Raids....

[davebender]

This was probably the most photogenic raid in addition to being of great military value.

The 10 May 1940 glider attack on Fort Eben-Emael by 78 German Fallschimjaeger shoud rank among the most successful commando attacks of WWII. They silenced the fortress guns for a day. Long enough for the Heer 151st Infantry regiment to arrive and complete the fortress reduction.

 

[renrich]

One anecdote from the Doolittle Raid. My uncle was a CGM(chief gunner's mate) in CA25. I asked him about the role that his ship played. The only thing I can remember is that he said they, in CA25, were hacked off that a CL got to sink the Japanese picket boats and not his ship. He also said that the weather was lousy.

 

[stug3]

The 1919-built American lend-lease destroyer, USS Buchanan, renamed HMS Campbeltown was converted for the raid and given the approximate appearance of a German Mowe-class escort vessel in the hope that this would cause the German defenders to hesitate. She also had 4.5 tons of explosive packed into her bows.

A motor launch of the type which took part in the raid on St Nazaire. Sixteen such MLs were assigned to the force and were to carry commandos and demolition parties into St Nazaire. Their frail wooden hulls offered scant protection and only three of the craft survived the operation.

Motor Torpedo Boat No 74: 'underway at speed, coastal waters, as converted for St Nazaire raid'.

The Campbeltown wedged into the dock gates, showing signs of the damage sustained in the battle.

German troops were crawling all over the Campbeltown on the morning of the 28th, they did not guess that she was packed with explosives. Around 360 men died when she exploded at noon.

British prisoners of war detained in a nearby building - they look like they might be in a pub. They knew something the Germans didn't.

The German propaganda photographer had a hard job finding pictures of dejected British prisoners of war.

 

[vinnye]

The Italian Navy's attack on Alexandria - crippling to RN BBs gets my vote.
Also St Nazaire from Allied side in Europe.
The Cabanatuan raid for PTO.

 

[parsifal]

Some of the raids I think are worth mentioning, and dont get much of a run these days.

The attack on Japanese Shipping by 14 members of "Z" Force.

On 2 September 1943, Krait eventually sailed from Exmouth Gulf headed for the South China Sea through Lombok Strait. Ivan Lyons led a team of four British and 11 Australians. The Australians were mostly Naval ratings. On the evening of 26/27 September 1943, 3 officers and 3 ratings set off in three frail rubber and canvas folboat canoes. They attached limpet mines to a number of vessels in Singapore Harbour. They ended up sinking or damaging approximately 39,000 tons of Japanese merchant shipping. The 6 members of the raiding party estimated that they had sunk one ship and sank or badly damaged six others. US Intelligence was able to determine that the "Kizan Maru" (5007 tons) and the "Hakusan Maru" (2,197 tons). This was confirmed through agent reports, cryptanalysis, and interrogation of POW's. Japanese sources indicated that four ships were sunk or badly damaged with some minor damage to others.

The "Taisyo Maru" and the tanker "Sinkoku Maru" (10,00 tons) were two of the other ships that they had attached their limpet mines to. The "Taisyo Maru" was claimed as a probably sinking by the men, but it was able to be repaired and was returned to service. The men claimed that they had only damaged the "Sinkoku Maru". Some press reports had incorrectly indicated that they had sunk the "Sinkoku Maru".

The men in the three canoes lingered for a while to watch the devastating outcome of their surprise attack, before they paddled south for almost 50 miles to meet up again with the Krait on 2 October 1943.

The Japanese were not aware that Singapore Harbour had been attacked by Allied "Commandoes". They blamed the incident on local saboteurs led by some Europeans. They increased their security and arrested, tortured and killed some local residents.

The Krait arrived back in Exmouth Gulf on 19 October 1943. They had a close shave in Lombok Strait when they were approached by a Japanese patrol boat. Fortunately they were not challenged by the patrol boat.

Mott did not get involved in the final implementation of the raid as he had been sacked by then and returned to England.

Some sources have suggested that Lyon's wife and son were in Singapore as prisoners of the Japanese at the time that Lyons and his crew had attacked Singapore Harbour. In fact, they they had been captured while travelling on the "Nankin" to India to join Lyon by the German raider "Thor". They were then sent on a supply ship to Japan. NID became aware of this news in December 1942 via prisoners from the "Ramses". Lyon was advised of his family's demise.

Operation Frankton -

This raid involved the submarine HMS Tuna and 10 men from the Royal Marines and 5 canoes (Cockles). The targets were merchant ships lying in Bordeaux harbour - ships that were successfully breaking the Allied blockade particularly between Japan and Germany. Conventional methods such as bombing had been discounted. Operation Frankton was an unorthodox, imaginative and daring solution. At the end of the first night only 2 canoes and 4 men were still operational. Four nights later they inflicted damage to 5 ships lying in the harbour. Only two men survived and returned to the UK.

After circumventing four anchored Chasseur type boats the formation was more widely dispersed than planned and Cuttlefish was found to be missing. The remaining two canoes pressed on until 0630 hours and, after some difficulty in finding a suitable landing site, camouflaged their canoes and took cover in low scrub. They had covered 23 nautical miles and the force was reduced to 2 canoes and four men. Some fishermen and women from a nearby village discovered them but the marines convinced them that it was in their best interests not to discuss their presence with anyone. As the men prepared for the next night's paddling it was clear that the ploy had worked.

The second night's paddling (Dec 8th/9th, 1942) was uneventful although bitterly cold as ice formed on the cockpit covers. However the crews landed easily and laid up in a field. This time their only visitors were some cows! An emerging problem occupied the minds of Hasler and his men. As they progressed up the river the timing and duration of the tides was becoming more critical to their calculations. They had for the first time to consider the logistics of the attack as well making progress up river. The next night there would be three hours of flood tide, 6 hours of ebb tide followed by another three hours of flood tide. Clearly progress against the ebb tide would be impossible.

In the event on the 3rd night (Dec 9th/10th) they curtailed their paddling and lay low on an island during the period of the ebb tide. They were now behind schedule and could not reach the harbour the following night with sufficient time to complete their tasks and withdraw safely. Hasler decided to establish an advance base camp on the fourth night (Dec 10th/11th) within easy striking distance of the harbour. A suitable site was found at 2300 hours. After a night's rest the men spent the day preparing their limpets and equipment for the attack. Hasler decided that Catfish would cover the west side of the docks and Crayfish the east. The fuses on the limpets were set for 2100 hours.

On the fifth night (Dec11th/12th) both canoes entered the basin without difficulty. Catfish placed 8 limpets on four vessels including the fast patrol boat Sperrbrecher. Crayfish also placed 8 limpets on two vessels - 5 on a large cargo ship and 3 on a small liner. A sentry on the deck of the Sperrbrecher spotted Catfish as it turned to return down stream. He shone his torch down but the efficiency of the camouflage left him in sufficient doubt for him to take no action. The two canoes later met by chance on the Isle de Caseau. They continued downstream together until the end of the withdrawal which came at 0600 hours when the crews scuttled their canoes about 400 meters apart. This was the last time Hasler saw the crew of the Crayfish as they set off on foot for the Spanish border.

A German High Command communiqué on the 10th Dec announced that a sabotage squad had been caught near the mouth of the Gironde and eliminated. Word of the damage caused to shipping in Bordeaux filtered through - mysterious explosions had damaged five ships! In the absence of other information all 10 men were posted missing presumed dead.

On February 23 a brief message via the Special Operations Executive (SOE) was received from Hasler himself giving details of the three canoes lost on the first day. A week later Hasler and Sparks arrived back in Britain by air from Gibraltar having passed through the French Resistance escape organisation.

It later transpired that Wallace Ewart, (Coalfish), Laver Mills (Crayfish) and MacKinnan Conway (Cuttlefish) were murdered by the Germans under Hitler's illegal order on Commandos ( HITLER COMMANDO ORDER. ) Sheard Moffatt (Conger) were presumed drowned. Hasler was awarded the DSO and Sparks the DSM (Catfish). Laver and Mills received posthumous mentions in dispatches.

"Of the many brave and dashing raids carried out by the men of Combined Operations Command none was more courageous or imaginative than Operation Frankton."

....And the raids on the Tirptiz by the Xcraft

 

[Njaco]

I read about that 'Frankton' raid. Balls............

 

[stug3]

The beach at Dieppe after the Allied raid on 19th August 1942.

Prisoners being marched away from the port area.

 

[parsifal]

I would also dip my hat to the many raids undertaken by the Brandenburgers during the war, as well as skorzenys recuse of Mussolinis