeant (A/Warrant Officer Second Class) (CSM) ​
  • NUMBER
2656281 ​
  • AWARD
Distinguished Conduct Medal ​
  • PLACE
North Africa 1942 ​
  • ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
parent unit 1 Bn Coldstream Guards​
born 24.11.1915 Red Granite, Wisconsin, U.S.A.​
8 Commando 1941​
L Detachment SAS 1941-42 (Sgt)​
1 SAS (RSM) 1942-43​
O.C.T.U.​
Special Raiding Squadron (1 Troop) 1943 (2 Lt)​
1 SAS (A Squadron) 1944-45 (Lt)​
Cambridge Constabulary 1946​
Malayan Regiment (Major) 1950​
owner of Dolphin Hotel, Colchester 1955​
worked for Securicor 1958-80​
married Kaye Ward (died 1996) (1 son)​
died 9.2.1999 Hastings, East Sussex​
​
 

CITATION:

Distinguished Conduct Medal : This NCO led a party on the first Buerat raid, February 1942. The party placed demolition charges on many heavy enemy transport vehicles and on various dumps. By skilled and daring leadership he succeeded in bluffing the enemy sentries. Thereby he avoided giving any alarm which would have interfered with the work of other parties operating in the same area. He has shown the greatest gallantry and the highest qualities of leadership in other raids at Slonta and Nofilia in March, April 1942.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES:

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7369572
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Early April 2013 my 10 year old and 2.5 year old grandaughters found a brass "bed plate" in the stream in our garden in Northumberland, it is inscribed COLDSTREAM GUARDS C.RILEY 2656281,

My 10 year old grandaughter checked it on the internet and came across this forum within 30 minutes of finding it, while she was doing research I asked one of my elderly neighbours who is 93 this year ( he was in the RWAFF West African Frontier Force) if he knew of a C Riley !!! Yes he indeed did know of C Riley, in fact he used to live in the house that my neighbour now lives in !! Apparently his wife died and he met another woman and move to Gilsland about 10 miles away from the village of Halton Lea Gate in Northumberland.

According to my neighbour he did not have any children, how did it get into the stream ?? , according to my neighbour, people in the village used to dump things they no longer wanted/needed in the stream, I asked them if they know he was born in the USA and that he was in the SAS and had received a Distinguished Conduct Medal, although they immediatley knew who he was when I mentioned C Riley, they were not aware of these facts and found it very interesting.
CRILEY))).jpg
 
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