For Bob this was an immensely valuable opportunity, especially because it would enable him to get to know the British Chiefs of Staff much better. The one with whom he was most familiar was Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Cunningham, who was appointed as First Sea Lord only a few days before Bob became CCO and whom Bob had met on a number of occasions in Egypt whilst at Layforce and afterwards. The first public occasion for both of them in their new roles was the funeral of Cunningham’s predecessor, Dudley Pound, at which Cunningham acted as a pall bearer whilst Bob walked in the procession with representatives of the three services. Bob also knew Brooke, but had had little previous connection with Portal. The conference would also enable him to meet for the first time the American Joint Chiefs of Staff, Generals Marshall and Arnold and Admirals Leahy and King. Bob had already been recognized by the Americans as a valued collaborator for his work with the US Rangers, but he would have to foster even closer cooperation in future with Britain’s most important ally. Last, and by no means least, he could meet Mountbatten, who was to be at the conference in his capacity as Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia, for a belated briefing.
As cover for his movements Bob pretended to be going up to Scotland, but in fact he flew out from Northolt with Brooke and Portal at 01.00 on 17 November. The Prime Minister was making the journey by sea, so they had the use of his Avro York, Ascalon, which was exceptionally comfortable, especially for Brooke, who occupied Churchill’s private cabin. They landed at 08.00 in Gibraltar, where they were given breakfast by Lieutenant General Mason-Macfarlane, the Governor, and then flew on to Malta, where they landed uneventfully at 15.00 local time, a welcome contrast to Bob’s last arrival there in September 1941, in the middle of an air raid.
Churchill arrived on the same day in HMS Renown, accompanied by Cunningham. The next two days were taken up with preparatory meetings for SEXTANT, involving the Chiefs of Staff, the Prime Minister and the three service C-in-Cs in the Mediterranean, Alexander, Admiral Sir John Cunningham and Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder. Churchill decided to continue his journey by sea, so Brooke and Bob once again had the use of Ascalon to fly to Cairo on 20 November, Portal having decided to visit Tunis on the way.
The conference was held in the Mena House Hotel, near the Pyramids, which housed the conference rooms and all the offices for the various delegations, whilst the participants were housed in villas which had been requisitioned around the hotel and along the road to Cairo. It was in one of these that Bob found himself living, along with Antony Head, who was present with the British Joint Planners.
The SEXTANT Conference was a frustrating one. Brooke lamented in his diary that it should have come after the conference with Stalin, as it was much more important to arrive at firm agreements on the war against Germany, whose defeat had always had priority over the defeat of Japan. The Chinese delegates turned out to be woefully ill-prepared, their most impressive, albeit unofficial, member being Madame Chiang. Their main concern was for the British and Americans to take as much pressure off their own forces as possible by conducting offensive operations in Burma and the Bay of Bengal. Mountbatten, with some trepidation as he was sceptical of Chinese security, presented his plans for the dry weather season of 1943/44, involving an advance along the Arakan coast and a seaborne assault on the Andaman Islands. The Chinese response was confused, and little was achieved by way of their support on the Burma front.
Bob found himself attending conferences nearly every day, of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, which continued as they would have in London, of the Combined Chiefs of Staff, with or without the politicians, and with everyone including the Chinese. He managed to have a good session with Mountbatten and Head, and the three of them had a relaxed dinner together one evening at Shepheard’s Hotel away from the conference. He also met many other friends, but was disappointed, yet again, not to see his brother Michael.7
SEXTANT ended on 26 November. On the following day the British and Americans flew off to Teheran to meet Stalin, Churchill taking only a small party, which included the Chiefs of Staff but not Bob. He was not to leave Cairo, however, as it had been decided that the Western Allies would continue their discussions there when they returned on 2 December. In the meantime, he took the opportunity to summon Tom Churchill to Cairo from Italy, as it was clear that he was going to find it otherwise difficult to meet him in the near future. He was able to brief him very fully on the changes at the Special Service Group and COHQ , and was also brought up to date on the activities of 2 Special Service Brigade in Italy, where it was being well employed by Montgomery.
It was not until the second week of December that Bob flew back to the UK, by which time he was impatient to implement the reorganization of COHQ and work himself fully into his new role.
Chapter 19
Chief
Bob arrived back from Egypt in time to spend Christmas with the family at Wiseton. Michael was on a month’s disembarkation leave, and it seems that this was the first time that Bob had seen his youngest brother, in spite of all his efforts to do so, since Michael had sailed for the Middle East in early 1940. In the intervening period Michael had won an immediate Military Cross as a squadron commander during the Battle of Alam Halfa in September 1942 and been lightly wounded and mentioned in despatches later in the North African campaign. He was now second-in-command of the Sherwood Rangers, which was about to begin training for OVERLORD.
Peter was still second-in-command of 10 (Inter Allied) Commando. This Commando was never to operate as a whole and, during the last few months of 1943, it lost No. 4 Belgian and No. 6 Polish Troops to 2 Special Service Brigade in Italy, and No. 4 Dutch Troop to 3 Special Service Brigade in the Far East. In the summer of 1943 elements of the Commando had joined Forfar Force, which otherwise comprised the remnants of 12 Commando, in a number of very small operations on the Channel coast of France, whose intention was to gather intelligence and bring back prisoners. COSSAC then commissioned a further series of small reconnaissance operations under the codenames of HARDTACK and MANACLE, for which purpose Layforce II was formed by Peter from three troops. These carried out a number of raids in December 1943, with modest success, but the operations were called off early in the New Year, when 21st Army Group became concerned that they might alert the Germans to the location of OVERLORD.
By the end of 1943 the organization of the Commandos into the Special Service Group was complete. In theory its major components were the four Special Service Brigades, but in practice 2 Special Service Brigade in Italy and the Adriatic and 3 Special Service Brigade in the Far East were already on active service under local theatre commanders, whilst both 1 and 4 Special Service Brigades would be transferred to 21st Army Group in February 1944. Although Sturges visited his far-flung formations, it left him on a day-to-day basis with the newly formed Operational Holding Commando, which took in recruits until they were posted elsewhere, the Commando Basic Training Centre, the Commando Mountain Warfare Camp, which had moved to St Ives in Cornwall, the newly formed RM Engineering Commando, which was to second troops on active service as required, and the Special Boat Unit, whose HQ was situated with the Special Service Group at Pinner. The last of these consisted of the Special Boat Section, the RM Boom Patrol Detachment and the Combined Operations Pilotage Parties, all of which provided personnel to force commanders for reconnaissance-related operations.
Under the terms of his Directive* from the Chiefs of Staff, Bob was in control of the Special Service Group, but in practice he was able to leave it entirely to Sturges, whose main focus was on training, the continuing development of commando techniques and the supply of reinforcements to replace battle casualties, although in Italy and the Far East these were now to a significant extent to be found locally. He also had the difficult task in the early days of welding together the Army and RM Commandos, with their very different traditions and conditions of service. This was far from easy, and it was only when they actually fought together that they achieved mutual respect.
In addition to the Special Service Group, the CTCs, with their associated landing craft, the Signals School, the COXE and the Combined Operations Stores Depot, Bob had two other organizations under his direct command. The first of these was the Combined Operations Bombardment Units, until such time as they were placed under force commanders. These were now integral to all major Allied landings, during which and until the enemy moved out of range, naval gunfire support was essential to the troops engaged in the fighting. Each of the units comprised 146 men, mostly from the Royal Artillery, but with the signals element from the Royal Navy. The core of the unit was the forward observation officers, each of whom, with their own vehicles and a small party, including signallers, would land with the first wave of troops and set up observation posts as far forward as possible. They would then communicate directly with bombardment liaison officers working alongside gunnery officers on board the ships. Bob had been a direct beneficiary of the system at Salerno and it was to prove invaluable during OVERLORD, not only during the landings, when a number of specific strongpoints were targeted, but thereafter to support the advance and to break up enemy counter-attacks. The 15” guns of battleships and monitors had a range of 19 miles and the 6” guns of light cruisers 14 miles, an invaluable increment to the field artillery on land.
The second formation under Bob’s command was 105 (Combined Operations) Wing RAF, based at Dundonald, close to the CTC and the Signals School. The main component of the wing was 516 (Combined Operations) Squadron RAF, which deployed a variety of aircraft and whose principal purpose was to provide realistic training conditions at the CTCs by simulating low-level attacks.
There were two other organizations which had been created by COHQ and whose men were entitled to wear the green beret of the Commandos and the Combined Operations shoulder flash, but which no longer came under the CCO’s control. The first was the Royal Naval Beach Commandos, who were deployed in every major combined operation from Madagascar onwards, their units landing in the first wave of the assault troops to organize the beachheads and control the landings. By the end of 1943 they were under the command of the Admiralty, although in practice most were allocated to force commanders. The second was the RAF Servicing Commandos, whose units landed in the early stages to make enemy airfields serviceable and to find and commission suitable sites for new airfields. Outside operations they were controlled by the Air Ministry. The men from both the RN Beach Commandos and the RAF Servicing Commandos had to go through the basic Commando course at Achnacarry before moving to specialized training schools.
Bob’s main task when he arrived at COHQ was to reorganize its structure in line with Bottomley’s proposals. This was easier said than done, as it remained exceptionally busy in the run-up to OVERLORD, during which the CTCs were at full stretch and advice was constantly in demand from formations hitherto unfamiliar with amphibious warfare. The restructuring was nevertheless carried out in January 1944. In Bob’s words:
It has not been easy to carry this recommendation into practice as I had to make radical alterations in a machine which, for all its defects, worked satisfactorily, without stopping the machine whilst the alterations were being made.1
Three new Directors of Combined Operations were appointed. The DCO (Naval), Commodore H. W. Faulkner, took responsibility for Experiments, including oversight of COXE, Development and Signals. The DCO (Military), Brigadier C. B. Robertson, looked after Training, Administration and the Special Service Group. The DCO (Air), Air Commodore F. Long, dealt with Policy, Intelligence and Planning. Antony Head, promoted to Brigadier, was in charge of Joint Planning, representing Bob at meetings of the Directors of Plans, advising the Joint Planning Staff on Combined Operations aspects of all future operations and projects, briefing Bob for COS meetings and keeping COHQ advised on future strategy, so that training could be linked to the requirements of operations.
Bob’s other key subordinate was the Chief of Staff, his principal adviser and his deputy whenever he was away. This was Brigadier V. D. Thomas RM, who in January 1944 relieved Wildman-Lushington, having previously commanded part of the MNBDO in Ceylon. The other leading member of the staff was the Secretary, Paymaster Commander G. H. Nicholls, who was responsible for the internal administration and organization of COHQ itself. Bob’s personal staff consisted of his own secretary, Paymaster Lieutenant Commander I. G. Mason, his personal assistant, Flying Officer E. R. Petrie WAAF and his ADC, Harry Stavordale, still a captain.
Although the structure had been changed in line with the Bottomley recommendations, the numbers at COHQ remained stubbornly high as a result of the continuing demands on its services. Bob inherited a staff of 416. By early May 1944 this had been reduced to 383, and a further 22 were posted out after OVERLORD. However, there was constant pressure on him to make further reductions and, by the end of the War in Europe, the numbers had been further reduced to 278. Among the early departures were a number of civilian advisers, including Pyke, who Bob thought was more trouble than he was worth.
Bob himself, in addition to overseeing the changes, remained exceptionally busy with the substance of his new role, which involved his attending both the Chiefs and the Vice-Chiefs of Staff Committees when so required and visiting his far-flung outposts, from COXE in Devon to the CTCs in Scotland. He was also asked on a number of occasions to give talks on the Commandos and on Combined Operations and, although he was reluctant to spend time in this way, he was unable to avoid some of them. The focus on OVERLORD was allconsuming within COHQ and there was no opportunity for him to go abroad, which was welcome to Angie. She was still working at the COHQ canteen in Richmond Terrace, but devoting a lot of time to the Commando Benevolent Fund, which continued to hold fund raising activities.
OVERLORD was, in many ways, the culmination of COHQ’s work, but most of the credit rightly went to Mountbatten. Bob witnessed the landings, but not those on the British and Canadian beaches. Instead, in a tribute to his excellent relationship with the Americans, he was invited by Rear Admiral A. G. Kirk, the Commander of the Western Task Force and ‘a most charming and hospitable man as well as being a fine sailor’,2 to accompany him in his flagship, the heavy cruiser USS Augusta. Also aboard was General Omar Bradley, Commanding General of First US Army, whose focus that day was not on the successful landings on Utah Beach, but rather the very difficult ones on Omaha Beach. The situation was tense, but by the time Bob returned to Portland on the cruiser USS Quincy, which was in urgent need of replenishing her 8” ammunition, having fired off 1,200 rounds during the day, the crisis had been averted.
Both 1 and 4 Special Service Brigades were fully committed on D-Day, the former including the two French troops of 10 (IA) Commando and No 3 (Misc.) Troop, with its German speakers, who were to be much in demand. Lovat brought his men ashore near the small port of Ouistreham, on the left flank of the landings, reinforcing 6 Airborne Division, which had made a successful parachute and glider assault on the night before, while 4 Special Service Brigade landed further west. Both brigades were to remain in France, fighting as infantry, for the whole of the Normandy campaign. Lovat was badly wounded on 12 June and succeeded in command of 1 Special Service Brigade by Derek Mills-Roberts.
Durnford-Slater sailed to Normandy in Dempsey’s ship and went ashore during D-Day to visit the commando units. He later established his small HQ alongside Dempsey’s own, where it was to remain for as long as the Commandos were in France.
The Sherwood Rangers also landed on D-Day as part of 8
Armoured Brigade and successfully accomplished its objectives, but the CO was wounded and Michael took over command. On 11 June, however, tragedy struck. At Point 103, near the village of St Pierre, his tank was hit by a heavy shell and he was killed instantly. Another fatality was his Adjutant, Captain George Jones, the younger son of the head woodsman at Wiseton, who had joined the regiment before the War as a trooper. During the regiment’s service in the Middle East he had progressed up the ranks to squadron sergeant major before being selected for a commission.
Michael’s death was devastating to his family and particularly to Bob, to whom he had always been close, despite the difference in their ages. However, there was nothing which could be done and Bob’s mind was diverted by a hectic schedule. He himself was not to land in Normandy until 16 June, when he was invited to accompany the King on his first visit there. The party, which included Cunningham, Portal, ‘Pug’ Ismay, Churchill’s Chief of Staff in his capacity as Minister of Defence, and the Allied Naval C-in-C, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, embarked in the cruiser HMS Arethusa, which sailed from Portsmouth, accompanied by an escort of two destroyers and a constant umbrella of Spitfires. The King, with Bob and the others, spent the whole voyage on the bridge, in spite of very rough seas. On arrival off the invasion beaches, the King and his private secretary, Sir Alan Lascelles, boarded a DUKW to go ashore, where Montgomery was waiting to receive them. They went off to Monty’s Tactical HQ at Creully, where the King had lunch and held a brief investiture, but it was not thought safe for him to venture any further. Meanwhile, Cunningham, Portal, Ismay and Bob had transferred to HMS Scylla, the flagship of the Eastern Task Force Commander and Churchill’s first choice as CCO, Rear Admiral Vian, before going ashore at Ouistreham. All then re-embarked in the Arethusa, which arrived back at Spithead that evening. Bob returned to Normandy on several occasions over the next two months, not only to visit the Commandos but also to look at the impact of the many innovations of Combined Operations, notably the MULBERRY harbours. One of these, in the American sector, was destroyed in a severe storm at the end of June, but the other, although damaged, continued to make an invaluable contribution to the build-up of material.
Commando General Page 25
