Gustavus Henry March-Phillipps, (1908 – 12 September 1942; sometimes spelled "March-Phillips") was the founder of the British Army's No. 62 Commando, the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF), a precursor of the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

(SAS). In the ''Daily Telegraph'',

Max Hastings Sir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings (; born 28 December 1945) is a British journalist and military historian, who has worked as a foreign correspondent for the BBC, editor-in-chief of ''The Daily Telegraph'', and editor of the ''Evening Standard' ...

noted: "In January 1942 he launched

Operation Postmaster Operation Postmaster was a British special operation conducted on the Spanish island of Fernando Po, now known as Bioko, off West Africa in the Gulf of Guinea, during the Second World War. The mission was carried out by the Small Scale Raiding F ...

, a picaresque 'cutting-out expedition', which seized two Italian merchantmen from the neutral Spanish colonial port of Santa Isabel in West Africa, and towed them triumphantly to Lagos." After the raid March-Phillipps was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

Military career

March-Phillipps was killed in

Operation Aquatint Operation Aquatint was the codename for a failed raid by British Commandos on the coast of occupied France during the Second World War. The raid was undertaken in September 1942 on part of what later became Omaha Beach by No. 62 Commando, als ...

in September 1942. This secret operation took place on the German-occupied French coastlines. In an attempt to hurt the enemy, increase allied morale, and change the tide of the Second World War, March-Phillips led a special forces raider team (SSRF) of 11 onto a beach via Goatley canoes. None of them would return. HeadstoneGusMarchPhillipps

After they had landed on an incorrect area of the beach along the French coastline, a heavily-armed German patrol stumbled upon them and engaged the Raider force with unrelenting fire power. Abort was yelled, and the men hurried back to their canoes. In the next frantic moments, four men were severely injured and taken prisoner, four were on the run – to be eventually taken prisoner after a daring escape – and three were killed. The dead included the founder and inspirational leader and visionary of the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF), March-Phillips, who was shot during a desperate attempt to swim to shore after his canoe was too damaged to escape. March-Phillips was a special operations veteran, proving remarkably successful in his missions.Combined Ops website
/ref> The Commando Veterans website notes: "In Memory of Major 39184 Gustavus Henry March-Phillipps DSO MBE Royal Artillery and Commando, Small Scale Raiding Force who died age 34 on 12 September 1942 Remembered with honour at ST. LAURENT-SUR-MER CHURCHYARD".Commando Veterans website
/ref>

Personal life

March-Phillipps married Marjorie, later Lady Marling on 18 April 1942. He was the nephew of

Gustavus Hamilton Blenkinsopp Coulson Gustavus Hamilton Blenkinsopp Coulson, (1 April 1879 – 18 May 1901) was a British Army officer and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" awarded to members of the British an ...

References

1942 deaths 1908 births Special Air Service officers British Army personnel killed in World War II British Army Commandos officers Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Artillery officers Companions of the Distinguished Service Order English military personnel Burials in France {{UK-army-bio-stub