‘X’ Battery, Royal Marines

United Kingdom: April 1940 – February 1941

1st Coast Artillery Brigade, R.M.

The ‘X’ Battery, Royal Marines was formed at Eastney Barracks, Portsmouth on 1st April 1940 as part of the 1st Coast Artillery Brigade, R.M.  The Battery was equipped with two 4-inch coast guns and was commanded by Captain F.P.S. Sketchley, R.M.  Initial training took place at Fort Cumberland, Portsmouth until May when orders were received for the Battery top deploy on the Humber River near Hull.  On 19th May, the Battery arrived at Immingham and went into billets at Grimsby before moving to set up camp and guns pits at Stallingborough on 21st May.  From late May into August, a number of air raid warnings occurred and on 21st June four bombs fell near the camp but there were no casualties.[1]

On 20th August 1940, the Battery moved to the north bank of the Humber to Sunk Island.  The Battery remained there until a warning order was received on 24th November to dismount the guns in preparation for service overseas.  However, dismounting did not begin until 30th December and on 6th January 1941 the first group of Marines was sent on embarkation leave.  Captain Sketchley had left the Battery on 21st November and was temporarily replaced by Captain D. Johnston, R.M. on 16th December.  Captain A.L. Fleet, R.M took over command of the Battery on 1st January 1941.  Finally, on 4th February, together with ‘Devon’ Battery, ‘X’ Battery went by train to Glasgow where at King George V Dock the two batteries boarded the H.M.T. Bergensfjord, along with the Headquarters, 1st Coast Artillery Brigade, R.M.  The ship moved down the Clyde to Greenock before sailing with Convoy WS 6A from Oversay on 9th February.  The ship arrived at Durban where the men disembarked on 26th March before re-embarking on 1st April to sail for Egypt.[2]

Egypt and Crete: April 1941 – May 1941

Royal Marine Group, M.N.B.D.O. I

The Battery disembarked at Port Tewfik on 22nd April 1941 and moved to El Tahag Camp.  On 1st May, the Battery moved to El Quassassin Station and went to Port Said where it embarked upon the H.M.T. City of Canterbury, ready to go to Crete.  Although other elements of the 1st Coast Artillery Brigade, R.M. also embarked on board the ship, these disembarked on 3rd May and returned to camp.  The ‘X’ Battery however, remained on board together with ‘Z’ Battery and the ship sailed for Crete three days later.  The convoy arrived at Suda Bay on 9th May and the Battery disembarked and went to Monastery Camp.  Having reconnoitred the area, the Battery began to emplace itself at Georgiopoulis from 15th May and was ready for action the following day.[3]

German paratroopers began dropping on Crete on the morning of 20th May 1941.  The ‘X’ Battery saw the first of these dropping over Retimo.  There were frequent overflights by German reconnaissance planes and the following day there were intermittent air raids in the Georgiopoulis area.  The raids continued sporadically over the next few days until on 27th May the Battery was ordered to destroy all equipment and to withdraw towards Sphakia.  The withdrawal continued but the war diary does not contain entries after 21:00 on 29th May.  Some personnel of the Battery were evacuated to Egypt. [4]

‘X’ and ‘Z’ Details

Egypt: June 1941

1st Coast Artillery Brigade, R.M.

Once back in Egypt, together with the survivors of ‘Z’ Battery, those from ‘X’ Battery were formed into a single unit at El Tahag Camp.  The unit was known as ‘X’ and ‘Z’ Details and was placed under the command of the senior officer remaining, Captain C.R. Blount, R.M., who was one of several officers and men who escaped from Crete in a marine landing craft.  The unit remained at El Tahag, resting and kitting out during May until granted seven days ‘Survivors Leave’ to Cairo on 23rd June.[5]

Egypt: July 1941

R.M. Striking Force

The ‘X’ and ‘Z’ Details unit moved to Abu Sueir aerodrome on 1st July 1941 where it undertook infantry training.  The aerodrome was bombed on 10th July but there were no reported casualties.  It seems that the unit formed two infantry platoons, ‘X’ and ‘Z’ while at Abu Sueir.[6] 

‘X’ Battery, R.M.

Egypt: August 1941 – June 1943

Royal Marine Group, M.N.B.D.O. I

On 1st August, the 1st Coast Artillery Brigade, R.M. was re-designated as the 1st Coast Regiment, Royal Marines.  The Regiment moved to Port Tewfik and completed embarkation for Addu Atoll on 20th September.[7]

[The war diary for ‘X’ Battery for September 1941 – May 1942 is missing.]

At least the ‘X’ Detail remained in Egypt following the departure of the 1st Coast Regiment for Addu Atoll at the end of September 1941.  At the Base Depot, R.M. on 14th June 1942, the Battery was reformed under Captain M.L. Richardson and began training the next day.  On 27th June, the Battery with two 4-inch guns moved to the Gebel El Ilwa area, near Alexandria, where the guns were dug in.  The Battery was ready for action the following day.  Two further guns were ready by 2nd July and the Battery also received two Pom Pom guns.  A fifth gun was mounted on 5th July.  Orders were received on 28th July from the C.C.R.A, X Corps to move three of the guns.  On 30th August, the Battery took over an Italian 75mm anti-aircraft gun to be used in the ground role at Dikheila aerodrome.  Of great concern now was the possibility of ground attack by the advancing Axis forces.[8]

However, the Axis attacks did not come to pass and the war diary notes on 2nd September 1942 that the situation in the Western Desert had improved considerably.  Despite this, preparations to meet any such eventually continued.  Between 8th and 14th September, two guns were moved to the Rosetta position.  This position was evacuated and the guns returned to their original position on 13th October.  Orders were received on 21st October 1942 that the Battery was to withdraw from the Alexandria area.  Numbers 2 and 5 guns were dismounted and returned to the Base Depot, R.M., arriving on 27th October.  The Battery organised as an infantry company on 6th November, becoming ‘A’ Company, Emergency Infantry Battalion during the period 7th to 16th November.  On 17th November, ‘X’ Battery was ordered to take over the Examination Battery at Port Tewfik from the 417th Coast Battery, R.A.  The advance party left on 19th November and was followed by the main party the next day.[9]

On 18th February 1943, ‘X’ Battery was ordered to Geneifa and spent the next few days preparing and handing over to the 9th (Egypt) Maritime Battery, R.A.  The Battery moved to camp at Geneifa on 23rd February and remained there until June when it was ordered to move to Ceylon to join the 1st Coast Regiment, R.M.  The Battery embarked at Port Tewfik on 16th June and reached Ceylon where it disembarked on 27th June 1943.[10]

Ceylon: June 1943 – February 1944

1st Coast Regiment, R.M.

Upon disembarkation, the Battery moved to the Royal Naval Air Station at Katukurunda where it rejoined the 1st Coast Regiment, R.M. 

3rd Coast Regiment, R.M.

On 1st August 1943, at Katukurunda, the 1st Coast Regiment, R.M. was divided to form two new regiments – the 1st and 3rd Coast Regiments, R.M.  The ‘Kent’ and ‘X’ Batteries went to the 3rd Coast Regiment, which also included the ‘Portsmouth’ Battery.  On 11th August, the ‘X’ Battery, commanded by Lieutenant J.P. Tustain, R.M., relieved the ‘Z’ Battery, 1st Coast Regiment, R.M on Sober Island, Trincomalee and took over the 4-inch guns installed there.  The ‘X’ Battery remained on Sober Island and late in October began moving the two 4-inch guns and on 7th November rejoined the Regiment at Katukurunda.  ‘Kent’ Battery, 3rd Coast Regiment, had been receiving anti-aircraft training at the Royal Marines Base Depot but moved to Chatham Camp, Katukurunda for other training on 5th November 1943.  ‘Kent’ Battery’s place at the Royal Marines Base Depot was taken two days later by ‘X’ Battery which moved there to also receive heavy-antiaircraft training.  It was hoped that by the time that ‘X’ Battery completed training at Chatham Camp, set for 15th January 1944, a decision would have been made as to whether the two batteries – ‘Kent’ and ‘X’ - would amalgamate into a single eight-gun heavy anti-aircraft battery.  However this was not to be and on 17th January 1944, orders were received for the 3rd Coast Regiment, R.M. to return to the United Kingdom.  ‘X’ Battery returned to Lumsden Camp the same day.  The Regiment began handing in stores and equipment and on 19th February 1944 embarked at Colombo.[11]

United Kingdom: March –May 1944

3rd Coast Regiment, R.M.

The 3rd Coast Regiment disembarked at Gourock on 16th March 1944 and moved into accommodation at Paisley.  All three batteries remained under command – ‘Kent’, ‘X’ and ‘Chatham’.  Two days later, the 2nd A.A. Regiment, the 3rd Coast Regiment, 24th Battalion and ‘S’ Searchlight Battery were all placed under command of 3 Mobile Naval Base Brigade.  During the weeks that followed the 3rd Coast Regiment posted most of its men for landing craft, Commando and other duties and was itself disbanded on 22nd May 1944.[12]

6 February 2023