The Würzburg
In November 1941 photo-reconnaissance of unusual looking 'cow pens’ near Cap de La Hague revealed movement through the fractional lengthening of a shadow.
Subsequent ‘dicing’ (flying in low and fast to take a closer photo) showed the parabolic disc of a Würzburg – one of Germany’s most closely kept secrets. Air staff had known about the Freya radar apparatus, which was long-range but not very precise, for almost a year and could already deceive it successfully. Until the photo, Würzburgs were a mysterious reference from the Enigma decodings. Located between the Freyas they were short-range and precise, providing a chain of defensive radar around German territories that caused devastating losses to British bombers. The Telecommunications Research Establishment, at Worth Matravers in Dorset, urgently needed to acquire further information about the Würzburg and this one in the photo was conveniently situated on a lonely cliff top. Thus began ‘Operation Biting’, now known as the Bruneval Raid.
Planning the Bruneval Raid
On 8th January 1942 Acting Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, head of Combined Operations, approached 1st Airborne Division to discuss the feasibility of a paratroop raid on the Würzburg radar apparatus. He had realised that an airborne assault would have the required surprise and speed, rather than the Poole commandos (see The Small Scale Raiding Force ) who were first considered.
By 21st January Mountbatten had proposals for the Bruneval raid to submit to the Chiefs of Staff. ‘C’ company of the 2nd Parachute Battalion, 1st Airborne Division were to carry out the raid supported by the Navy and the aircrew of No.51 Squadron RAF. They trained on Salisbury Plain, on Loch Fyne near Inverary in Scotland and finally on the Dorset and Hampshire coast. The operation was organised from Combined Operations headquarters at Anderson Manor, near Poole.
On 24th January 1942 the French Resistance group, La Confrérie Notre-Dame, led by the famous Rémy, was asked to investigate the defences of the German radar installation near Bruneval at Cap de la Hague (not far from the port of Le Havre). They supplied vital information for the Bruneval raid and the troops were able to train at Inverary using a model of the installation and buildings produced from the RAF’s Photographic Reconnaissance Unit and French Resistance intelligence.
By 22nd February 1942 Bruneval Raid parachutists, commandos and the Navy were training off the Dorset coast for retrieval from the beach below the German radar station - No 12 Commando were tasked with giving covering fire and hauling the paratroopers and their booty into the boats.
They encountered considerable problems including parachutists getting stuck in a coastal defence minefield!
Practising off Redcliff Point near Weymouth in Dorset, one of the landing craft collecting the raiders became grounded offshore but the raid had to go ahead over the next few days to coincide with an approach on the rising tide under a full moon.
The Bruneval Raid
On 27th February 1942 Allied paratroops landed on the French coast at Bruneval, near Le Havre to capture Würzburg radar equipment. ‘Operation Biting’ had begun.
In the afternoon the naval force under Commander Cook of the Royal Australian Navy, had set off across the Channel. Under a full moon four Whitley bombers dodged heavy anti-aircraft fire to fly the airborne assailants over and they landed on the clifftop in deep snow. Major John Frost, (subsequently famous for his involvement in the Battle of Arnhem during ‘Market Garden’ - filmed in ‘A Bridge Too Far’) and his 120 men met stiff resistance from German troops but managed to capture the precious Würzburg equipment and prisoners including a valuable radar technician. They escaped from the beach into the waiting gunboats and were escorted back across the Channel by four destroyers and a flight of Spitfires on the morning of 28th February.
The successful raid was a terrific morale booster for the British and provided important information for the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) at Worth Matravers, Dorset. It led to the development of the ‘Window’ bomber defence first deployed in the bombing of Hamburg raid on 24th July 1943 – strips of metal were dropped from the planes successfully jamming the German radar and cutting Allied air losses over Germany from 6.1% to 1.5%. (The technology was developed by April 1942 but its use was delayed while defence was more important than attack to Britain. The Luftwaffe could easily have copied the technique).
On 18th March 1942 Lord Louis Mountbatten was raised to Chief of Combined Operations with the acting rank of Vice Admiral (and the honorary ranks of Lieutenant General in the Army and Air Marshal in the RAF).
British airborne forces were expanded with the establishment of the Airborne Forces Depot and Battle School and, in summer 1942, the creation of the Parachute Regiment. The raid also resulted in the relocation inland of Dorset’s Telecommunications Research Establishment, having realised their vulnerability to coastal assault.
The Germans increased their defences around the Würzburg stations, inadvertently making them easier to locate and target from the air during preparations for ‘D’ day and the Allied assault on NW Europe.
(From Combined Operations WW2 website, WW2-net Timelines, ‘The Bruneval Raid – stealing Hitler’s Radar’ by George Millar - Cassell Military Paperbacks 1974 and ‘Dorset’s War Diary - Battle of Britain to D Day’ by Rodney Legg, Dorset Publishing Company 2004.)
Dick was working in Intelligence and probably based near Poole at this time (see The Missing Winter).
Was he involved in the planning of the Bruneval Raid?
His letters and service record reveal he’d joined the 1st Airborne by April 1942 (see Air Landing)– possibly inspired by the raid?
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