M.N.B.D.O.

Mobile Naval Base Defence Organization

The previous page was: "Iceland"

More conveniently known as M.N.B.D.O. there is no better example of the versatility of the Royal Marines than the Mobile Naval Base Defence Organization.

The function of the M.N.B.D.O. was to provide the Fleet with a base in any part of the world, whether on the coast of a mainland or an island, within a week, and to defend it when prepared.

The whole unit had a strength of about 8,000 with a Major-General of Royal Marines in command. It was a body of specialists, including engineers and mechanics, transport and crane drivers; armourers and gunners; surveyors and draughtsmen, bricklayers, masons, carpenters, plumbers, painters, decorators and camouflage modellers; miners, blacksmiths, tinsmiths and divers.

The Unit was carried in specially equipped merchant vessels.

Iceland

Landing and Maintenance Group

Is responsible for the collection of the required material, and for putting it ashore in landing craft, and also the transporting of it once it has been landed. The Group then completes its function by building wharves or converting existing jetties, making roadways from the beach, and erecting such buildings as may be necessary.

The defence side of the Organization is divided into artillery groups with naval coastal guns, anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, and searchlights all to co-operate with each other. It has a Land defence Force consisting of rifle companies, machine gun sections and light artillery batteries.

Group Headquarters control the coastal artillery, the light and heavy anti-aircraft guns, the searchlights, the ordnance and workshop units and the sections responsible for the signals, postal, meteorological, camouflage, provost, decontamination and the medical services.

Whole Organization was designed

in peace time with a nucleus of Continuous Service Marines, to be expanded on the outbreak of war by enlistment of special tradesmen and ordinary recruits, who were trained at the Technical Training Depot at Fort Cumberland.

The Corps expects a regular Marine artilleryman to understand any gun within a week. The Hostilities Only gunners are trained in the various Divisions and also in the Army centres.

The anti-aircraft and searchlight units were employed in the Battle of Britain. One of the Marine batteries commanded by Major C.M. Sergeant, destroyed 44 enemy aircraft in 41 days and had the record bag for any battery in England.

April 1941 it was decided M-N-B-D-O

For providing a naval base in Crete. Unfortunately the decision to send the unit to Crete was not made in time for it to fulfil its complete function, with only the advance groups arriving shortly before the German invasion.

On 20th May, when the airborne attack began, the garrison consisted of a composite force of four officers and 300 men, including Royal Marines, Australians and New Zealanders, men of the Staffordshire Regiment, The Royal Army Ordnance Corps, the Corps of Military Police, survivors from the gun crews of merchant ships, one officer and three N.C.Os. of the N.A.A.F.I. and about 20 men serving 'detention.'

The first contact with the enemy was at 8:30 a.m. when a troop-carrying glider crash-landed on some rough ground outside the town. The Garrison troops held their fire until the Germans had climbed out of the glider, then they opened up killing the entire party of nine.

Three more, who had been killed on impact were found inside. 11 Tommy guns and 1,000 rounds of ammunition, 60 hand grenades, two wireless sets and some cameras were salvaged.

Germans continued to attack persistently

With airborne troops. Their method of landing gliders was peculiarly reckless, so long as they could land the troops without losing too many in the resulting crash. Those who survived were dealt with successfully. The official report mentions that: "they succeeded in doing a little sniping."

A party of parachutists secured a footing in a gun position, Captain A.L. Laxton Royal Marines made a determined attempt to get within grenade range, but was wounded in the back, head and both legs. Nevertheless he remained in observation and signalled back the numbers and position of the enemy, thereby enabling the gun position to be completely destroyed.

Marine B.V. Jones who belonged to the M.N.B.D.O. anti-aircraft batteries, shot down a German aircraft by firing a Bren gun from the shoulder. Later in the day he made a lone bayonet charge against seven Germans armed with sub-machine guns, who had landed in a glider close to his gun position. He was awarded the D.C.M. Captain Laxton received the M.C.

One of the duties was to keep the road

Open between Suda and Maleme, it was the only supply line. By day this road was subject to intense air attacks. At dusk the road was cleared of debris and its condition reported, then they would meet the supply convoy and escort it to its destination.

"This operation was always an interesting one," declared the Royal Marine officer in command, "as the enemy was very clever at infiltration and they usually put up a machine gun post with fixed lines of fire aimed along the road. A section of our troops went forward in two trucks to discover the enemy's position by drawing his fire; we then got round and attacked from the flank."

"These melees invariably finished up with our troops using their rifle butts, and I think they enjoyed these shows more than anything else. Having dealt with the position in this manner, the convoy was taken on until halted by another enemy post. The same procedure followed, until we had delivered the goods."

One occasion a convoy escort found

A couple of Marines who had been manning a Bofors battery. The rest of the gun-crews had been killed and the ammunition was exhausted, but there had been no-one to give the survivors orders to retire.

So they had remained in the slit trenches they had dug, defending their guns with their rifles.

The Germans bombed the town relentlessly until it was a heap of rubble. When the order came for the withdrawal to the south of the island, Major R. Garrett Royal Marine formed the M.N.B.D.O. into a rifle battalion, which acted as the main part of the rearguard during the later stages of the evacuation.

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700 Marines kept the Germans at bay

While the main body withdrew from Suda Bay area to Sphakia in the south.

They were told to fight and hold their ground until 1st June. This they did, with such effect that they made a further two days of evacuation possible, and so helped 17,000 troops to fight again.

Nevertheless, many of the Royal Marine rearguard had no opportunity to leave the island when their work was done; there simply was no room in the boats for them. Early in 1944 M.N.B.D.O. was closed down; the Royal Marines helped in the formation of 48 Royal Marines Commando, in time for the D-Day landings.

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M-N-B-D-O Norway 1940

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