Remembering a hero who Churchill admired

The Herald Scotland

03-05-2025

The project was launched in early 2024 by Strathblane Heritage in Stirlingshire. The local war memorial boasts that ungainly biblical quote: 'Their name liveth for evermore'. True: after 1945 the names of six WW2 casualties were carved on the base of the memorial, which had been erected in 1921 to honour 27 dead of WW1. But in a community that has seen large movements of population both out and in, few knew anything about them.
Pedder as a child @Caroline Hope
After much hard graft and some lucky breaks, the project is nearing completion. The six turn out to include a man who played outside-right for Manchester City and a gunner who survived five years fighting in Iraq, Egypt, Sicily, Normandy and Belgium, only to be felled by a piece of shrapnel the size of a thruppenny bit during the final Allied push into Germany. Another lost his life in the Firth of Forth to a drifting British mine he was sent to defuse, thanks to the wash from a passing British destroyer.
However, the story that stands out is that of Lieutenant Colonel Richard Pedder, the only professional soldier. Al Fleming, retired art teacher and WW2 enthusiast, took on the task of researching him. Pedder's link to Strathblane is fairly tenuous. In the 1930s he rented a villa there while working as a Highland Light Infantry training officer at Maryhill Barracks. His second daughter, Jane, was born in the village in 1940. Her father would be dead before her first birthday.
Pedder with Black Hackle @Caroline Hope
As the only son of a Brigadier-General, there was a certain inevitability about his career choice. Born in Hampshire in 1904, young Richard attended Wellington College and Sandhurst before being commissioned as a second Lieutenant in the HLI.
During the 1920s he served in Egypt and India, returning to India in 1929 as junior officer in command of the 10th Battalion of the 17th Dogra Regiment (part of the Indian Army under the overall command of the British Army).
A chance online reference led Al Fleming to Pedder's granddaughter, Caroline Hope, who had spent the Covid lockdown gathering Pedder memorabilia and correspondence and was keen to share it: 'The family was so upset after my grandfather's death that I think everything got put in a box and no one dared open it for 80 years.' She sent the box to Al Fleming, who takes up the story:
'Pedder was a strict disciplinarian and it seems that despite the young subaltern's no-nonsense and conformist image, beneath there lurked a bit of a wayward soul. One of his commanding officers in India relates an incident where Pedder drove an extremely powerful and noisy motorcycle through the corridors and lounges of the 'staid and sedate' Garrison Officers Club in the local town. As one would expect, this caused uproar amongst the fusty 'Old Guard'. And in Cairo, Pedder headed out on a Saturday night, despite an order that no service personnel should go into town unaccompanied. On the Sunday morning, he arrived back in an open taxi in a 'dazed and dishevelled' state. He might have got away with this but for his misfortune in arriving at the barracks just as his unit was marching out for Sunday morning church parade. When he was later ordered to report to the 'Boss' to account for his transgression, he escaped punishment due to his CO being enthralled by young Pedder's tales of his previous night's exploits. Let's say, the record shows that Pedder was a man who knew how to celebrate.
On his wedding day to wife Pamela @Caroline Hope
'In December 1933, he married a Miss Pamela Watt at a swanky ceremony in Kensington at which, according to a fellow officer, 'It was an absolute miracle that the highly intoxicated groom didn't collapse'.
'As an officer, Pedder was seen as a good leader and trainer of soldiers. In the early 30s, he served in this role at home and abroad, including a spell with the Colonial Office in West Africa and for the next five years this was Pedder's home. However, in November 1936, he returned to the UK where he was posted to the 1st Battalion HLI and the following month saw him promoted to Captain. He appears to have had a low profile until he was assigned to the HLI Infantry Training Centre three days after the outbreak of the Second World War.'
By now he had rented a spacious villa called Dumbrock House between Strathblane and Mugdock and installed Pamela and infant daughter Elisabeth.
In Strathblane with his daughter Elisabeth @Caroline Hope
Following the major setback of the Dunkirk evacuation, Churchill was determined to boost the morale of the country and once again take the fight to the Germans. As Al Fleming relates: 'This required the formation of a highly skilled and aggressive seaborne raiding force and so, the Commandos were born.
'In July 1940 Pedder was posted to Scottish Command HQ and within two days was appointed leader of the soon-to-be No 11 Scottish Commando. This was the first Special Forces unit raised from Scottish Command and within three months of Pedder forming this unit, he was promoted to Major.
'Pedder wasted no time in advertising for volunteers from Scottish units. He stipulated that these volunteers required to be fully trained soldiers, fit, able to swim and not suffer from sea or air sickness. They also required to demonstrate other attributes, stressing courage, physical endurance, initiative and importantly, an aggressive spirit towards the enemy. Appreciably more than the required 500 applied and they were told to report in the first instance to Netherdale Mill in Galashiels on 23 June 1940. Within days, the weeding out of unsuitable candidates began. It was to be a gruelling time for these hopefuls with one of these new recruits recounting their first day's activity: 'A 15-mile march with only a 20-minute break at the 11-mile mark. Following this, it was a bath in the chill waters of the River Tweed.'
'After several weeks of this kind of pressure, the successful candidates were marched across country 100 miles to Ayr. No accommodation was provided and each night, the men slept in the hedgerows and woods at the side of the road.
Litani Battle map (Image: Geoffrey Keyes VC of the Rommel Raid'. Publishers – Newnes 1956)
'At Ayr they embarked for Arran where they were based and billeted in and around the village of Lamlash. The trainees were not accommodated in barracks but were expected to find lodgings in local family homes. They were given an allowance to pay for room and meals. At Lamlash, they spent six months enduring intensive testing and challenges. Training included all aspects of warfare, physical training and endurance. Orienteering, mountaineering, canoeing, as well as judo and unarmed combat were the order of the day. Cross-country forced marches with full packs were a regular activity, often culminating in high-speed ascents of Goat Fell. As an example, there is a story that tells of an officer marching a unit of fully equipped men across country all day before ordering them off the end of the pier at Lamlash! Apparently, Pedder was a hard task master who would not hesitate to send a volunteer back to his home unit if he failed to perform to expectation. Volunteers dreaded having it written on their army record the letters RTU (Returned to Unit).
Pedder in uniform @Caroline Hope
'After around six months of training on Arran, 11 Commando was deemed ready for action and they became C Battalion of a formation of four battalions, each of 500 Commandos. They were under the overall command of Colonel Robert Laycock, and this contingent was christened Layforce in his honour. Layforce was posted to Egypt and, because of the danger from enemy forces in the Mediterranean Sea, they had to take the long way round via South Africa, up the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal. Around this time, Pedder was promoted again … now Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Pedder.
'Layforce C Battalion's time in Egypt was frustrating, with potential raids being planned but often cancelled due to bad weather or the force having to withdraw for different reasons. Along with A and D Battalions, a detachment of C Battalion was sent to Cyprus to deter a possible German invasion there. During this time, they were involved in a couple of abortive attempts to land and hold positions on Crete, where they were mainly involved in holding off the Germans and to cover the retreat and evacuation of the Allied forces. On 31st May, Laycock and some of his HQ staff including the writer Evelyn Waugh, managed to make good their escape. This whole action was a debacle with 600 of the 800 Commandos listed as killed, missing or wounded.
'Shortly after this, in early June, C Battalion was called into its first major action. Swathes of the eastern Mediterranean coastline were held by the Vichy French and manned by fearsome French colonial troops. There was concern that the German and Axis forces might use the Vichy French presence to advance down the Eastern Mediterranean coast and threaten British-held Egypt. There was also the very real danger that the French would give the Luftwaffe access to airbases in Syria. This would be an extremely dangerous situation for the Allies in the Mediterranean. The Australian Army was tasked with advancing up the coastline to engage the French and so prevent a German advance. The Litani River, which featured in the recent Israeli invasion of Lebanon, was at that time in Syria and a major obstacle to the Aussies' progress. The only north-south road crossed the Litani at the Kafr Badda Bridge and 11th Scottish Commando was tasked with landing to the north of the river and seizing this bridge. This was to allow the northward advancing Australians to cross and continue up the coast. Like previous Layforce operations, this one was to be dogged by misfortune.
'Pedder and his unit sailed from Alexandria in the troop ship Glengyle and arrived off the coast at dawn on June 8th. Unfortunately, the sea was deemed too rough for the safe launch of the attack boats and so, after some frustrating discussion, the operation was called off and the ship returned to Alexandria. It would seem that the French troops saw the attacking force and realising that an attack was imminent, reinforced their defensive positions
At dawn the following morning, 11th Commando returned to attempt the landing again. This time the sea state was good and they successfully made it to shore and a fierce battle ensued with the defenders, who were already on high alert after seeing the previous morning's attempted landing. Three units of Commandos were landed but only two made it to the chosen landing site whilst the third unit mistakenly landed to the south of the Litani River. This meant that the attacking force, against the well defended north shore, was depleted by a third. To make matters worse, the French troops, realising what the attack was all about, had blown the bridge the previous night. Attacking and holding this bridge had been a key aim of the whole operation but the blown bridge now prevented the third unit from rapidly joining the battle in support of the main force. In fact, this unit met up with the Australians and together they forced a successful boat-borne crossing of the river.
Pedder was in command of the party fighting north of the Litani and this became a fierce gunbattle with the well-prepared French troops. During this firefight, Pedder accompanied by senior officers, was mortally wounded by a sniper. It is recorded that he only had time to say 'I'm hit … go on' before collapsing. The attack stalled with the remaining Commandos holding on until nightfall when they retired south to meet the advancing Australians. The whole operation was deemed a success as it distracted the French, allowing the Aussies to advance, cross the Litani and force the Vichy French troops to retreat. However, it came at a dreadful cost to the Commandos, who were never to see action as a unit again. Out of the 400 Commandos, 123 were killed or wounded. Despite this dubious 'success', Winston Churchill in his memoirs was to mention the importance of this action on the security of the Allies in the Middle East.'
In his monumental history of the Second World War (Vol 3, p296), Churchill names Pedder and gives him credit for the successful outcome: 'Their [the Australians'] advance was aided by a daring raid by Number 11 Commando, which was landed from the sea behind the enemy lines. In this devoted stroke the Commando lost its leader, Colonel Pedder, and all its other officers were either killed or wounded, together with nearly 120 other ranks, or a quarter of its total strength.'
Al Fleming concludes: 'Lieut. Col Dick Pedder, along with many of his officers and men, was buried in Sidon Military Cemetery in Lebanon where he lies to this day. After this action, the Commando concept lost favour and they would not go into action again. However, many of the surviving personnel went on to become leading lights in the SAS. A flavour of their spirit is captured in the television drama SAS Rogue Heroes.'
Dick's wife and children never really recovered. Family albums show two rather sombre little girls playing in the snow above Strathblane a couple of years after their father's death. Soon afterwards the family moved back to England. Dick's widow never remarried and died an alcoholic. The daughters married and had children but their father's cruel fate blighted their lives. Jane died only last year.
As Al Fleming discovered: 'The camaraderie of 11th Commando survived and many had strong and happy memories of their spell in training on Arran. Long after the end of the War, ex-Commando members kept in touch and in August 1985 they organised a celebratory two-day reunion at Lamlash. A surprisingly large number attended and guest of honour was Pedder's daughter Elisabeth. The culmination of the reunion was the unveiling of a plaque and an exhibition of other mementos of 11th Commando's time on the island. This material is still on permanent display at the Arran Heritage Museum outside Brodick.'
Among the contents of the box Fleming received from Dick's granddaughter Caroline Hope was a pibroch tune, entitled Pedder's March, composed in his honour. On Remembrance Sunday last year, a piper played it in Strathblane as wreaths were laid at the war memorial. And Caroline, who has always been haunted by her grandfather's untimely death, was able to visit the memorial recently and join members of Strathblane Heritage to hear Al Fleming tell the story of this remarkable man.
*Strathblane & the Second World War: Stories of the Fallen and Memories from the Home Front. An exhibition at the Thomas Graham Library, Strathblane, May 3-23. Library opening hours. Free entry.