Combined Operations Headquarters
was a department of the British
War Office set up during
Second World War to harass the Germans on the European continent by means of
raids carried out by use of combined naval and army forces.
History
The command used air and naval units to deliver the
Commandos to various targets, and then recover them. Thus, it was a combined arms coordination and command structure.
Admiral of the Fleet Roger Keyes was the first director, from 17 July 1940 to 27 October 1941. He was replaced first by
Lord Louis Mountbatten, who led the command for a year. He in turn was succeeded by Major General
Robert Laycock (October 1943 – 1947).
It comprised background staff whose job was to plan operations and to develop ideas and equipment to harass the enemy in any way possible. It also covered all those who worked with
landing craft
Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...
up to and including the
landing ships
An amphibious warfare ship (or amphib) is an amphibious vehicle warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault.
Specialized shipping can be divided into two types, most ...
that were used in the various
amphibious operations.
The badge of Combined Operations was an Albatross over a
submachine gun
A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...
over an
anchor, reflecting the three service arms; the
Royal Air Force, the
British Army and the
Royal Navy. In 1941 the title of Director of Combined Operations was changed to Adviser Combined Operations. In 1942 the title of Adviser Combined Operations was changed to Chief of Combined Operations.
The department existed until 1947 but later re-emerged under a new name in 1951 the
Amphibious Warfare Headquarters.
Directors of Combined Operations
*
Admiral of the Fleet Roger Keyes (17 July 1940 to 27 October 1941).
Adviser Combined Operations
* Commodore,
Lord Louis Mountbatten (28 October 1941–1942).
Chiefs of Combined Operations
* Commodore,
Lord Louis Mountbatten (1942-September 1943).
* Major General
Robert Laycock (October 1943 – 1947).
Operations
Operations included:
*
Operation Collar (24–25 June 1940) – the first British Commando raid on occupied Europe.
*
Operation Frankton (the "Cockleshell heroes") – attack by
canoe on shipping in France.
*
Operation Claymore (4 March 1941) – the raid on the
Lofoten Islands to destroy fish oil factories and stocks.
*
Operation Archery (27 December 1941) a raid on
German positions on the island of
Vågsøy
*
Operation Jubilee (19 August 1942) – the Dieppe raid.
*
Operation Chariot – the St. Nazaire raid.
*
Mulberry harbours – portable harbours for
D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
.
*
Project Habakkuk – the development and construction of giant
ice ships.
*
Operation Gambit
Operation Gambit was a part of Operation Neptune, the landing phase of the invasion of northern France (Operation Overlord) during the Second World War. Gambit involved two X class submarines (British midget submarines) marking the ends of the An ...
– the use of
X-class submarines to provide navigational aid at
Sword
A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...
and
Juno Beaches.
*
Exercise Tiger – D-Day training with tragic results.
*
Operation Biting – captured a
Würzburg radar.
*
Operation Starkey – a staged invasion of Europe in 1943.
*
Operation Pluto
Operation Pluto (Pipeline Under the Ocean or Pipeline Underwater Transportation of Oil, also written Operation PLUTO) was an operation by British engineers, oil companies and the British Armed Forces to construct submarine oil pipelines un ...
– construction of
petroleum pipelines underneath the
English Channel.
*
Operation Freshman – Attack on the Vemork Norsk Hydro chemical plant in Telemark.
Units
*Combined Operations Pilotage Parties (COPP) – a unit that
surveyed landing sites for
invasions, including those of
Sicily and
Normandy. The unit was made up of members of the
Royal Navy,
Royal Marines
The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
,
Corps of Royal Engineers and
Special Boat Service.
*
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 Operatio ...
, also known as "No. 62 Commando".
Film
The ''
Attack on the Iron Coast'' (film) depicts an account of Allied Combined Operations Headquarters
commandos executing a daring raid on the German-occupied French coast during the
Second World War.
Attack on the Iron Coast
/ref>
References
Sources
*
External links
{{Coord, 52.7311, -1.7230, region:GB-ENG, format=dms, display=title
Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II
Joint military units and formations of the United Kingdom
Military headquarters in the United Kingdom