Victor Campbell Long was from Kimberley Street in the Ballynafeigh area of Belfast. He was a member of ‘D’ Squadron, 1st Special Air Service Regiment.

He enlisted into The Royal Ulster Rifles on the 16 October 1941, [1] and upon completion he was posted to the 1st (Airborne) Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles. At this time the 1st Bn, R.U.R. was part of the Airlanding Brigade in the Airborne Division.

However, in May 1943, the original Airborne Division became the 1st Airborne Division and it sailed for North Africa. It took with it the 1st Bn, the Border Regiment and the 2nd Bn, The South Staffordshire Regiment, as part of the now 1st Airlanding Brigade. They left behind the 1st Bn, R.U.R. along with the 2nd Bn, the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry to form the 6th Airlanding Brigade, which would be part of the 6th Airborne Division.

In July 1943 Victor Long, by now a Corporal, volunteered for parachute 6training, and after completing the selection and ground training process at Hardwick Hall, was sent on Parachute Course 77 at R.A.F. Ringway, 9 – 18 August 1943. His Parachute instructors comments: ‘Slow in starting, finished strong’. [2]

He was initially posted to the 7th (light Infantry) Parachute Battalion, but later volunteered again and was posted to the 1st Special Air Service Regiment on 17 March 1944.

Victor took part in Operation Archway which had been was planned to support the XVIII Airborne Corps Operation ‘Varsity’ parachute landings across the River Rhine. The force from the Special Air Service was known as Frankforce after Lieutenant Colonel Brian Franks who was in Command of the Operation. Two reinforced Special Air Service Squadrons, one each from the 1st and 2nd Special Air Service Regiments numbered about 300 all ranks carried in 75 armed Jeeps.

Victor was one of the first British Troops who liberated Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp on the afternoon of 15 April 1945. Victor later recalled that:  “After we entered the Camp one of the first things we came across was a huge open grave that was almost full of dead bodies. There were lots of dead bodies everywhere and the people that were alive were in a bad way. We weren’t allowed to leave the Camp until we’d been fumigated because there was so much disease around.”

Sergeant Long had also been involved in Operation ‘Gain’ which was a British Special Forces operation by D-Squadron, 1st Special Air Service Regiment. He had arrived by parachute on 17 June 1944 and after lying-up for some time they made contact with Major Fenwick and his 6 strong Headquarters Section who had landed the previous day. As a member of Lieutenant Bateman’s Section Victor recalled that: “We didn't really allow the Maquis into out Camp because Major Fenwick said you couldn’t trust them.”

Victor’s first action was blowing up the Orleans to Pithiviers Railway Line on 20 June. He found that the main trouble came from: “dogs, not Germans . . . it [the railway line] was 25 miles away and at night each village we went through had a yapping dog every 100 yards’. [3]

On 12 August Captain Riding sent ‘Vic’ Long and John Morton on a Road Watch, and the following morning Leslie Packman and John Ion set off in a Jeep to collect the pair. When their pick-up did not arrive Victor and John Morton walked for about an hour before they heard shooting. The two men watched as there was more rifle fire before about forty or fifty Germans moved onto the road and pushed the Jeep into a ditch at the side of the road. Having heard nothing from Packman and Ion the two men returned to their Camp where they reported what had happened to Blair Mayne. The bodies were later recovered and Victor made a statement regarding what had happened and his observations which was to be used at a later War Crime Investigation.

On leaving the Special Air Service Regiment on 16 November 1945 he received his 1st Special Air Service Regiment Service Certificate which is signed by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair Colonel ‘Paddy’ Mayne.

He was released to the Class Z/T Reserves on the 30 January 1947. [1]

Victor was Mentioned in Despatches and has an Oak Leaf attached to his 1939-1945 War Medal. He was also awarded the 1939 - 1945 Star, France and Germany Star and The Defence Medal as well as the General Service Medal with 'Palestine 1945 - 1948' Clasp.

Researched and submitted by Robert Hilton with many thanks to Francis Nigel Long.

NOTES:

[1] The Parachute Regiment, Transfer and Enlistment Book 10, page 84.

[2] Parachute Course Report, R.A.F. Ringway. August 1943.

[3] Stirling’s Men. Gavin Mortimer. 2004.