Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Brigadier Leslie Marsh

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Brigadier Leslie Marsh

    The Times, UK
    July 1 2005

    Brigadier Leslie Marsh

    May 10, 1918 - June 6, 2005

    Royal Marine commander who helped deter an Iraqi threat to the
    sovereignty of Kuwait in 1961

    IN his military career Leslie Marsh fought in the icy mountains of
    Armenia and Korea, the wetlands of northeast Italy, the deserts of
    Aden and Kuwait and the jungles of Borneo - a variety remarkable even
    for a Royal Marine.

    In November 1950, while under US orders north of Pyongyang, the North
    Korean capital, he won the MC for his courage, selfless conduct and
    outstanding leadership during an action in which his formation,
    41 (Independent) Commando, had to drive forward, despite taking
    casualties, to support the 7th US Marines who had been encircled
    by large numbers of Chinese troops in the mountains of the Chosin
    plateau. This was a tipping point in the Korean War, when the sudden
    involvement of massive Chinese Communist forces speedily pushed the
    UN far to the south to an enclave around Pusan.

    During the defence of a convoy between Koto-ri and Hagaru-ri, Marsh
    was badly wounded in the thigh, but refused first aid and rallied
    his men to beat off the opposition. Several marines suffered from
    frostbite. Marsh noted that Chinese soldiers wore jackets that were
    white on one side and khaki on the other, in order to camouflage
    themselves in snow, but that they made good targets if facing the
    wrong
    way. A USMC sergeant later wrote: "The boot-necks were the only ones
    to make it and join us in a condition and willing to fight some
    more."

    Educated at Clifton College, Marsh joined the Royal Marines in 1938,
    aged 20. After sea service in the battleship Iron Duke and the
    cruiser
    Birmingham, he volunteered for commando training and first saw action
    in Albania in 1944 in support of Marshal Tito's partisans; 40
    Commando
    took the town of Sarande and the island of Corfu before being moved
    to
    Italy and Operation Roast, a savage infantry battle around the shores
    of Lake Comacchio near Ravenna in April 1945. Several army and Royal
    Marine commandos overcame mud, flood, minefields and lack of cover
    to drive out the Germans and unbalance Field Marshal Kesselring's
    defensive plan. Marsh was badly wounded in the shoulder by a burst
    from a German machine pistol.

    After duty in a series of training posts, Marsh was appointed in
    command of 45 Commando at Aden. In June 1961 the Sheikh of Kuwait
    became a fully sovereign ruler against the wishes of Iraq, which
    threatened an invasion. First to respond to this threat was 42
    Commando, helicoptered ashore from the carrier Bulwark; 45 Commando
    was flown from Aden to Kuwait's incomplete airstrip and, with 42,
    took up positions in the desert near the Iraqi border. The marines
    learnt to survive at the hottest time of the year in one of the
    hottest
    parts of the world where unacclimatised troops would have had great
    difficulties. Further reinforcements, amounting to 6,000 troops,
    tanks
    and the fleet carrier Victorious, achieved a timely deterrence. Iraq
    did not attack, and Kuwait was soon accepted into the Arab League.

    Marsh's next mission in support of Britain's postcolonial interests
    was to command 3 Commando Brigade in the rank of brigadier in 1963
    and 1964 during what became known as "the Confrontation": the attempt
    by President Sukarno of Indonesia to disrupt, by subversion and
    infiltra-tion, the inclusion of Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah (formerly
    British North Borneo) into the new Federation of Malaysia. Royal
    Marines became experts in jungle warfare and the avoidance of
    tropical
    diseases. They made an important contribution to a campaign which
    lasted more than three years and employed the largest Far East fleet
    since the Korean war.

    Marsh's final appointment was command of the Commando Training
    Centre in Devon. His private interests were in sharp contrast to his
    military exploits; they included painting in pastels, ornithology
    and an ability, if given the first line, to complete any of A. E.
    Housman's poems from memory.

    He was fluent in French and Spanish, and after a second career
    working
    for the paper manufacturer Wiggins Teape in Basingstoke, he and his
    wife Annie moved to the Dordogne where they set up a Michelin-starred
    guest house. He is survived by her and his four stepchildren.

    Brigadier Leslie Marsh, MC, Royal Marines, was born on May 10, 1918.
    He died on June 6, 2005, aged 87.
Working...
X