by Ross Kemp
Operation Judgement: The Swordfish biplane, considered obsolete, sunk more enemy ships (by tonnage) than any other aircraft in the war.
Operation Judgement: A Swordfish drops its 1,500lb torpedo. At Taranto, the bi-planes dived almost vertically before pulling up at the last moment.
Operation Judgement: A Swordfish bi-plane on the deck of HMS Illustrious. The attack on the Italian Fleet by two squadrons of Swordfish swung the balance of power in the Mediterranean.
Operation Judgement: Luftwaffe dive bomber pilots were amazed to learn that HMS Illustrious survived their savage attack to avenge the Taranto raid.
Operation Archery: A wounded Commando is helped back to a landing craft in the Norwegian fishing town of Vaagso.
Operation Archery: The Combined Operations’ dawn raid at Vaagso caused widespread devastation.
Operation Archery: A British Bren gunner takes aim during bitter fighting.
Operation Biting: The Paras arrive at Portsmouth Harbour the morning after the Bruneval raid. Major John Frost, the C.O. of the assault force, is on the bridge, second from left.
Operation Biting: An aerial picture of the Würzburg radar the Paras were tasked with commandeering. Frost’s men landed undetected in the snow to the right of the picture.
Operation Gunnerside: Jens Anton Poulsson, leader of the advance party that became severely weak and malnourished as they waited for the assault team.
Operation Gunnerside: The Vemork Power station today. The raiders scaled the cliffs out of picture, to the left.
Operation Gunnerside: The winter conditions on Norway’s Hardangervidda mountain plateau are amongst the harshest on the planet. The advance raiding party, all expert outdoorsmen and skiers, were pushed to the limit of endurance for four months leading up to the assault.
Operation Gunnerside: Joachim Rønneberg led the attack on the night. The escape on skis to Sweden proved to be an even greater challenge.
Operation Chariot: HMS Campbeltown wedged into the outer lock gate. The German troops on deck were unaware of the giant explosive charge below their feet.
Operation Chariot: A German soldier passes the body of a dead Commando in the morning after the remarkably bold raid on St. Nazaire dockyard.
Operation Deadstick: Royal Marine Commandos move through Colleville-sur-Orne on their way to relieve forces at Pegasus Bridge.
Operation Deadstick: Three of the six Horsa gliders that brought Howard’s force in the first hours of D-Day to capture the bridge over the Caen Canal at Bénouville, subsequently known as ‘Pegasus Bridge’.
Operation Deadstick: Pegasus Bridge, safely under British control, thanks to the efforts of Howard and his small force. The gliders can be seen in the distance.
Author Acknowledgements
Firstly I would like to thank Niall Edworthy, whose passion and enthusiasm has driven this book forward from the start. There are several people I must also thank for helping me transform Raiders from a mere idea to the book you are holding in your hands now. A great deal of research has been done, mainly at The National Archives in Kew and for that I am very grateful to Roger E Nixon (Military & Historical Search) and Daniel Starza Smith for digging out the relevant files and sifting through reams of documents to locate the relevant material. On their behalf, I should also thank the ever-helpful staff at Kew as well as the archivists at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton.
Also to Ben Dunn at Random House. And of course, as ever, Lord Waheed Ali, for all his support.
Picture Acknowledgements
© Imperial War Museums (H 17365); © Imperial War Museums (D 12870); © Imperial War Museums (B 5288); © Imperial War Museums (B 5067); © Imperial War Museums (B 7033); © WoodyStock/Alamy; © Norimages/Alamy; © Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy; © Bettmann/CORBIS; © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS; © Norway’s Resistance Museum; © Poperfoto/Getty Images; © Poperfoto/Getty Images; © Poperfoto/Getty Images; © Poperfoto/Getty Images; © Hulton Archive/Getty Images; © Underwood archives/Getty Images
The author and publisher have made all reasonable efforts to contact copyright holders for permission and apologise for any omissions or errors in the form of credits given. Corrections may be made to future printings.
Sources & Further Reading
Operation ARCHERY
The National Archives, Kew
Supplement to the London Gazette, 2 July 1948 (Dispatch to Admiralty by Admiral Sir John Tovey)
The Vaagso Raid, Joseph H. Devins
The Commandos, Charles Messenger
Operation Archery, Ken Ford
Storm from the Sea, Lt Col Peter Young
Commando, Brigadier John Durnford-Slater
The Green Beret: The Story of the Commandos 1940–45, Hilary St George Saunders
Operation BITING
The National Archives, Kew
By Air to Battle: The Official Account of the British Airborne Divisions
Most Secret War, R. V. Jones
The Red Beret: The Story of the Parachute Regiment at War 1940–45, Hilary St George Saunders
A Drop Too Many, Major General John Frost
The Bruneval Raid: Stealing Hitler’s Radar, George Millar
Operation JUDGEMENT
Fleet Air Arm Museum & Archives, RNAS Yeovilton
War in a Stringbag, Charles Lamb
With Naval Wings, John Wellham
Swordfish: The Story of the Taranto Raid, David Wragg
Taranto 1940, A. J. Smithers
A Sailor’s Odyssey: The Autobiography of Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, Andrew Browne Cunningham
Operation CHARIOT
The National Archives, Kew
Storming St Nazaire, James Dorrian
The Attack on St Nazaire, Robert Ryder
The Greatest Raid of All, C. E. Lucas-Phillips
List the Bugle: Reminiscences of an Irish Soldier, Major General Corran Purdon
Saint-Nazaire: Operation Chariot – 1942 (Battleground series), James Dorrian
The Green Beret: The Story of the Commandos 1940–45, Hilary St George Saunders
Turned towards the Sun, Michael Burn
www.stnazairesociety.org
Supplement to the London Gazette, 30 Sept 1947
Operation GUNNERSIDE
The National Archives, Kew
The Real Heroes of Telemark, Ray Mears
Skis Against the Atom, Knut Haukelid
Assault in Norway: Sabotaging the Nazi Nuclear Program, Thomas Gallagher
Operation Freshman, Richard Wiggan
Operation DEADSTICK
The National Archives, Kew
The Pegasus Diaries, John Howard & Penny Bates
Pegasus Bridge, Stephen Ambrose
The Devil’s Own Luck, Dennis Edwards
The Pegasus and Orne Bridges: Their Capture, Defence and Relief on D-Day, Neil Barber
Pegasus Bridge, Will Fowler
Panzer Commander, Hans von Luck
With the 6th Airborne Division in Normandy, Richard Gale
Pure Poett: The Memoirs of General Sir Nigel Poett
March Past: A Memoir, Lord Lovat
The Red Beret: The Story of the Parachute Regiment at War 1940–45, Hilary St George Saunders
By Air to Battle: The Official Account of the British Airborne Divisions, ed. Bob Carruthers
Index
The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.
Ainsworth, Staff Sgt John 257, 259, 261
Alexander, Lord 126
Alexandria:
Axis spies in 15
Royal Navy adopts 3
Amundsen, Roald 141–2
Andrea Doria 26
Anita L. M. Russ 79
Armstrong, Capt. 78
Atlee, Clement 126
atomic bomb 132–3, 168
see also Operation Gunnersi
de; Operation Swallow; Vemork
Balkans, Italian invasion of 45
Barkway, Staff Sgt 259–60, 261
Bayley, Lt 32, 36, 40
BBC Norwegian Service, coded message on 138
Beart, Lt 220
Beattie, Lt Cdr Stephen (‘Sam’) 187, 190, 203, 215–16, 221, 229, 238
honours for 240
Bénouville 242, 254, 266, 268–9, 270
intelligence source in 250, 271
scale model of 246
Birney, Capt. 225–6
Bismarck 193
Bletchley Park 59
Boer War 57
Boland, Staff Sgt 259
Bomba Bay 29
Bomber Command:
Archery plans cancelled by 77
diversion raids of 112
huge percentage losses of 101–2
bombs, shoddy design of 35
Boulogne 58
Boyd, Capt. 30, 35, 36, 45, 52, 53
Boyle, Staff Sgt 259–60, 261
Brett, Lt 223–4
Bridge Too Far, A 128
Britain:
Air Ministry of, Intelligence Section in 102
antiquated ships of 2
and Blitz 44
Luftwaffe’s bombing of viii, 44
poor Mediterranean air assets of 5
Telecommunications Research Establishment of 107
British Army:
Commandos, see Commandos
D Coy, Ox and Bucks, see Operation Deadstick
Medical Corps (RAMC) 62, 75
Parachute Regiment 129
paratroopers from, in Biting, see Operation Biting
paratroopers from, in Deadstick, see Operation Deadstick
Royal Engineers 62, 104, 144–5, 198
Royal Fusiliers 123
South Wales Borderers 123
Special Service Brigade 57, 273
see also individual operations by name
Brooke, Gen. Sir Alan 126
Brotheridge, Lt Den 257–8, 260
Browning, Maj. Gen. ‘Boy’ 100, 107
Bruneval:
eve of raid on 110
Freya traced to 103
German troops stationed in and around 111
Navy’s lateness in arriving at 122–3
paratroopers drop over 115–16
proposed raid to capture Würzburg at 103–4
raid on 116–24
today 129–30
see also Operation Biting
Burn, Capt. Micky 199, 218
Burrough, R/Adm. Harold 55, 67, 69
line-of-fire order given by 70
post-operation dispatch of 75–6, 90–1
takes charge of Archery naval forces 61–2
Tovey praises 96
Burt, Lt 219, 227
Burtinshaw, Lt 223–4
Buscall, Sub-Lt 22
Caen Ship Canal, British assault on bridge of, see Operation Deadstick
Caio Duilio 33, 40, 41, 42, 44–5
Carr, Sgt 224
Cephalonia 18, 28
Chamberlain, Sgt 222
Chant, Lt 222–3
Charteris, Lt Euen 112–13, 114, 116–17, 121–2
honours for 127
Chauvenau, Charles 110–11
Churchill, Maj. John (‘Mad Jack’) 72–3, 83
Churchill, Winston:
and atomic threat 132
in Boer War 57
Commons addressed by, after Judgement 42–3
Frost praised by 126
Gunnerside monitored by 132
heavy-water mission closely followed by 184
ideas demanded by vii–viii
Illustrious praised by 52
Mountbatten appointed by 59–60
‘reign of terror’ requested by viii, 56–7
Roosevelt meets 134
on Tirpitz’s destruction 193
Ciano, Count 44
Clifford, Lt 17, 30, 34–5
Collier, Lt 226, 227
Combined Operations:
Archery a coup for 96
boosted status of 129
equipment for Biting made available by 105
establishment of ix
most hazardous raid undertaken by 191
see also individual operations
Commandos:
formation of 57–8
intensive training of 64
in Operation Archery, see Operation Archery
and Operation Chariot, see Operation Chariot
in Operation Claymore 58–9
in Operation Gunnerside, see Operation Gunnerside
silent boots of 207
trailblazers of potent form of warfare 94
weaponry carried by 64
Conte di Cavour 25, 26, 40, 41–2, 44–5
Cook, Cdr F. N. 109
Copenhagen, Battle of 6
Copland Maj. Bill 197, 200, 221
Cork, Sgt 82
Cox, Flt Sgt Charles 107–8, 112, 113–14, 118–19
honours for 127
Crete 14
Cunningham, Admiral Sir Andrew 45–6
attempts to coax Italians into battle 4
danger understood by 4
George VI’s letter to 44
good-luck message of 18
and Illustrious bombing 47
lukewarm congratulations from 38–9, 52–3
praise from 39
Taranto air-attack planning of 10–11
D-Day, see Normandy landings
Dönitz, Adm. Karl 213–14
Donner 85
Dowling, Tpr 82
Dumont, Roger 110, 127
Dunkirk:
difficulty rebuilding army after 105
evacuation of vii, 2, 56, 66, 198
Duplex pistol 14
Durnford-Slater, Lt Col. John 62, 71, 74, 83–4, 86–7, 90, 91, 92
men addressed by 94
Durrant Sgt Tom 236, 237
honours for 240
Dutch royal family 57
Eden, Anthony 126
Edwards, Pte Denis 276–7
Egypt 3
see also Alexandria
Einstein, Albert 132
Enigma 59
Etches, Lt 223
Fairey, Charles 7–8
Fairey Swordfish 7–9
engine failures in 17
manoeuvrability of 49–50
Falkenhorst, Gen. von 166, 168
Fenton, Lt 218–19
fish oil:
factories, destruction of 95
importance of, to Germany 58
see also Operation Archery; Vaagso
Fiume 33
Fleet Air Arm 7, 15, 18–19
and Swordfish 9
Fohn 73, 77–8
Forbes, Adm. Sir Charles 200, 208
Forde, Sub-Lt 28
Forrester, Capt. Algy 79, 81
Fox, Lt Dennis 244, 261, 268–9
France:
‘defensive habit of mind’ of 56
Fall of 82
French Resistance 110–11
Freya radar system, British baffled by 102–3
Frost, Maj. John 100–1, 104, 108, 109, 117–18, 119, 120, 122–3, 124, 127–8
in Biting, first to jump 115
honours for 127
summoned to London 125–6
Fulmine 39
Fyljesdal 145
Gale, Maj. Gen. Richard 242–3, 248–9, 274–5, 276
Geneva Convention 264
George VI 44
Germany:
and atomic weapons 132–4
Biting men praised by 129
elite Panzer regiment of, in Caen 252, 267–8, 275
fish oil important to 58
formidable Vaagso defence of 75
and heavy-water facility, sabotage on, see Operation Gunnerside; Operation Swallow; Vemork
and heavy-water facility, transfer of 180–4
night-time detection system of, see Freya radar system
North Africa campaign of 45
and Vemork defence, see Operation Gunnerside; Vemork
Gestapo 107, 116, 146
Gibraltar 3
Giles, Bruce 81
Giles, Capt. John 74–5, 80–1
gliders:
advantages and disadvantages of 253–4
landing in 258–9
nausea-inducing motion of 255
in Normandy landings 253
in Operation Deadstick, see Operation Deadstick
Going, Lt 17, 30, 34–5
Gondrée, Georges 250, 271
Gondrée, Thérèse 250, 271
Goodwin (airman) 27
Gorizia 32
Greece, Italian invasion of 14–15, 45
Green, Lt Bill 213
Green, Sub-Lt 30–1
Greenhalgh, L/Cpl 260
Grieve (airman) 28–9
Grigg, Sir James 126
Groves, Maj. Leslie 178
Guernsey 58
Haines, Trp Sgt Maj. 225
Hale, Lt Cdr ‘Ginger’ 29, 32, 41
Hall, Lt 81
Hamilton, Lt 31
Hampton, Col. Charles 148
Hansen, Knut Leir 182–3
Hardanger Vidda 131, 134, 137, 141–2, 147, 149–57
ferocious storm on 154
German troops scour 150
Haugland, Knut 137–44, 150–4, 157
honours for 184
return of, after sabotage 168–70
see also Operation Gunnerside; Operation Swallow; Vemork
Haukelid, Knut 148–50, 156, 160–5 passim, 167
ferry sabotage by 181–4
honours for 184
return of, after sabotage 168–71
see also Operation Gunnerside; Vemork
Haydon, Brig. Joseph 57–8, 62, 64, 68
post-operation dispatch of 75–6, 90–1