The Battle of Britain was over, but the war in Europe was just getting started. As the Royal Air Force (RAF) began to take the war to Germany, they were getting tracked and hunted by German radar. Both sides had quickly realized that World War II was going to be a 'technological' war and whoever could master that technology first would win. One of the keys in this battle of wits was radar. Radar allowed the RAF to mass and intercept German bombers and gave the RAF the important advantage of choosing time and place. In 1941 as British bombers began to take the war into Germany, the Luftwaffe was forced to develop its own radar system. Britain responded with primitive jamming techniques and so began the "battle of the beams," as both sides strove to gain the advantage.
In the late fall of 1941, the Germans seemed to pull ahead with the creation of the 'Wurzburg' radar installation. Reconnaissance flights quickly revealed that the Germans were slowly spreading this 'jam-proof radar across the coastline of France. The film also revealed a newly installed 'Wurzburg' early warning radar near the village of Bruneval, located to the south of Dieppe. To the British, this seemed like the Germans were just begging them to take it. The idea was passed from Air Intelligence to the headquarters of Combined Operations whose chief, Lord Louis Mountbatten, approved the plan.
Helping the British with their planning was an active French resistance cell near the town and they did not paint a pretty picture of the terrain the raiders would be operating in. High cliffs dominated the coastline around Bruneval and the best site for a sea-borne invasion was well covered with concrete pillboxes and machinegun nests. The planners then decided that paratroopers from the newly formed 1st Airborne Division would be dropped beyond the coast by Whitley bombers of the RAF under the command of Squadron Leader Charles Pickard. After they had secured the site, the men would clear the beach and be evacuated by the Royal Navy.
The unit chosen for the operation was C Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Parachute Brigade commanded by one Major John Frost of future Arnhem fame. Only 120 men were chosen to accompany Frost on the raid. Nearly all the paratroopers were drawn from the Scottish regiments such as the Black Watch, Cameron Highlanders, King's Own Scottish Borderers and the Seaforths so the company was called the 'Jock' company within the brigade for its high contingent of troops from Scottish regiments. Along for the ride was the RAF's radar expert, Flight Sergeant C.W.H. Cox. Cox was there to identify what parts of the Wurzburg radar to take back to old Blighty. Before the war, Cox worked as a former cinema projectionist, but during his time with the RAF, he had never been on a boat, or even flown on an aircraft, so he was a vast unknown to the professional Frost. Cox was rushed to the Parachute training center at Ringway to complete five jumps and earn his wings before the mission, but that did not help him prepare for the dangerous night jump they would be attempting. To make matters worse, Frost had to ensure that Cox remained alive and out of German hands at all costs - even if it meant killing him.
The plan for the operation was simple. The paratroops were to be dropped in three units ("Drake", "Nelson" and "Rodney"), each named after a prominent sailor out of respect for the Royal Navy who had to ride to their rescue. Drake, under Major Frost, would secure the isolated house and the radar unit. Nelson, under Lieutenant Euen Charteris, would assault and neutralize the beach defenses. Rodney, under Lieutenant John Timothy, would act as a blocking force to prevent reinforcements coming from the farmhouse. After several days of waiting for the weather to clear, the raid launched on the night of February 27th.
The raiders took off from RAF Thruxton in twelve Whitley bombers from 51 Squadron, each of them carrying 10 men. The formation then sped towards the port city of Le Harve. As they approached the French coast German flak began to burst around the aircraft. While some were hit, very little damage was done. The flak did cause two of the planes to veer radically off course while taking evasive action. Settling down again, the Whitleys began dropping their paratroops from a height of 600ft over the snow white countryside below. Things did not go right at first as Lieutenant Charteris and two complete sections from his group were part of the errant bombers and they dropped well over a mile away from the Drop Zone. Charteris quickly gathered up his lost charges and ran back to the assembly area as fast as he could, but it was not easy on the cold, icy ground and he was a long way off.
Shortly after midnight, the remainder of the raiders gathered at the rendezvous point and quickly got to work. Sergeant Cox with the 1st Para Field Squadron, Royal Engineers under the command of Captain Denis Vernon, hauled hand carts over a succession of barbed wire obstacles to reach the radar. In the meantime, Frost's men had surrounded the villa and advanced towards the open front door. Once Frost blew his whistle to signal the attack, the Drake raiders stormed both the house under Frost and the remainder under Leftenant Young attacked the radar installation. The paratroopers found the villa empty except for one German firing from the top floor.
In the radar shed, Cox and the engineers immediately began to dissemble the Wurzburg's components, ripping most of them out by brute force or paratroopers using crowbars. The Germans, while initially slow to react, began to concentrate heavy fire around Cox and his helpers. Most of the heavy fire came from the farmhouse at Le Presbytere 300 yards away and engine noises could be heard coming from the east. Lieutenant Timothy's blocking party opened fire on the reinforcements, stopping their advance. The arrival of several armored cars 15 minutes later told Frost that they were out of time, so he quickly gave the order to withdraw. As C company worked its way back to the beach, a MG pillbox still barred the way to the beach and kept Frost pinned down. They were still in place owing to the poor drop of Lieutenant Charteris and his men. The Germans to the north had also grown bolder and had retaken the villa. At this precise moment, a winded Charteris showed up with his two sections and made quick work of the pillbox after scattering a German patrol. The raiders then ran down to the beach and were greeted with silence. There was no sign of the Royal Navy.
It was now about 2.15 AM. Frost's radiomen were unable to make contact with the task force and its vital landing craft. Taking a big risk, Frost shot several red Verey lights, or flares, into the air. Minutes ticked by, but there was no response. Then, just as Frost was preparing to rearrange his men to hold off the gathering Germans, one of his men shouted, 'Sir, the boats are coming in! The boats are here! God bless the ruddy navy, sir!' Still, there was no easy time of it as rough seas tossed the six landing craft and made loading confused and difficult.
The Germans, now firing above Frost, did not help at all. British losses were two dead, seven wounded and six others who failed to rendezvous and had to be left behind as prisoners of war (happily enough, all six survived). The raiders, and their precious Wurzburg cargo, were transferred to gunboats. They learned that the Navy had been delayed by the presence of a German destroyer and two E-boats. The German warships had passed within a mile of the landing craft but had not spotted them in the night. At dawn, several Royal Navy destroyers and a squadron of Spitfires arrived to escort the flotilla to Portsmouth. With them was the Wurzburg and three German prisoners, one of whom was the radar operator. Over the seas, the raiders could hear 'Rule Britannia' drifting over from the destroyer's loudspeakers.
The raid was a success beyond belief. One of the most important discoveries was that the Wurzburg was as good as was feared, yet it's own power could be used against it by taking small bits of aluminum foil and twisting it ever so slightly. The result was called chaff and it completely blinded the German equipment to any RAF intentions. In fact, chaff is still used today on modern fighter aircraft to redirect radar homing missiles.
Back to MWAN # 124 Table of Contents
Back to MWAN List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Magazine List
© Copyright 2003 Hal Thinglum
This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com