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Operation Savannah
Operation Savanna (or Operation Savannah) was the first insertion of Special Operations Executive, SOE trained Free French paratroops into German-occupied France during World War II. This SOE mission, requested by the Air Ministry, was to ambush and kill as many pilots as possible of the Kampfgeschwader 100, a German Pathfinder formation stationed at Meucon airfield which spearheaded night raids on Britain. Setting off from an RAF Whitley on the moonlit night of 15 March 1941, five paratroops made a blind drop at midnight, landing some eight miles east of the town of Vannes (where the Pathfinder crew billeted), and five miles off target. The following day they discovered the pilots no longer commuted between Vannes and Meucon by bus, but had taken to travelling on an ''ad hoc'' basis by cars. Hence the grand ambush and assassination had to be aborted. Seeking to gain something from the mission, Captain Georges Bergé instructed his men to disperse and go on general reconnaissa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its purpose was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe (and later, also in occupied Southeast Asia) against the Axis powers, and to aid local resistance movements. Few people were aware of SOE's existence. Those who were part of it or liaised with it were sometimes referred to as the "Baker Street Irregulars", after the location of its London headquarters. It was also known as "Churchill's Secret Army" or the "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare". Its various branches, and sometimes the organisation as a whole, were concealed for security purposes behind names such as the "Joint Technical Board" or the "Inter-Service Research Bureau", or fictitious branches of the Air Ministry, Admiralty or War Office. SOE operated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Tigris (N63)
HMS ''Tigris'' was a T-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down at Chatham Dockyard and launched in October 1939. Career ''Tigris'' had a relatively active career, serving in the North Sea and the Mediterranean. Home waters ''Tigris'' was active in the Bay of Biscay from July 1940, under the command of Commander Howard Bone. She sank the French fishing vessels ''Sancte Michael'', ''Cimcour'', ''Charles Edmond'' and ''Rene Camaleyre'', the French merchantmen ''Jacobsen'' and ''Guilvinec'', and the German tanker ''Thorn''. She unsuccessfully attacked a number of submarines, including the On 5 October 1940, ''Tigris'' made an unsuccessful attack on two Italian submarines off Bordeaux, and . On 5 July 1941 ''Tigris'' torpedoed and sank the Italian submarine 150 nm off the Gironde estuary as the Italian submarine was on passage to the Atlantic.Kemp 1990, p. 79. She was assigned to operate in the North Sea near the Scandinavian coast in mid-1941. Off the coast of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1941 In France
Events from the year 1941 in France. Incumbents *Chief of State: Philippe Pétain * Vice-President of the Council of Ministers: Pierre-Étienne Flandin (until 9 February), François Darlan (starting 9 February) Events *17 January – Battle of Ko Chang. Decisive victory by the French over the Thai Navy. *3 February – The Nazis forcibly restore Pierre Laval to office in occupied Vichy France. *5 May – Georges Bégué becomes (probably) the first Special Operations Executive agent to be parachuted into France. *9 May – French-Thai War ends. *8 June – Allied invasion of Vichy French-controlled Syria and Lebanon begins, the Syria–Lebanon campaign. *9 June – Battle of the Litani River. *13 June – Battle of Jezzine. *15 June – Battle of Kissoué begins. *17 June – Battle of Kissoué ends with Allied victory. *18 June – Battle of Damascus begins. *19 June – Battle of Merdjayoun starts. *21 June – Battle of Damascus ends, with the Allies taking Damascus. *24 J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Air Service
The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, direct action and covert reconnaissance. Much of the information about the SAS is highly classified, and the unit is not commented on by either the British government or the Ministry of Defence due to the secrecy and sensitivity of its operations. The corps currently consists of the 22 Special Air Service Regiment, the regular component, as well as the 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve) and the 23 Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve), which are reserve units, all under the operational command of United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF). Its sister unit is the Royal Navy's Special Boat Service which specialises in maritime counter-terrorism. Both units are under the operational control of the Directo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battles And Operations Of World War II
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force commitment. An engagement with only limited commitment between the forces and without decisive results is sometimes called a skirmish. The word "battle" can also be used infrequently to refer to an entire operational campaign, although this usage greatly diverges from its conventional or customary meaning. Generally, the word "battle" is used for such campaigns if referring to a protracted combat encounter in which either one or both of the combatants had the same methods, resources, and strategic objectives throughout the encounter. Some prominent examples of this would be the Battle of the Atlantic, Battle of Britain, and Battle of Stalingrad, all in World War II. Wars and military campaigns are guided by military strategy, wherea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Josephine B
Operation Josephine B (or Operation Josephine) was a military mission in June 1941 during the Second World War. The mission was organised jointly by the Free French and the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), together with the Royal Air Force for air drops. The operation was initially stalled by a lack of up-to-date information, but ultimately succeeded in its main objective, the destruction of an electrical transformer station in Pessac, near Bordeaux. Six of the eight transformers were destroyed, resulting in the Italian submarine base at Bordeaux being hampered for weeks and a variety of other problems for the Italian and German occupiers. The operation was SOE's first success in occupied France and it considerably enhanced the organisation's standing. Preparation The transformer station in Pessac, near Bordeaux, had long been recognized by the SOE as a target of particular interest but difficult to reach by air. The plan was to drop a team of saboteurs by parachu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st Airborne Marine Infantry Regiment
The 1er Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine ( en, 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment) or 1er RPIMa is a unit of the French Army Special Forces Command, therefore part of the Special Operations Command. Heirs to the Free French paratroopers of the 3rd and 4th squadrons of the Special Air Service (SAS) founded in the United Kingdom during WWII, the 1er RPIMa is sometimes referred to as the "French SAS" and still uses the same motto as their British counterparts to this day: (French for "''Who Dares Wins''"). Origins Quite unusually for the French Armed Forces, the affiliations of this unit are various, not directly related to each other, and numerous. The regiment is heir simultaneously to formations of the French Air Force, mainland infantry, Troupes coloniales and Troupes de marine. World War II * September 15, 1940, the 1st Air Infantry Company (Free French) (1e ''Compagnie d'Infanterie de l'Air'': 1e C.I.A) was created in the United Kingdom by Capta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joël Le Tac
Joël Andre Le Tac (15 February 1918 – 8 October 2005) was a member of the Free French Forces (FFF) during the Second World War. Le Tac played a prominent role in Operation Savanna and then in Operation Josephine B. He set up the ''Overcloud'' network in Brittany and carried out a number of operations. Le Tac, along with members of his family, were captured, interrogated and imprisoned in a succession of concentration camps. He served in a French UN battalion during the Korean War. He later had a career as a journalist and as a politician. Early years Joël Le Tac was born 15 February 1918 in Paris. WWII In 1939, Le Tac was studying law. Just after the outbreak of war, on 16 September, while he was preparing for the entrance examination for the School of Engineering at Versailles, he was mobilized. He requested, and was granted, a transfer to an infantry platoon as a reserve officer. When France fell to the German advance, he refused the armistice and with some friends, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Small Scale Raiding Force
No. 62 Commando or the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF) was a British Commandos, British Commando unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The unit was formed around a small group of commandos under the command of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). They carried out a number of raids before being disbanded in 1943. Background The commandos were formed in 1940 by order of Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister. He called for specially trained troops who would "develop a reign of terror down the enemy coast". At first they were a small force of volunteers who carried out small raids in enemy-occupied territory, but by 1943 their role had changed and they had become lightly equipped assault infantry specialising in spearheading amphibious landings. The man initially selected as the commander of the force was Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, himself a veteran of the landings at Gallipoli Campaign, Galipoli and the Zeebrugge raid d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free French
Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile in London in June 1940 after the Fall of France during World War II and fought the Axis as an Allied nation with its Free French Forces (). Free France also supported the resistance in Nazi-occupied France, known as the French Forces of the Interior, and gained strategic footholds in several French colonies in Africa. Following the defeat of the Third Republic by Nazi Germany, Marshal Philippe Pétain led efforts to negotiate an armistice and established a German puppet state known as Vichy France. Opposed to the idea of an armistice, de Gaulle fled to Britain, and from there broadcast the Appeal of 18 June () exhorting the French people to resist the Nazis and join the Free French Forces. On 27 October 1940, the Empire Defense Council ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geoffrey Appleyard
John Geoffrey Appleyard, (20 December 1916 – 13 July 1943) was a British Army officer, who served in the Commandos and Special Air Service during the Second World War. Early life and education Appleyard was born in Bramley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, the son of John Ernest Appleyard, a successful motor engineer, and Mary Elizabeth Northrop. His brother Ian became a successful rally driver. Geoffrey grew up in Linton, West Yorkshire, and was educated at Bootham School in York, where he combined academic success with natural history and roof-climbing. At Caius College, Cambridge, he obtained a first in Engineering and a skiing blue, while he was also his college's Captain of Boats, and competed as a highly successful international skier. Military service Appleyard was commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps (Supplementary Reserve) on 1 April 1939 with the rank of second lieutenant. Mobilised for active service on 24 August 1939, he commanded an RASC mobile motor repair w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sables D'Olonne
Les Sables-d'Olonne (; French meaning: "The Sands of Olonne"; Poitevin: ''Lés Sablles d'Oloune'') is a seaside town in Western France, on the Atlantic Ocean. A subprefecture of the department of Vendée, Pays de la Loire, it has the administrative level of commune. On 1 January 2019, the municipalities of Olonne-sur-Mer, Château-d'Olonne and Les Sables-d'Olonne merged, retaining the latter name. Location and geography Les Sables-d'Olonne is a seaside town in western France, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is situated on the coast between La Rochelle and Saint-Nazaire, near the coastal terminus of the A87 that connects it and nearby communities to La Roche-sur-Yon, Cholet, and Angers to the northeast. The nearest major metropolitan center of France, to Les Sables-d'Olonne, is Nantes, to the north (approximately 105 km, by road). Les Sables-d'Olonne station has rail connections to Paris, La Roche-sur-Yon and Nantes. It is at the level of administrative division in the French Re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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