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Owen Filer

British Army (1940 – 1946)

Owen Filer

Owen was born in South Wales in 1919 and at 16 went to work on the railways. In January 1940, he was called up to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, reporting to Llandudno in North Wales for Infantry training. His training was halted briefly when he contracted meningitis. Following his recovery and completion of his training, Owen joined his Regiment the 9th Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. In 1941, due to complications caused by the meningitis, Owen was posted to Preston and transferred to the newly formed Corps of Military Police (Vulnerable Points), (Blue Caps) responsible for providing operational security to high value targets.

Whilst serving with the CMP (VP) in North Wales, Owen, was taken to a field and told to ride one of the assembled motorcycles. After completing the ride and not falling off, Owen was transferred from CMP(VP) to the Corps of Military Police, Provost Wing (Red Caps) During the build up to Operation Overlord and the Normandy landings, Owen was one of hundreds of men from the CMP(VP) and CMP tasked with ensuring men and equipment got to where it was needed. Owen was promoted to Sergeant in 1943.

In January 1944, the unit boarded RM Ship ‘Cape Town Castle’ finally ending up in Bangalore, via Bombay, Gibraltar, the Suez Canal and Djibouti. Owen remained in India as part of the Corps of Military Police (India) until the end of 1945, when he returned to the UK. He was discharged from the Army in March 1946, and went back to the railways, eventually retiring in 1983. Owen is the last surviving member of the Corps of Military Police (India).

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