Roger James Allen Courtney MC (1902 – 15 February 1946), known as Jumbo, was a British soldier who established the Special Boat Sections which saw action in World War II. These would eventually lead to the formation of the UK

Special Boat Service The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roy ...

. Courtney was a bank clerk in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, England, before he became a professional white hunter and gold prospector in East Africa. Upon his return to England he wrote an account of his experiences, a book entitled Claws of Africa, Experiences of a Professional Big-game Hunter (published in 1934 by George G. Harrap & Co.) He was also a sergeant in the Palestinian Police Force. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

began, he travelled from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

(where he was

big-game hunting Big-game hunting is the hunting of large game animals for trophies, taxidermy, meat, and commercially valuable animal by-products (such as horns, antlers, tusks, bones, fur, body fat, or special organs). The term is often associated with t ...

) to England to join the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

as a "commando

folding kayak A folding kayak is a direct descendant of the original Inuit kayak made of animal skins stretched over frames made from wood and bones. A modern folder has a collapsible frame made of some combination of wood, aluminium and plastic, and a skin m ...

er". When his ideas were rebuffed, he joined the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United Sta ...

as a

Rifleman A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a rifling, rifled long gun. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction o ...

. Soon promoted to

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

, he was commissioned in November 1939. Courtney became an Army Commando recruit in mid-1940, and was sent to the Combined Training Centre in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He was unsuccessful in his initial attempts to convince

Admiral of the Fleet An admiral of the fleet or shortened to fleet admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to field marshal and marshal of the air force. An admiral of the fleet is typically senior to an admiral. It is also a generic ter ...

Roger Keyes Admiral of the Fleet Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes, (4 October 1872 – 26 December 1945) was a British naval officer. As a junior officer he served in a corvette operating from Zanzibar on slavery suppression missions. Earl ...

and later Admiral Theodore Hallett, commander of the Combined Training Centre, that his idea of a folding kayak brigade would be effective. He decided to infiltrate , a Landing Ship, Infantry anchored in the

River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

. Courtney paddled (with his kayak) to the ship, climbed aboard undetected, wrote his initials on the door to the captain's cabin, and stole a

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose w ...

cover. He presented the soaking cover to a group of high-ranking

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officers meeting at a nearby hotel in Inveraray, Scotland. He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, and given command of twelve men, the first

Special Boat Section The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roy ...

. Courtney's brother Gruff (G.B. Courtney) later commanded a second section of the SBS. The units carried out several raids during the early years of the war, especially in the Mediterranean, which validated Courtney's idea of mounting small-scale attacks from the sea. Gruff himself took part in

Operation Flagpole (World War II) Operation Flagpole was part of the run-up to Operation Torch, the planned Allied invasion of North Africa during World War II. It involved arranging for and carrying out a top-secret high-level meeting between U.S. General Mark W. Clark, represe ...

. However, heavy losses led to its personnel being amalgamated in 1943 into the new Special Boat Squadron, led by George Jellicoe. Roger Courtney lost his command, became a locust control officer and died of pneumonia in

Hargeisa Hargeisa ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Somaliland, a ''List of states with limited recognition, de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still considered internationally to be part of Somalia. It is also th ...

, Somaliland aged 46.''UK, Foreign and Overseas Registers of British Subjects, 1628-1969''

Notes

References

Bibliography

* ''Commando'' Little, Brown, 2012 1902 births 1946 deaths King's Royal Rifle Corps soldiers King's Royal Rifle Corps officers British Army Commandos officers Special Boat Service officers Recipients of the Military Cross British Army personnel of World War II Deaths from pneumonia in Somalia Military personnel from Leeds {{UK-army-bio-stub