Plaque unveiling ceremony marks No.5 Commando HQ on Bridlington’s Crescent

Madeleine Waplington with the plaque. Photo taken by Ian Ellis

At midday on Wednesday, April 3, a green plaque was unveiled at The Carlton Apartments on The Crescent to commemorate the founding of the elite unit that was No.5 Commando, an organisation sent to “wreak havoc” on the enemy coasts at the height of the Second World War.

The ceremony came after local author Richard M Jones learned about the history of the unit from Bridlington Royal Navy veteran Martin Barmby.

Mr Jones has run a number of campaigns to install plaques to commemorate war heroes, both in Bridlington and further afield.

The unveiling ceremony at the Carlton Apartments on the Crescent. Photo taken by Ian Ellis

A relative of one of the Commandos lost in the famous St Nazaire raid attended the unveiling service.

Madeleine Waplington lost her uncle Bertie Johnson during the raid on St Nazaire in 1942; he started out in Bridlington when the unit was first formed on July 18, 1940 and was one of fifteen men from No.5 Commando who took part in the raid – seven of them did not return.

Holding back tears as she recounted the story of her family and how proud they were of him; she unveiled the green plaque that she so generously paid for outright after a very short campaign by myself.

She summed it up with her speech when she unveiled it, saying: “In memory of the most ordinary people who did the most extraordinary things.”

Commando veterans are pictured with the green plaque. Photo taken by Ian Ellis

Mr Jones said: “Never a truer sentence was said.

"I would not only like to thank Madeleine, but also Bridlington Royal Navy veteran Martin Barmby for highlighting this piece of history, for Thomas at The Carlton Apartments for giving us permission to have this plaque fitted onto the side of his building, for the No.5 Commando Facebook group that spread the word of the event, and for those members of the armed forces community in Bridlington that once again showed up despite the wet weather to show their support.

"My work on Bridlington during the Second World War is still ongoing so if anybody out there can help with highlighting any of the forgotten stories or provide images of the war years in the town then please contact me on [email protected].”