Brig Leslie Marsh

[El Prez]

Brigadier Leslie Marsh
(Filed: 25/06/2005)

Brigadier Leslie Marsh, who has died aged 86, won an MC during the Korean War for fighting his way along a single-track dirt road to relieve a base, and then helping to hold it against repeated attacks by the Chinese Communists.

In 1950 Marsh was a section commander in 41 Independent Commando Royal Marines, comprising British and American marines as well as other troops; on November 29 it was ordered to advance "at all costs" from Koto-ri to relieve the UN base at Hagaru-ri.

They made their way through such heavy fire that an American tank company refused a request to spread out through the column, leaving Marsh and the convoy unprotected. The marines took two hills, but resistance stiffened, and at nightfall in "Hell Fire Valley" the Chinese blocked the road and split the convoy in two, destroying all the force's radios and soft-skinned vehicles.

Marsh fought on with the remainder of the column as the thermometer fell to minus 24 degrees Fahrenheit, but he was eventually stopped by intense mortar and small arms fire when he was within three miles of the Americans at the UN garrison. Despite a serious thigh wound, Marsh refused all offers of first aid, rallied his remaining men by the light of his section's burning trucks and led them on foot across rough frozen ground to Hagaru-ri.

There were some 321 British and Americans casualties; others were captured; and some retreated back to Koto-ri. Marsh was one of only 100 survivors of 41 Commando who entered the beleaguered base, where his seasoned marines were crucial to its survival.

Over the next few nights they formed a mobile reserve within the base as the Chinese 58th and 59th divisions attacked in waves: 41 Commando lost a quarter of its remaining strength, but the enemy lost an estimated 8,000 killed and wounded until their ammunition was exhausted.

Marsh was awarded a Military Cross for his selfless conduct, outstanding leadership and determination to succeed.

Leslie George Marsh was born on October 5 1918 at Handsworth, Staffordshire, and educated at Clifton before joining the Royal Marines in 1938. He served in the battleship Iron Duke and in the cruiser Birmingham, before volunteering for commando training in Wales before the Normandy landings. While leading an attack by 40 Commando on German positions on the River Reno, during the Commachio campaign in 1945, he was shot in the shoulder at close range by a burst from a machine pistol.

After Korea, and instructing at the Commando School in Devon, he was appointed to the Army's school of infantry at Warminster and then to the Royal Marines non-commissioned officers' school at Plymouth. There he became one of that distinct band of bachelor officers who shared a love of literature, poetry and fine wine. Years later, if given a line of a Housman poem, Marsh could recite the entire work from memory.

At Suez in 1956, Marsh was the senior troop commander of 45 Commando which landed in the first wave of a helicopter-borne assault from the sea; it was the first time such a tactic had been employed against a defended beachhead. He was pulled back to take over as operations officer after his CO was wounded, but frequently returned to his beloved marines "at the sharp end, where leaders should always be". Much to his chagrin, the Egyptians surrendered within 48 hours.

In 1960 Marsh commanded 45 Commando in Aden. The protectorate was reasonably quiet and stable, but there was the risk of a sudden uprising, and Marsh needed all his powers of leadership and independence of mind to keep his men fit, trained and happy.

The next year he flew his men to the Iraqi border as part of a larger British force, which included 42 Commando in the carrier Bulwark, to deter an invasion of Kuwait. This successful operation stands as an object lesson in the value of timely deterrence.

Marsh commanded 3 Commando Brigade during the Borneo campaign in 1962-64, and his final appointment was as commandant of the Commando Training Centre at Lympstone, where he took the greatest pleasure in the training of young officers, NCOs and marines.

A typical official report spoke of Marsh's power of leadership and his sense of duty.

In retirement Marsh worked happily as personnel manager for Wiggins Teape at Basingstoke, before marrying and retiring to France.

Leslie Marsh died on June 9. He married, in 1972, Annie Watts (née Lescher), who survives him with her four children, with whom Marsh shared a loving friendship and affection. He is buried a few yards from his home at St Sulpice d'Eymet in the Dordogne, where he lived for a quarter of a century.

[harry hackedoff]

What a man. One of the first to be Commando trained and didn`t he put it to good use.
Here`s to him and those like him



We Will Remember Them

[Pilgrim Norway]

Many of us Old and Bold will remember him with pleasure and respect.

A comfortable leader, easy to understand and follow.

[Sticky Blue]

A true one off! A rare breed...

I hope the G&L run this... if they havn't already, I've not got all the way through it yet