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Auction: 13003 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria
Lot: 22

The Important Second War 'L' Detachment 1942 'Bouerat Raid' D.C.M. Group of Eight to Regimental Sergeant Major, Later Major, C.G.G. 'Pat' Riley, Special Air Service, Late Coldstream Guards. One of the Founding Members of 'L' Detachment, Having Joined as One of Jock Lewis' "Tobruk Four", with Bob Lilley, Jim Almonds and Jim Blakeney. He Was a Renowned Pugilist and was Probably the Only Person to Have Ever Bested Both Paddy Mayne and Reg Seekings in a Fight
a) Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.VI.R. (2656281 A/W.O. Cl. II C.G.G. Riley. C. Gds.)
b) General Service 1918-62, G.VI.R., two clasps, Palestine, Malaya (2656281 Gdsmn. C.G. Riley. C. Gds.)
c) 1939-1945 Star
d) Africa Star, with 8th Army Bar
e) Italy Star
f) France and Germany Star
g) Defence and War Medals, light contact marks throughout, generally very fine, with the following related items and documents:
- Boxing Prize Medal, reverse engraved '1934 2nd Bn. Coldm. Gds. V Gds. Depot. Runner Up Gdsn. Riley. C. 2nd C.G.'
- Malayan Regiment Cap, with Cap Badge
- Commission appointing C.G.G. Riley as Second Lieutenant, Queen's Royal Regiment, dated 30.7.1943
- Commission appointing C.G.G. Riley as Lieutenant, Gloucestershire Regiment, dated 23.5.1947
- Military Identity Card, complete with photograph; British Army Identity Card, complete with photograph; Attestation Papers, dated 4.1.1934 and Cadet Record Sheet, dated 12.4.1943
- Regular Army Certificate of Service; Two Army Certificates of Education
- Isle of Ely Constabulary Warrant Card, dated 1.1.1938; Isle of Ely Constabulary Leaving Certificate, dated 7.1.1947
- Two Letters to recipient from David Stirling, dated 7.3.1982 and 23.7.1982; letter to recipient from Johnny Cooper, as Chief Superintendent of the Royal Oman Police Force; letter to recipient from General Sir Robert Ford, Colonel Commandant of the S.A.S., dated 25.1.1983 and a letter from Michael Heseltine, M.P. on Ministry of Defence paper, dated 18.11.1983
- A number of newspaper cuttings, invitations and photographs from varying stages of the recipient's career
- Copy of parts of a proposed film script for "These Men Are Dangerous", a film to be based on the formation of the S.A.S., with typed comments on the script from recipient for David Stirling's attention, dated 27.7.1981
- Three CD Recordings of interviews carried out with Riley in later life
- Obituary from The Independent, dated 31.3.1999; Order of Service from recipient's funeral, when The Address was given by Viscount Slim (lot)

D.C.M. London Gazette 26.11.1942 2656281 Sgt (A/CSM) Charles George Gibson Riley, "L" Detachment, Special Air Service (Coldstream Guards)
The Recommendation (originally for a Military Cross) states: 'North Africa: This N.C.O. led a party on the first Bouerat raid Feb [sic] 1942. The party placed demolition charges on many heavy enemy transport vehicles and on various dumps. By skilled and daring leadership he succeeded in bluffing the enemy sentries. Thereby he avoided giving any alarm which would have interfered with the work of other parties operating in the same area. He has shown the greatest gallantry and the highest qualities of leadership in other raids at Slonta and Nofilia in March and April 1942.'

Major Charles George Gibson 'Pat' Riley, D.C.M. (1915-1999), born Redgranite, Wisconsin, U.S.A.; moved to Haltwhistle, Cumbria, aged 7; he attended the local school until the age of 14, when he started work at a granite quarry alongside his father and his grandfather; joined Coldstream Guards, 15.1.1934; served with the Guards in Palestine, October-December 1936; transferred Army Reserve, December 1937; joined the Wisbech Division of the Isle of Ely Constabulary, and served as a Policeman until mobilized for service with the Coldstream Guards, September 1939; prior to the war, and indeed the formation of the SAS, Riley met Reg Seekings in the ring, 'In a letter received by his wife on Saturday morning, R.S.M. Riley states that about a year ago he met another local lad, in the desert, Sgt. R. Seekings, who in pre-war days fought "Pat" at the Women's Institute Hall, Alexandra Road, Wisbech, on two occasions, when "Pat" won on points. Although they were not in the same regiment when they first met, Seekings was transferred to Riley's Regiment and he also won the D.C.M., about the same time as "Pat"' (Newspaper cutting included in lot refers); having been mobilized Riley volunteered for service with 2 Troop 8 Guards Commando as part of Layforce; Riley's troop was commanded by Jock Lewis, and was operating in the Western Desert in 1941, when they 'launched a surprise raid in the Fig Tree sector, part of the defence of Tobruk. Getting under the wire they caused considerable casualties.' (Obituary refers); during this action Lewis developed and instigated new behind the lines tactics of using a four-man operating team - his team of Pat Riley, Jim Almonds, Jim Blakeney and Bob Lilley were to become known as the "Tobruk Four"; this system was later adopted by David Stirling with the formation of the SAS; with the disbandment of Layforce Riley was to be returned to the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards; Stirling invited Jock Lewis together with the “Tobruk Four”, into ‘L’ Detachment on the basis of their reputation describing them as ‘pure gold dust’; Riley arrived at the 'L' Detachment camp at Kabrit in the Canal Zone in September 1941; here he settled in to the rigorous training regime implemented by Stirling; the latter included parachute training, which due to a lack of available equipment, meant that 'the unit would have to make do with lorries moving at 30mph. Backward rolls from trucks at this speed was a true test of determination. But they proved costly. Scarcely a man survived the ordeal without a fracture of some kind' (The Phantom Major, V. Cowles refers); Riley took part in the first raid carried out by the unit in November 1941; the attack was supposed to be on the five advanced airfields in the Gazala-Timini area; despite appalling weather conditions it was decided to carry out the attack ultimately leading to a disastrous result - of the 55 men and 7 officers who took part in the parachute drop for the raid, only 18 men and 4 officers survived death or captivity; 'L' Detachment recovered with successful raids including on Sirte and Tamit, before embarking on the Bouerat Raid in January 1942.

Bouerat Raid
Due to a successful offensive move by Auchinleck, the Axis forces had been driven out of Libya and the capture of Benghazi was imminent. With this in mind Stirling concluded that the enemy supply ships would be re-routed to Bouerat. The latter would then become an important harbour for fuel tankers to supply Rommel's advanced forces. Stirling proposed to Auchinleck that 'L' Detachment should enter Bouerat and blow up whatever ships they found, also taking the opportunity to destroy petrol dumps and tankers. Permission was granted and the raid was to be carried out on the 22nd/23rd, with the RAF scheduled to bomb Bouerat the following night.

On the 17th January Riley set off with Stirling from Jalo as part of the raiding party. They were conveyed by the Long Range Desert Group, and accompanied by two members of the Special Boat Section who were equipped with a canoe and the necessary explosives and limpets to blow up enemy shipping. Bouerat 'was only sixty miles west of Sirte and thirty miles from Tamit, so for most of the journey the SAS men were travelling over the same terrain that they had crossed twice the previous month. They had to keep fairly south to avoid detection by the enemy, and for the first four days saw no sign of life at all. The going varied; sometimes they were able to travel at thirty miles an hour, but the inevitable punctures and repairs slowed down their average to around a hundred miles in a long day's drive.... On the evening of the 22nd the convoy reached the edge of the Wadi Tamit as the light was fading. Because of the growing darkness Captain Hunter (LRDG) decided that it would be better to leave the descent until morning. The men pitched camp where they were.... The next morning, at first light, Hunter decided the party must take cover in the Wadi as rapidly as possible...They descended at a precarious point. The trucks were lined up with their bonnets pointing down the Wadi. "We then put tow ropes on the back," wrote Seekings, "so that every man except the driver and the two chaps checking the front wheels could hang on for dear life."

"We had not gone very far when the tail of our vehicle started to swing around and we could not hold it. The driver, instead of baling out, put his foot down hard. It straightened the truck and down he went at a terrifying speed. What nerves he must have had as he kept control and reached the bottom safely."

The descent was made none too soon. "An Italian recce plane came skimming over the edge of the Wadi," continued Seekings. "We sat and prayed it had not seen us but no such luck. It banked steeply and came straight for us. The rocks which I was sitting by suddenly became as small as peas." (The Phantom Major, V. Cowles refers)

The recce plane banked for home, with Riley and the others scrambling for what cover they could find knowing full well that enemy bombers or fighters would soon be in attendance. The 'trucks scattered wide, some of them driving four or five miles down the Wadi, until they came to suitable overhangs.... There were six bombers and they flew up and down the Wadi bombing and strafing for over an hour. Then there was an hour's relief, three more bombers appeared, and it began all over again. This went on until the middle of the afternoon. At six o'clock Hunter gave the signal to reassemble. The men came out of their hiding-places in twos and threes, each little group looking surprised that the others had survived.' (ibid)

Miraculously only one truck and three men were missing. The bad news, however, was that the truck was the wireless truck and the men were its three operators. As a consequence of this no further intelligence as to the placement of petrol dumps could be received and the raiding party would have to search for them literally in the dark. Undeterred the group pressed on, and three hours later they reached what was to be their main rendezvous area - a point 65 miles from Bouerat. Weapons were checked, the canoe was constructed and at 8.45pm twenty men proceeded in one vehicle.

Hunter planned to drive the raiding party of 16 men to within one mile of the port. They had 25 miles of rough desert to cross before reaching the surfaced road that led to Bouerat. They then had a further 50 miles on the better road. At 10.15pm the truck was within 5 miles of the road when two wheels struck a cavity, causing men and boat to crash against the side of the vehicle. The canoe split in two. The latter had been of vital importance for getting to the big tankers believed to be in the harbour. Despite this disastrous turn of events, and in the face of weeks of work going down the drain Sterling decided to press on, "We will have to reorganise a little," he said. "There are plenty of targets waiting for us at Bouerat. If we can't get the ships we'll get the harbour installations instead... If the enemy can't unload his supplies they'll be as useless to him as though we'd sunk them. As for you, Duncan [S.B.S.], I think you ought to take a couple of men and go for the wireless station two miles to the other side of town. It's a splendid target. The idea of passing it up was worrying me, but we didn't have time for both jobs." (ibid)

Having got on to the road the raiding party made good time, passing what appeared to be an abandoned fortress en-route. They arrived just outside of Bouerat shortly after midnight. They had just under two hours to carry out the raid and make it back to the rendezvous. Captain Duncan 'and Corporal Barr [S.B.S.], accompanied by Corporal Rose of the S.A.S., started off first. Since the time was so short and they had a three mile walk it was unlikely that they would get back to the rendezvous by two. David [Sterling] arranged to return the next night and pick them up on the track. They arranged to leave stones and twigs at a point eight miles from Bouerat.

David divided the remaining men into two groups of six and seven each. One lot would come with him; the other would go with Sergeant-Major Riley. They would start off within five minutes of each other and approach the harbour from opposite sides. When they had finished their work they would return to the rendezvous. David emphasised the fact that stealth was essential. No one was to use a gun unless absolutely necessary. They were to set all their explosions for 2.30am, which would give them plenty of time to get away. This meant starting with two-hour fuses and shortening them as the minutes passed.' (ibid)

Stirling's group set off first. Advancing in single file they found themselves at the warehouses on the quay. Unchallenged they marked their targets. Stirling divided his men, placing lookouts whilst the others proceeded to start placing their bombs. Moving from building to building they set up their bombs on pumping machinery and vast stores of army food rations, 'in the last building David discovered a side door and decided to see where it led. It was bolted and he pushed it open. He found himself in a small alleyway running between two buildings. He turned left and headed back to the pier. Another alley ran at right angles and he slipped along it to see if anything lay at the end. He walked stealthily and as he neared the corner he heard a faint rustle. Someone was approaching.

He pulled himself close to the wall and stood perfectly still. A moment later a figure turned the corner and a body pushed against him.

"What the hell..." said a startled voice. It took a few shocked seconds to realise it was none other than Sergeant Riley. "What the blazes are you doing here? You're supposed to be on the other side of the wharf," swore David. Six more men came out of the shadows - the rest of Riley's party.

Riley whispered that they'd finished their work - another food dump, more machinery and a workshop - but that they had suddenly come up against a wire and could not find their way out. They were afraid of bumping into a guard post so they had decided to try this side of the harbour.

David told them to wait until his own group got moving. They would make their way back to the rendezvous independently. He went back to the quay, signalled his men and started off. He instructed everyone to keep his eyes strained for anything that looked like a petrol depot, although he felt the chances of discovering an underground dump in the dark were fairly slim... When they were less than a quarter of a mile from the rendezvous Corporal Seekings touched his arm and whispered, "Look over there, sir."

At first David thought he must have spotted a dump, but it turned out to be something else. Close to the road, about fifty yards away, were a dozen of more hulking shapes... The men moved forward to explore, and a minute later found themselves in the middle of an enormous car park. On it were three or four rows of giant petrol carriers. Each had a haulage capacity of twenty tons which meant it would carry four thousand gallons of fuel. And judging from the smell, they were not empty. No doubt they had been filled that very afternoon and were waiting for delivery instructions.

It was too good to be true... Quickly they went to work. The carriers were parked in six rows of three each. They deposited nine bombs in five minutes. They used one-hour fuses as it was nearly half-past one. David adjusted the tenth bomb. His men were behind him and he moved noiselessly across the back of one of the carriers and around it. He heard a step and before he had time to draw back felt the impact of a shoulder against him.

For the second time there was a deadly moment of stunned surprise. And for the second time it was Sergeant-Major Riley. The situation was so comical David did his best not to laugh out loud. Riley had come along on the opposite side of the road, spotted the car park and crossed over. He had been working one end while David's group had been concentrating on the other... There was one last bomb to attach before the men returned to the track. It was 1.45am when they reached it [the rendezvous]. Hunter reported absolute quiet; he had seen no movement of any kind. Riley on the other hand, had discovered an anti-aircraft gun emplacement. He had managed to shove a bomb up the breech although the crew was sleeping in a tent only a few yards away.' (ibid)

There was time to set further bombs on some supply trucks before hot-footing back to the rendezvous point. Hunter picked them up and they drove off into the dark, 'they reached the cross-roads, and drove past the fort, which was as dark and silent as ever, at exactly 2.35am. A few minutes later they heard an explosion, then another and another; by the time they turned off on to the desert the sky was turning a pale-grey pink... The operation which at one moment had seemed doomed to failure had turned into a triumph. Rommel was desperately short of petrol carriers, and they were not easy things to replace. The amount of shipping required to transport them across the sea would add considerably to the Axis burden. David felt that he had struck a real blow. The harbour would be unusable for many weeks, and if Duncan succeeded in his task, Bouerat would cease to be one of the chief transmitting centres on the coast for some time to come.' (ibid)

A Lucky Escape
As dawn broke everyone took cover, and the LRDG draped their trucks with nets and camouflage. From first light until noon the air was full of recce planes scouring the desert looking for the raiders. Fortunately a sandstorm blew up forcing the aircraft to give up the search. At 7pm 'the storm began to die down. David waited until nine o'clock, when it was not much more than a strong, dust-choked wind, before leaving with Hunter to pick up Duncan and his two colleagues, Barr and Rose. He took a handful of men - Riley, Seekings, Cooper and a few others to deal with any opposition that might arise... Once again the truck passed the silent fort, turned abruptly to the right and travelled along the Bouerat track... After two miles it came to a halt. A few hundred yards ahead lay a little pile of sticks; the sign that Duncan was in the vicinity. David jumped off the truck and called to him. Twenty yards away three shapes emerged came running towards them.' (ibid)

The wireless station had been successfully destroyed, and true to their word the R.A.F. had carried out their bombing raid on the harbour. Having clambered aboard the truck 'David told the men that he thought it would be a shame to move out of the area without leaving a bomb anywhere; so he suggest they... drive along it until they reached the right-angle road that led past the fort and the desert. It was not out of their way and they might find a worthwhile target.'

They drove for about 25 miles without seeing a single enemy vehicle. Just as they were about to give up they saw another giant petrol carrier parked up by the side of the ride. Accounting for the truck with two bombs they moved on, 'probably fifteen minutes had elapsed between the explosion and the moment they approached the fort, which was eight miles away. They saw the dark, silent stronghold, silhouetted against the sky, ahead of them. Suddenly they heard a click and saw a piece of metal spinning in the air. It was a telemine that did not explode. Almost at the same moment shadows loomed up ahead on both sides of the road. They were heading straight into an ambush. David shouted at Gibson, the driver, to swerve off the track, but instead he put his foot on the accelerator. Both Cooper and Seekings were standing in the back of their truck with their tommy-guns poised. They fired point-blank into the enemy. The truck roared through a curtain of machine-gun bullets, running down three or four screaming Italians. Several grenades exploded in mid-air. "As an ambush it should have been a dead-cert, but no one on our side got a scratch," wrote Bennett laconically.

The raiding party continued to career down the road at top speed. When the men had time to collect their thoughts they realised that the fort had never been the deserted bastion they had supposed... The enemy had probably heard the LRDG truck pass an hour previously... When the petrol carrier went up on the coast road, eight miles away, the garrison could not have failed to see the fire. This had given it time to establish an ambush. Even now David's party could scarcely believe its incredible luck in getting away safely. "Not even a ruddy tyre punctured," crowed Seekings in delight.' (ibid)

Kabrit - A New Role
After the success of the Bouerat raid Sterling returned to Kabrit. He had left the training of the new recruits in the hands of Paddy Mayne. It was clear that this suited neither officer's purpose and with the S.A.S. rapidly expanding an old head was required. As a consequence 'David appointed Sergeant-Major Riley to supervise training.' (ibid)

Despite this new role Riley still took part in the next planned series of raids that were to take place in March 1942. These were to be a string of airfields in the Benghazi area. Bill Fraser was to take a patrol to Barce, Lieutenant Dodds (a new officer) was to be accompanied by Riley to Slonta, and Paddy Mayne and David Sterling were to tackle Berka satellite and Benina respectively. All, apart from Mayne's raid, were relatively unsuccessful with Dodds and Riley being unable to get onto Slonta because of the heavy defences.

More and more recruits were piling into Kabrit, and 'Pat Riley, an astute reader of officers and men, was the perfect man in adversity, fathering and giving confidence to his young soldiers. He was a steady influence throughout the campaign and often the mediator between its diverse characters.' (Obituary refers)

As the Detachment's senior non-com Riley was well respected by the men and officers alike. This was clearly illustrated when, 'Big Pat Riley, the Wisconsin-born ex-Coldstreamer, was perhaps the only SAS man who ever knocked Mayne down. He once found him drunk, beating someone so savagely it looked as if he might do him real harm. Without even thinking about it, Riley - who had been a champion boxer in the Guards... walloped Mayne with a massive fist and flattened him, 'I thought I was in for a rough time,' Riley said, 'but not a bit of it. He stood up, looked at me for a while and then quietly went off.' (The Regiment, The Real Story of the SAS, M. Asher refers).

Riley 'was much involved in the large-scale raid on Benghazi Harbour in September 1942. Unfortunately the enemy had been alerted and it proved almost impossible to penetrate the harbour. In the fierce fighting the S.A.S. lost 50 out of the 200 men involved.' (Obituary refers)

Having advanced to Regimental Sergeant Major, Riley was posted to Officer Cadet Training Unit, in March 1943. He was commissioned into the Queen's Regiment the following month before returning to the SAS. By the beginning of 1943, with Stirling now a POW and Jock Lewis dead, Paddy Mayne took command of the SAS. Riley who had returned from the O.C.T.U. at the end of April was 'appointed commander of C Section, No. 1 Troop... No.1 Troop, a repository of all the skills and experience the SAS had acquired since its inception, was regarded as the elite.' (The Regiment, The Real Story of the SAS, M. Asher refers)

A Quiet Game of Billiards with Paddy Mayne in Termoli
The war in North Africa officially came to an end on the 12th May, and the Allies landed on Sicily a month later. Riley continued to serve with the regiment during the Italian Campaign. On the 10th July the SAS (now designated I Special Raiding Squadron (SAS) ) destroyed a coastal battery at Capo Murro de Porco on Sicily's eastern coast. The following day the squadron took part in the first opposed daylight landing of the war- on the beach of Augusta. On the 4th September they landed at Bagnara on the Italian mainland, taking the town and securing a bridgehead in preparation for the landing of the main Allied force a few days later.

After this string of successes the SRS took part in the Special Service Brigade raid on the coastal town of Termoli on the 3rd October. As part of a thousand strong Commando raiding party they carried the town, 'the cost of the day's fighting for the squadron had been one dead, three wounded, and twenty-three missing. The SRS had taken out twenty-three enemy killed, seventeen wounded, and thirty-nine captured.' (The Regiment, The Real Story of The SAS, M. Asher refers).

What had not been anticipated however was that the 16th Panzer Division were in the vicinity of Termoli. The Allied forces were temporarily without tank support and had to hold out against the overwhelming German firepower, 'when the 16th Panzer Division's counter attack on Termoli reached fever pitch, Paddy Mayne was shooting billiards in an abandoned palazzo with Bill Fraser, Pat Riley and Phil Gunn… From first light, when half a dozen tanks had rumbled towards the Eighth Army's defensive ring north of the town, British units had been pulling back. 6th Royal West Kents and 5th Buffs had retreated in panic, and were digging in along the Termoli-Larino highway. 8th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders had lost the church and factory that they had been ordered to hold at all costs. Men of 56th Recce Regiment had abandoned their brand new armoured cars and Bren-gun carriers. The infantry were so shell-shocked that the CO of I Special Service Brigade, John Durnford-Slater, had threatened to have officers and men stood against a wall and shot. One of the few units to hold its ground, 40 (Royal Marine) Commando, had been decimated by 88mm anti-tank shells. The olive grove they had occupied above the town was littered with their mangled dead.

In Termoli, Italian civilians, emboldened by the attack, started dropping grenades and taking pot-shots at British soldiers from their windows. Durnford-Slater called the entire male population together in the piazza and promised mass executions unless these irritations ceased. At 1330 hours, an 88mm round mashed Brigade HQ, killing a staff captain.

While panic reigned and shells were crumping into the streets outside the palazzo, Mayne chalked his cue with Francis Drake-like insouciance. 'He just carried on with the game,' Pat Riley recalled. 'I thought to myself, "Well, if you can do it, chum, I'll do it with you." And we did. We finished the game, and then went outside to get things sorted.

Mayne ordered every available man - including cooks, bottle-washers, clerks - up to the town cemetery where the eye of the assault was focussed. Five captured German trucks were lined up opposite the monastery garden to shift 'Paddy's Boys' to the front… Bill Fraser, commanding No. 1 Troop, stopped to give instructions to one of his section commanders, Lt. Johnny Wiseman… Wiseman's section-sergeant, Reg Seekings, got the men to their feet and ordered them to hop on to the first lorry. Sgt. Bill McNinch… had volunteered to drive… Wiseman jumped into the cab beside McNinch… Pat Riley, now a Lieutenant, was hurrying back towards the palazzo with his batman, who had just told him that Mayne wanted a word. Suddenly, the whole street seemed to shudder, to come apart in rubble and smoke. 'The next thing I knew I was halfway down the street,' Riley recalled, 'lying on my back, laughing like hell. It must have been [the] shock…' (ibid)

Riley never heard the 105mm shell strike, but Reg Seekings did. '[There was] a God Almighty crash and explosion… and [a shell] landed right, smack in the truck… it blew us to hell.' The first lorry disintegrated. Steel scraps, glass shards, molten rubber shot skywards: blood, flesh, minced body parts spattered walls. Seekings grovelled in the gutter, drenched in blood and bits of other people's warm flesh. He couldn't believe the packet of foot-long, two-pound-apiece No. 76 Hawkins grenades he was carrying hadn't exploded. His was the only pack that hadn't… Eighteen had been killed or mortally wounded - the most devastating single mortality the SAS had ever suffered… Mayne made no comment, but his eyes went deathly cold. He told Wiseman calmly to attach the survivors to his own HQ Troop and get up to the cemetery right away.' (ibid)

The action in the cemetery was fierce, with Riley's section operating an anti-tank gun against the advancing Panzers. The British troops held out and were eventually relieved by the Irish Brigade, 'the men had fought brilliantly... It was though, Mayne thought as he walked quietly back to his palazzo, the costliest action an SAS unit had ever fought. His squadron had taken more attrition than any other at Termoli, including the commandos. In three days I SRS had lost sixty-nine men, killed, wounded, and missing- exactly a third of the two hundred and seven who had come ashore. When racked up together with the previous three ops in Italy, the SRS was down about fifty per cent on its original strength.' (ibid)

Termoli was Riley's, and the SRS' last action in Italy. He went to Scotland with Johnny Cooper and Mike Sadler to 'set up a camp at Mauchline before moving to its permanent camp in Darvel. For the SAS had now swollen to the size of a brigade, with two British battalions, two Free French battalions and a Belgian squadron.

When the SAS moved south to their new HQ at Highland House in Chelmsford, Riley was in charge of recruiting and training before operations in France. After D-Day mobility was the key and Riley, still based at Chelmsford, ensured that all the new jeeps were properly equipped for action behind the enemy lines. The SAS, now 2,500 strong under Brigadier Roddie McLeod, were to form a number of bases from which to harry enemy communications, and work with the French resistance, blowing up roads and railway lines and reporting to the RAF suitable areas to bomb. It was very much as David Sterling had proposed in the early days: inflict damage, casualties and above all, confusion.

After the Armistice, two battalions of the SAS were airlifted to Norway where Riley, based at Bergen, was involved in the supervision and disarming of the occupying German forces.' (Obituary refers)

The SAS was disbanded in September 1945, and Riley was released to Army Reserve in November of the same year. He moved back to Cambridgeshire and rejoined the Police, serving as a P.C. in March and Wisbech. Post-war Fenland life, however, proved to be too sedate for his liking and he volunteered for service as a Captain with the Malayan Regiment, 'he worked closely with the newly formed Malayan Scouts in their actions against Communist insurgence. The Scouts had been formed from men of the 21 SAS, a Territorial Army unit raised in 1947 from the Artists Rifles and a Rhodesian squadron. In 1951 the Scouts became 22 SAS. Riley, who was based at Port Dixon and now a Major, liaised and worked with the SAS in the persecution of the terrorists. With over 100 terrorists killed or captured the SAS had proved their worth as an integral part of British counter-insurgency operations.' (ibid)

In 1955 Riley decided it was time to leave Malaya and he retired from the Army in July 1959. After military service he purchased the Dolphin Hotel (Public House) in Colchester, and ran this for a number of years before taking a managerial role with Securicor. He retired in 1980, and by this time was residing in Hastings, East Sussex. He continued to be a stalwart of organising regimental reunions up until his death.

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