United Kingdom Special Forces.

[John A. Rippingham]

Hi Rick,

Hope your well.

I'm just moving house, the house i'm buying is owned by a 95 year old gentleman called frank. I took some pictures of my vehicles round for him, and he told me, towards the end of the war, he and a friend applied for the SAS. They were trained up to go to Japan, but the americans dropped the bomb, and they didn't go.
So special forces, SAS? and i wonder if these vehicles were allocated for this operation?

Best wishes

John

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Rick,

As I think I've mentioned previously, my understanding was the the UK Special Force (singular) was the build up UK Forces for the invasion of Japan in Nov 45. The operation was 'Downfall', with sub operations: Olympic and Coronet. British ground forces were part of Coronet (as well as Cdn and Aust).

There are several files held in the UK archives concerning the build-up and assessment of requirements for the UK contribution. Judging from the titles, one of these may well provide you with an insight into the 'UK Special Force' and its requirements. I have not looked at any of them, but ya gotta start somewhere!

We'll all be interested (I will!) in what you turn up, and to see if the theory is somewhere close to the actuality.

Good luck, Mr Phelps!

Mike