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Special Operations
3 years 7 months ago - 2 years 10 months ago #1
by Doc
Special Operations Executive (SOE) had been set up in 1940 to coordinate and carry out subversive action against German forces in occupied countries, including France. SOE sent agents to support resistance groups and provided them with weapons, sabotage materials and other supplies.
There was only limited cooperation between SOE and those planning Operation ‘Overlord’, and the exact role resistance forces would have during the invasion was not decided until the week before D-Day. There were also differences between the many groups that made up French resistance – each had different origins, methods and political aims – as well as rivalries between the various intelligence organisations, including SOE. This made it difficult to effectively coordinate their activities.
Secret messages were broadcast on the eve of D-Day alerting SOE agents and resistance forces to make ‘maximum effort’ in carrying out acts of sabotage. Earlier messages warning of the impending invasion had been broadcast on 1 May and 1 June. These were picked up by the Nazi Security Services and reported to the High Command. But these warnings were not acted upon and therefore did not endanger the landings by giving away the element of surprise.
On and shortly after D-Day, three-man special forces ‘Jedburgh’ teams made up of British, American and French personnel in uniform were dropped into France to align French resistance activities with Allied strategy. They also helped to undermine German defences in Normandy by disabling rail, communication and power networks in the invasion area. This disruption helped prevent the Germans from concentrating their strength in Normandy on D-Day and in the weeks that followed.
Special Operations was created by Doc
Special Operations Executive (SOE) had been set up in 1940 to coordinate and carry out subversive action against German forces in occupied countries, including France. SOE sent agents to support resistance groups and provided them with weapons, sabotage materials and other supplies.
There was only limited cooperation between SOE and those planning Operation ‘Overlord’, and the exact role resistance forces would have during the invasion was not decided until the week before D-Day. There were also differences between the many groups that made up French resistance – each had different origins, methods and political aims – as well as rivalries between the various intelligence organisations, including SOE. This made it difficult to effectively coordinate their activities.
Secret messages were broadcast on the eve of D-Day alerting SOE agents and resistance forces to make ‘maximum effort’ in carrying out acts of sabotage. Earlier messages warning of the impending invasion had been broadcast on 1 May and 1 June. These were picked up by the Nazi Security Services and reported to the High Command. But these warnings were not acted upon and therefore did not endanger the landings by giving away the element of surprise.
On and shortly after D-Day, three-man special forces ‘Jedburgh’ teams made up of British, American and French personnel in uniform were dropped into France to align French resistance activities with Allied strategy. They also helped to undermine German defences in Normandy by disabling rail, communication and power networks in the invasion area. This disruption helped prevent the Germans from concentrating their strength in Normandy on D-Day and in the weeks that followed.
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3 years 7 months ago - 3 years 7 months ago #2
by Doc
The Force 136 was the general cover name, from March 1944, for a Far East branch of the British World War II intelligence organisation, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Originally set up in 1941 as the India Mission with the cover name of GSI(k), it absorbed what was left of SOE's Oriental Mission in April 1942. The man in overall charge for the duration of the war was Colin Mackenzie.
The organisation was established to encourage and supply indigenous resistance movements in enemy-occupied territory, and occasionally mount clandestine sabotage operations. Force 136 operated in the regions of the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II which were occupied by Japan from 1941 to 1945: Burma, Malaya, China, Sumatra, Siam, and French Indo-China (FIC).
Although the top command of Force 136 were British officers and civilians, most of those it trained and employed as agents were indigenous to the regions in which they operated. Burmese, Indians and Chinese were trained as agents for missions in Burma, for example. British and other European officers and NCOs went behind the lines to train resistance movements. Former colonial officials and men who had worked in these countries for various companies knew the local languages, the peoples and the land and so became invaluable to SOE. Most famous amongst these officers are Freddie Spencer Chapman in Malaya and Hugh Seagrim in Burma.
Replied by Doc on topic Special Operations
Force 136
The Force 136 was the general cover name, from March 1944, for a Far East branch of the British World War II intelligence organisation, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Originally set up in 1941 as the India Mission with the cover name of GSI(k), it absorbed what was left of SOE's Oriental Mission in April 1942. The man in overall charge for the duration of the war was Colin Mackenzie.
The organisation was established to encourage and supply indigenous resistance movements in enemy-occupied territory, and occasionally mount clandestine sabotage operations. Force 136 operated in the regions of the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II which were occupied by Japan from 1941 to 1945: Burma, Malaya, China, Sumatra, Siam, and French Indo-China (FIC).
Although the top command of Force 136 were British officers and civilians, most of those it trained and employed as agents were indigenous to the regions in which they operated. Burmese, Indians and Chinese were trained as agents for missions in Burma, for example. British and other European officers and NCOs went behind the lines to train resistance movements. Former colonial officials and men who had worked in these countries for various companies knew the local languages, the peoples and the land and so became invaluable to SOE. Most famous amongst these officers are Freddie Spencer Chapman in Malaya and Hugh Seagrim in Burma.
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3 years 6 months ago - 3 years 6 months ago #3
by snowman
Operation Biting was a daring Combined Operations raid on a German radar station at Bruneval in northern France.
In February 1942, men of the newly formed British 1st Airborne Division went into action for the first time. Their target was the German 'Wurzburg' radar installation at Bruneval. Their objective was to seize vital radar components and to bring them back to the UK for inspection by trained scientists.
Radar was one of the key, high-technology battlegrounds of the war. Without radar, the outcome of RAF Fighter Command's narrow victory in the "Battle of Britain", might have been very different. The Luftwaffe, meantime, were using radio navigation aids for blind bombing during the blitz. In 1941, Bomber Command extended its reach into the German heartland, forcing the Luftwaffe to develop its own defensive radars and Britain responded with jamming techniques. So the "battle of the beams" developed between scientists on both sides as they strived to gain the advantage. Heading up the British team, was Dr RV Jones, of the Air Staff.
From intelligence gathered by the French resistance, a frontal assault on the beach would suffer heavy casualties from enemy defensive positions. It was, therefore, decided to drop paratroops inland by Whitley bombers under the command of Squadron Leader Charles Pickard. The plan envisaged the raiding party being recovered from the beach by the Royal Navy, with No 12 Commando providing covering fire against German coastal positions.
C Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Parachute Brigade was chosen for the operation - 120 men commanded by Major John Frost. Nearly all the men were drawn from Scottish regiments, including the Black Watch, Cameron Highlanders, King's Own Scottish Borderers and the Seaforths. To identify the components of interest, they were to be accompanied by RAF radar operator, Flight Sergeant CWH Cox. He was a former cinema projectionist, ill equipped for such an operation since he had never been in a ship, or on an aircraft, before!
The utmost secrecy was applied to the project from the outset. If German Intelligence became aware of British interest in the Bruneval site, the whole project would be compromised with disastrous consequences for those taking part. The "need to know" doctrine was, therefore, strictly applied. The parachute unit, for example, believed the War Cabinet wanted them to demonstrate techniques and capabilities for raiding a headquarters building behind enemy lines.
The plan for the operation was simple. The paratroops were to be dropped in three units. The first, under the leadership of Lieutenant John Ross and Lieutenant Euen Charteris, was to advance on, and capture, the beach. The second, subdivided into three sections and commanded by Frost, was to seize a nearby villa and the Wurzburg, while the third, led by Lieutenant John Timothy, was to act as a rearguard and reserve ...
"Straight and narrow is the path."
Replied by snowman on topic Special Operations
Operation Biting aka The Bruneval Raid
Operation Biting was a daring Combined Operations raid on a German radar station at Bruneval in northern France.
In February 1942, men of the newly formed British 1st Airborne Division went into action for the first time. Their target was the German 'Wurzburg' radar installation at Bruneval. Their objective was to seize vital radar components and to bring them back to the UK for inspection by trained scientists.
Radar was one of the key, high-technology battlegrounds of the war. Without radar, the outcome of RAF Fighter Command's narrow victory in the "Battle of Britain", might have been very different. The Luftwaffe, meantime, were using radio navigation aids for blind bombing during the blitz. In 1941, Bomber Command extended its reach into the German heartland, forcing the Luftwaffe to develop its own defensive radars and Britain responded with jamming techniques. So the "battle of the beams" developed between scientists on both sides as they strived to gain the advantage. Heading up the British team, was Dr RV Jones, of the Air Staff.
From intelligence gathered by the French resistance, a frontal assault on the beach would suffer heavy casualties from enemy defensive positions. It was, therefore, decided to drop paratroops inland by Whitley bombers under the command of Squadron Leader Charles Pickard. The plan envisaged the raiding party being recovered from the beach by the Royal Navy, with No 12 Commando providing covering fire against German coastal positions.
C Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Parachute Brigade was chosen for the operation - 120 men commanded by Major John Frost. Nearly all the men were drawn from Scottish regiments, including the Black Watch, Cameron Highlanders, King's Own Scottish Borderers and the Seaforths. To identify the components of interest, they were to be accompanied by RAF radar operator, Flight Sergeant CWH Cox. He was a former cinema projectionist, ill equipped for such an operation since he had never been in a ship, or on an aircraft, before!
The utmost secrecy was applied to the project from the outset. If German Intelligence became aware of British interest in the Bruneval site, the whole project would be compromised with disastrous consequences for those taking part. The "need to know" doctrine was, therefore, strictly applied. The parachute unit, for example, believed the War Cabinet wanted them to demonstrate techniques and capabilities for raiding a headquarters building behind enemy lines.
The plan for the operation was simple. The paratroops were to be dropped in three units. The first, under the leadership of Lieutenant John Ross and Lieutenant Euen Charteris, was to advance on, and capture, the beach. The second, subdivided into three sections and commanded by Frost, was to seize a nearby villa and the Wurzburg, while the third, led by Lieutenant John Timothy, was to act as a rearguard and reserve ...
"Straight and narrow is the path."
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2 years 9 months ago - 2 years 9 months ago #4
by snowman
Known as Paddy Fermor, was a British author, scholar, soldier and polyglot who played a prominent role behind the lines in the Cretan resistance during the Second World War. A BBC journalist once described him as "a cross between Indiana Jones, James Bond and Graham Greene".
Due to his knowledge of modern Greek, he was commissioned in the General List in August 1940 and became a liaison officer in Albania. He fought in Crete and mainland Greece. During the German occupation, he returned to Crete three times, once by parachute, and was one of a small number of Special Operations Executive (SOE) officers posted to organise the island's resistance to the occupation. Disguised as a shepherd and nicknamed Michalis or Filedem, he lived for over two years in the mountains.
On the night of 26 April 1944, alongside his colleague William Stanley ‘Billy’ Moss and other members of the resistance, they kidnapped Major General Heinrich Kreipe, then drove him through 22 German checkpoints in his own car before abandoning it and disappearing into the mountains. After being pursued across Crete by German forces, they were finally picked upon the south coast and taken by boat to Egypt. Leigh Femor and Moss were decorated for their daring and bravery and both became famous authors after the war.
Paddy was widely regarded as Britain's greatest living travel writer during his lifetime. Moss featured the events of the Cretan capture in his book "Ill Met by Moonlight( 1957)". During periods of leave, Leigh Fermor spent time at Tara, a villa in Cairo rented by Moss, where the "rowdy household" of SOE officers was presided over by Countess Zofia (Sophie) Tarnowska.
Leigh Fermor was noted for his strong physical constitution, even though he smoked 80 to 100 cigarettes a day. Although in his last years he suffered from tunnel vision and wore hearing aids, he remained physically fit up to his death and dined at table on the last evening of his life.
For the last few months of his life Leigh Fermor suffered from a cancerous tumour, and in early June 2011 he underwent a tracheotomy in Greece. As death was close, according to local Greek friends, he expressed a wish to visit England to say good-bye to his friends, and then return to die in Kardamyli, though it is also stated that he actually wished to die in England and be buried next to his wife.
Leigh Fermor died in England, aged 96, on 10 June 2011, the day after his return.
Harry Rée was born in England in 1914. After studying at the Institute of Education, University of London (1936-37) he became a language master at Bradford Grammar School.
Harry joined the Special Operations Executive in 1940, becoming a captain serving with the Intelligence Corps. Given the code name "César" he was sent to occupied France in April 1943 as part of the Acrobat Network. Later he became head of the Stockbroker Network that was active around Belfort.
He believed that bombing of France by the RAF was counter-productive and argued that if agents were to organize the sabotage of selected factories then the German war effort would still be undermined but with fewer civilian casualties. Rée had been impressed by the destruction of the locomotive works at Fives by Michael Trotobas. During the operation four million litres of oil were destroyed and twenty-two transformers damaged and the works were out of action for two months.
To emphasize the point he orchestrated the successful destruction of the Peugeot factory at Sochaux. Later, during an attempt to evade capture, he was shot four times but still managed to swim across a river and crawl through a forest, eventually getting back to England via Switzerland.This woollen jumper shows where a bullet hole has torn the fabric – and has been darned.
The Germans became aware of his activities and attempted to arrest him. Despite being shot four times in the lung, arm, shoulder and side Rée managed to escape by swimming across a river and crawling four miles through a forest. Rée eventually got back to England via Switzerland.
After the war Rée was appointed headmaster of Watford Grammar School. He later became professor of education at York University (1961-74) where he became one of the country's leading advocates of comprehensive education and was active in the Society for the Promotion of Educational Reform. In 1974 he left York University to return to classroom teaching in Woodberry Down Comprehensive School, London, until his retirement in 1980. In the 1980s Rée continued to campaign on educational issues. This included closer links between schools in the European Community and the repeal of the 1988 Education Act. Harry Rée died in 1991.
"Straight and narrow is the path."
Replied by snowman on topic Special Operations
Patrick Leigh Fermor
(11 February 1915 – 10 June 2011)
(11 February 1915 – 10 June 2011)
Known as Paddy Fermor, was a British author, scholar, soldier and polyglot who played a prominent role behind the lines in the Cretan resistance during the Second World War. A BBC journalist once described him as "a cross between Indiana Jones, James Bond and Graham Greene".
Due to his knowledge of modern Greek, he was commissioned in the General List in August 1940 and became a liaison officer in Albania. He fought in Crete and mainland Greece. During the German occupation, he returned to Crete three times, once by parachute, and was one of a small number of Special Operations Executive (SOE) officers posted to organise the island's resistance to the occupation. Disguised as a shepherd and nicknamed Michalis or Filedem, he lived for over two years in the mountains.
On the night of 26 April 1944, alongside his colleague William Stanley ‘Billy’ Moss and other members of the resistance, they kidnapped Major General Heinrich Kreipe, then drove him through 22 German checkpoints in his own car before abandoning it and disappearing into the mountains. After being pursued across Crete by German forces, they were finally picked upon the south coast and taken by boat to Egypt. Leigh Femor and Moss were decorated for their daring and bravery and both became famous authors after the war.
Paddy was widely regarded as Britain's greatest living travel writer during his lifetime. Moss featured the events of the Cretan capture in his book "Ill Met by Moonlight( 1957)". During periods of leave, Leigh Fermor spent time at Tara, a villa in Cairo rented by Moss, where the "rowdy household" of SOE officers was presided over by Countess Zofia (Sophie) Tarnowska.
Leigh Fermor was noted for his strong physical constitution, even though he smoked 80 to 100 cigarettes a day. Although in his last years he suffered from tunnel vision and wore hearing aids, he remained physically fit up to his death and dined at table on the last evening of his life.
For the last few months of his life Leigh Fermor suffered from a cancerous tumour, and in early June 2011 he underwent a tracheotomy in Greece. As death was close, according to local Greek friends, he expressed a wish to visit England to say good-bye to his friends, and then return to die in Kardamyli, though it is also stated that he actually wished to die in England and be buried next to his wife.
Leigh Fermor died in England, aged 96, on 10 June 2011, the day after his return.
Harry Alfred Rée
(15 October 1914 – 17 May 1991)
(15 October 1914 – 17 May 1991)
Harry Rée was born in England in 1914. After studying at the Institute of Education, University of London (1936-37) he became a language master at Bradford Grammar School.
Harry joined the Special Operations Executive in 1940, becoming a captain serving with the Intelligence Corps. Given the code name "César" he was sent to occupied France in April 1943 as part of the Acrobat Network. Later he became head of the Stockbroker Network that was active around Belfort.
He believed that bombing of France by the RAF was counter-productive and argued that if agents were to organize the sabotage of selected factories then the German war effort would still be undermined but with fewer civilian casualties. Rée had been impressed by the destruction of the locomotive works at Fives by Michael Trotobas. During the operation four million litres of oil were destroyed and twenty-two transformers damaged and the works were out of action for two months.
To emphasize the point he orchestrated the successful destruction of the Peugeot factory at Sochaux. Later, during an attempt to evade capture, he was shot four times but still managed to swim across a river and crawl through a forest, eventually getting back to England via Switzerland.This woollen jumper shows where a bullet hole has torn the fabric – and has been darned.
The Germans became aware of his activities and attempted to arrest him. Despite being shot four times in the lung, arm, shoulder and side Rée managed to escape by swimming across a river and crawling four miles through a forest. Rée eventually got back to England via Switzerland.
After the war Rée was appointed headmaster of Watford Grammar School. He later became professor of education at York University (1961-74) where he became one of the country's leading advocates of comprehensive education and was active in the Society for the Promotion of Educational Reform. In 1974 he left York University to return to classroom teaching in Woodberry Down Comprehensive School, London, until his retirement in 1980. In the 1980s Rée continued to campaign on educational issues. This included closer links between schools in the European Community and the repeal of the 1988 Education Act. Harry Rée died in 1991.
"Straight and narrow is the path."
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