by Jon E. Lewis
5 A place where the boats can come in and be hidden while the attack goes in.
6 A position to place any covering fire or mortar teams.
Blowing up bridges
1 For complicated structures, two sets of cutting charges are required to cause collapse of the bridge. These should be placed equidistant from the centre of support
2 Cutting charges must be placed on beams and crossbraces as well as on the floor plating.
3 Stone arch bridges are best demolished by placing a charge to blow out the keystones. A larger gap will be created using three charges placed as shown.
4 Small stone arch spans are easily demolished by a row of cutting charges across the centre, which destroys the integrity of the arch.
The diagrams show where to place a line of charges on some typical bridges. Remember that only one person should prepare, place and fire explosive charges, never divide responsibility, that is how expensive mistakes can occur. To destroy a bridge abutment use 18 kg TNT charges in holes 1.5 metres deep at 1.5 metre intervals across the width of the bridge and 1.5 metres behind the river face of the abutment.
Ambush
An ambush is a raid on a moving target. The only real difference is that the timetable of the operation becomes much sketchier and unreliable. Even excellent intelligence sources can’t really predict the enemy’s operational delays, and so the raiding party will often be in position for some time before the target comes along, considerably increasing the chances of detection.
CRATERING CHARGES
This mixture of five charges at 1.5 m and 2.1 m depth will blow a crater approximately 2.5 metres deep and 7.5 metres wide in any road.
Timber cutting charges
If you can drill into the wood and place the explosives inside, you can use a much smaller charge for exterior explosives calculate the charge using the formula D2 divided by 40. (D = least dimension in inches). This gives the number of pounds of TNT needed
Ambushes are conducted to destroy or capture enemy personnel and supplies or block their movement. A systematic approach can channel the enemy’s communications and resupply operations, and force him to concentrate his movements onto main roads and railway lines, where they are more vulnerable to attack, especially from air strikes.
Railways and waterways
Railways themselves are always relatively open targets. Just removing the rails will bring the system to a halt. The attacking force tries to derail as many wagons and carriages as possible and leave the wreckage blocking the track. This maximizes the damage to stock, passengers and material and slows down the work of repairing and reopening the permanent way.
If the attack party is large enough they assault the train with automatic weapons and grenades. Part of the raiding party’s security element will remove sections of the track in both directions, some way away from the scene of the ambush. Explosive charges should be used to destroy the level rail-bed itself. This will prevent any possibility of reinforcements arriving unexpectedly.
Traffic on inland waterways – barges and smaller craft – can be disrupted in much the same way as railway trains, and the same technique is used against columns of vehicles on roads.
The Last Raid on Simi: July 1944
The Greek island of Simi, occupied by the Germans in 1941, was a favourite stomping ground of the British Special Boat Squadron during WWII. The SBS raided Simi – even controlled it temporarily – on numerous occasions. As a result, the Wehrmacht was forced to strengthen the island’s garrison with troops diverted from other fronts. It is estimated that as many as 18,000 German troops were tied down by the actions of the 250-strong SBS against Simi and the other Aegean islands.
Formed in 1942 from a marriage of SAS’s D Squadron and the Commando Special Boat Sections, the SBS’s main area of activity was the Aegean, but it also fought in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas. It was led by Major the Earl Jellicoe, an early member of David Stirling’s 1 SAS.
The SBS was unorthodox in its dress (which consisted of any Allied uniform to hand), armament (the German MP38/40 was a favourite weapon) and parade-ground discipline. It was also pervaded by a very British sense of ‘dashingness’, perfectly encapsulated in an incident where a junior officer, David Clark, landed on a German occupied island, walked in to the officers mess, and said “It would be all so much easier if you would just raise your hands.”
Yet the appearance of casualness in the SBS was deceptive and training for the unit at its speciliast camp at Athlit in Palestine was gruelling, including many hours instruction in the use of folboats and Greek caiques.
The SBS – the inspiration for Alistair Maclean’s novel, The Guns of Navarone – was disbanded in 1945, although much of its ethos lives on in the elite unit which bears the same name today, the Special Boat Squadron of the Royal Marines.
The account here is of the SBS’s last action against Simi, that of July 1944. It comes from John Lodwick’s classic memoir of life and war in the Squadron, The Filibusters.
The Simi Operation had been considered for some time, but as long as the enemy possessed destroyers in the Aegean, it had never looked practicable. Destroyers can interfere with landing operations, even at long range and at short notice. At the beginning of the year, there had been four destroyers in the Eastern Mediterrean. Only very gradually were they eliminated.
The German navy in those waters seldom put to sea.
In March, one of these ships was damaged by a British submarine. Later, a second received a bomb amidships from a Beaufighter. Two remained lurking in Leros. In this emergency, Brigadier Turnbull requested London to send him out a small party of Royal Marine Boom Commando troops. A wise move, for though there were still many men in the SBS to whom folboating was second nature, the art of infiltration by canoe had undoubtedly declined since the days of ‘Tug’ Wilson. Folboats, when used at all, were now used to land personnel, their role being no more aggressive than that of a gondola.
When Turnbull’s marines first arrived in the Middle East the experts were inclined to scoff. Their attitude of condescension was abandoned when it was seen with what precision the newcomers handled their craft. In mid-June they went into Portolago Harbour, Leros, crossed two booms, sank the surviving destroyers with limper charges and emerged without loss.
The way was now clear for Simi.
On 6th July Stewart Macbeth returned to base. He had made a personal reconnaissance of the island and pinpointed the enemy dispositions. Two days later the striking force, under Brigadier Turnbull himself, comprising ten motor launches, two schooners, eighty-one members of the SBS and one hundred and thirty-nine from the Greek Sacred Squadron were concentrated in Penzik Bay, Turkey, under camouflage. Three parties were constituted: Main Force, under the Brigadier with Lapraik deputizing; West Force, under Captain Charles Clynes’ and South Force, under Macbeth. On the night of July 13th the landings were made, and despite great enemy vigilance, passed everywhere unobserved. The only casualities suffered consisted of two Greek officers who fell into the water with heavy packs. They were drowned.
The approach marches were difficult but all three forces were lying up and overlooking their targets before dawn. At first light a barrage was opened upon Simi Castle – the main enemy stronghold – by mortars and multiple machine-guns. Two German ‘Ems’ barges which had left harbour a few minutes before zero hour now came scuttling back. They had sighted the force of five British launches which were coming in to bombard the castle. Both motor launches and the SBS opened fire on these ships. Presently, large white flags could be seen waving from their bridges before they ran ashore and were captured in good working order.
‘Stud’ Stellin was clearing Molo Point. He had taken his first objective without opposition. Ahead of him, Germans were running up the hill to man their machine-gun posts.
“I took a shot with my carbine,” said ‘Stud’, “but misfired. I therefore called upon Private Whalen to give them the works. We strolled in with grenades, and I t
hink that everybody went a little mad. Soon, all the enemy were either down and dead, or up and waving their hands.”
Stellin locked these prisoners in a church, left a sentry outside it and moved on to his next objective.
Clynes, scheduled to attack gun positions, gave them three minutes softening from his Brens and then ordered his Greeks to charge. “All I can remember, then,” he said, “is a general surge up the slope and two small and pathetic white handkerchiefs waving at the top of it. I ordered a ‘Cease fire’ all round, and began to count my prisoners.”
By 0900 hours, Main Force Headquarters and the Vickers machine-gun and mortar troops had advanced to within 800 yards of the castle. Fire was intensified upon this target from all sides, mortar projectiles crashing on the battlements and nine-millimetre tracers searching every embrasure. The enemy reaction was spirited and indicated that they had by no means abandoned hope. Stellin, moving his patrol to clear some caïque yards, received most of the attention.
“The stuff started to whizz about. We had to cross a bridge. Somebody in the castle had a very accurate bead on that bridge. We doubled, but Lance-Corporal Roberts, Private Majury, and Marine Kinghorn became pinned down under a low parapet, the slightest movement causing fire to be brought upon them. I told them to stay there . . .”
They did. They were not able to get up until the castle surrendered three hours later. Roberts, who attempted to while away the time by lighting a cigarette, raised his head an inch or two. He received a bullet graze from the temple to the neck.
Clynes had also been sent down to the caïque yard with orders to clear it. On the way he met Lieutenant Betts-Gray, who throughout the action did excellent liaison work. Betts-Gray was hugging the rocks, pursued by a hail of fire. Clynes and his patrol were presently pinned down in their turn. Private Bromley was hit in the arm, and Betts-Gray, who had had miraculous escapes all day, in the buttocks once, and in the back twice, was assisted into a house and put to bed.
To the south, Macbeth and Bury, with their forces, had assaulted a monastery position after considerable mortar preparation. The surviving enemy were driven down a promontory towards the extremity of the island, where Macbeth called upon them to surrender. The first demand written by Bob Bury, was rejected haughtily by the defenders as illegible. It was rewritten with the aid of a young Greek girl, who volunteered to carry it through the lines. This civilian armistice commission was successful and thirty-three more of the enemy laid down their arms.
Around the castle, the situation had developed into a stale-mate, with mortar fire causing the garrison casualties and discomfort, but not sufficient in itself to bring about their surrender. Neither Brigadier Turnbull nor Lapraik considered that the position could be taken by direct assault. They decided to consolidate, make the maximum display of force at their disposal and institute surrender parleys.
Accordingly, Brigadier Turnbull sent a German petty-officer, commanding one of the ‘Ems’ barges, up under escort, with instructions to inform the enemy that they were completely surrounded, that the rest of the island was in British hands, and that further resistance on their part was as senseless as it was likely to prove costly.
The petty-officer returned an hour later. It appeared that the enemy were prepared to talk business. Lieutenant Kenneth Fox, a German speaker, now returned to the castle with the same man. A further hour elapsed during which the only incident was the emergence of a party of Italian carabinieri from the stronghold, weeping, and waving a Red Cross flag.
“I thought I recognized one of these fellows,” said Lapraik, “and sure enough it was the old rascal who had given us so much trouble during our previous occupation of Simi. He grew very pale when he saw me . . .”
Lieutanant-Commander Ramseyer, the naval liaison officer, was then sent up to expedite matters. He found Fox and the German Commander in agitated conference and himself in imminent danger from our mortar fire. At last, the capitulation was arranged and the garrison marched out. They had barely been collected and counted when three Messerschmitts flew over the port and dropped antipersonnel bombs.
“Too bad,” the German Commander is reported to have said, shaking his head. “You see, that’s what comes of being late. I thought they had forgotten about us. I radioed for them five hours ago.”
Prisoners taken in this action totalled 151, of whom serventeen were wounded. Twenty-one Germans and Italians had been killed. The SBS and Sacred Squadron losses were as usual microscopic, and, apart from the two Greek officers drowned, not a single man was killed. Six were wounded.
As soon as the Messerchmitts had disappeared, tea was taken by both armies in the caïque yards. Sausages were fried and an ox, provided by the delighted population, roasted on a bowsprit. As for the prisoners, they were so delighted to find themselves treated deferentially instead of being shot out of hand, that they revealed the exitence of many a cache of wine in their living-quarters. Bottles were transferred to the SBS packs, to be drunk at base.
Meanwhile, Lapraik, Macbeth, and Stellin, well known on the island, were borne to the town hall, where many speeches were made. The town jail was thrown open to the accompaniment of a furore which would have done credit to the storming of the Bastille. Unfortunately, only one prisoner was found inside and he, a Fascist, refused to be liberated.
“I admired these islanders,” said Lapraik, “intensely; for they all knew that we could not remain and were rightly apprehensive of reprisals. But this did not diminish in any way their enthusiasm, though they were aware that hostile eyes were watching them, recording every incident. In the end, we caused them immense relief by taking the fifteen foremost quislings away with us.”
General demolitions were begun by Bill Cumper and installations as varied as 75-mm. gun emplacements, diesel fuel pumps and cable-heads, received generous charges. Ammunition and explosive dumps provided fireworks to suit the occasion. In the harbour, nineteen German caïques, some displacing as much as 150 tons, were sunk. At midnight the whole force sailed, the prisoners being crowded into the two ‘Em’ barges. Stellin, with his patrol and Captain Pyke, Civil Affairs Officer, remained behind as rear party, with instructions to report subsequent events on Simi, and to distribute nearly thirty tons of food which had been brought in for the relief of the civilian population.
The German reaction was as expected, and followed the traditional pattern of attempted intimidation preceding assault. On the following morning the town was heavily bombed. Stellin and his men sat tight in their slit trenches. When it was all over they emerged to find, as they had hoped, that two enemy motor launches were attempting to enter the harbour. Such accurate fire was opened on these ships that they withdrew, blazing. So did Stellin, whose keen ear had detected the approach of more bombers, and who knew that this was the prelude to reoccupation of the island.
At three o’clock, from one of the more remote mountains, he watched the German flag hoisted over the citadel. But Stellin’s adventures were not yet over; that night the launch re-embarking his party, encountered an ‘E’ boat on the return journey. So many and so various were Stellin’s store of captured weapons that every man in his patrol was able to take a personal hand in the battle with a machine-gun. The ‘E’ boat was left in a sinking condition.
Chapter 10
PERSONAL SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES
SPECIAL FORCES PERSONAL PROTECTION
It now costs around £1 ($1.5) million to train a Special Forces trooper, so any money spent on keeping him alive is money well spent. The trouble is that such personnel are prone to all types of attacks and aggressive or defensive counter-measures, so it is difficult to decide exactly what to protect an individual against.
The result has been a wide array of protective clothing with each item proof against something or other, and designed in isolation from anything else. This often means that when all the various items are worn together they do not integrate: NBC respirator face seals may be broken when a helmet is put on, weapons cannot be sighted t
hrough respirator lenses, bulletproof garments interfere with movement and so on.
The IPPS
This integration problem has been overcome by five British companies which have got together and developed a protective outfit that is proof against most threats to special forces personnel. It is known as the Integrated Personal Protection System (IPPS) and has been tested by Special Forces. The IPPS is not just a design venture: it has been developed using all manner of practical combat experience and the result is a superb protective outfit.
Starting from the skin outwards, the basis of the IPPS is a set of carbonized viscose “long john” underwear. The material is light and comfortable to wear but is flame retardant, as is the main overgarment, a one piece assault suit also made from carbon fibre material, in this case Nomex 3. The suit incorporates flame retardant pads at the elbows and knees, allowing the wearer to crawl safely over hot surfaces such as aircraft engines during hijack hostage rescue missions.
Incidentally, the suits are very similar to those being worn by tanker crews currently operating in the Persian Gulf, but theirs are coloured bright orange; the IPPS is usually black.
Armoured vest
Over the flame-retardant garments the IPPS features a bulletproof waistcoat made of soft fragmentation armour and with a built-in trauma liner to absorb shock. Without this liner internal injuries could occur even if a bullet is stopped by the armour. The soft armour protection is enhanced by inserting curved ceramic plates at the front and back: these can stop .357 Magnum bullets at a range of three metres. A groin panel can be added if required.
The armourshield GPVI 25 armoured vest
The helmet
Further armoured protection is provided by a special helmet known as the AC 100/1, a National Plastics product made from layers of a Kevlar-type material. This can withstand the impact of a 9-mm bullet at close range and to ensure the wearer’s head is not knocked off by the impact, the helmet uses a bullet trauma lining.
