Royal Marines Detachment, HMS TAMAR (1939-45)

Submitted by Hongkongrm on Thu, 09/11/2014 - 00:42

I'm researching the RM Detachment of HMS Tamar pre the Battle for Hong Kong, their role in the fighting, as POWs and their postwar rehabilitation.

Any information would be most welcomed and gratefully received.

Many thanks,

Barry Alexander

Accounts of the battle for Hong Kong are largely silent on the fate of the Royal Marines, which is perhaps not surprising, given that the detachment was such a small part of the overall garrison. 

Banham's Not the Slightest Chance offers a few details on the Royal Marine detachment, including their deployment in the Wan Chai Gap area, where they apparently did most of their fighting.  Even better, Banham's Hong Kong War Diary website lists the names/ranks of all the men in the detachment and other details.  Here's the link: http://www.hongkongwardiary.com/searchgarrison/rnandraf.html#_Toc113344512

I am perhaps referring you to resources you have already mined for information.  Best of luck with the research in any case!

-- Steve

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Submitted by
C
on
Thu, 09/11/2014 - 10:28

Hi Barry,

I am not sure if you have come across it already, but there is a booklet titled "The Royal Marines and Hong Kong" by Dr. S. S. Richardson available from the Royal Marines online shop.  Unfortunately, I am unable to recall the level of detail of the description for the 1939-1945 period.  Hope this helps.