Operation Chopper was a

British Commando The Commandos, also known as the British Commandos, were formed during the World War II, Second World War in June 1940, following a request from Winston Churchill, for special forces that could carry out Raid (military), raids against German-occ ...

raid by No. 1 Commando during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The raid, over the night of 27/28 September 1941, targeted Saint-Aubin-d'Arquenay in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

; a troop of No. 1 Commando spent a day ashore. Sixty-five soldiers from No. 1 Commando left Portsmouth at 16.50 hours on 27 September 1941. Their mission was to land on the Norman coast at night in order to sound out the German defences, take prisoners and, above all, to harass the enemy by showing that Great Britain was still on the offensive. Part of the unit (Troop A) was to land at Saint-Vaast-La Hougue and the other (Troop B) at Courseulles-sur-Mer, but as a result of navigation problems, the motor gun boat towing the two landing craft carrying Troop B, drifted off-course. At around 01.30 hours - more than an hour late - the commando unit, led by Lieutenant Tom GORDON HEMMING, arrived, not at Courseulles-sur-mer, but at Luc-sur-Mer, landing at the foot of the sea wall, a few metres away from the Hôtel Beau Rivage, where the German command post was located. Two commandos - Corporal Cyril EVANS (age 24) and Fusilier Elwyn EDWARDS (age 20) - were killed and later buried in the cemetery at Luc-sur-Mer. The others made it back to Portsmouth on 28 September 1941 at around 10 o'clock in the morning. Both Lieutenant - later Captain - Gordon Hemming and his wife asked to be buried in the cemetery at Luc-sur-Mer, near the men he lost in the early hours of 28 September 1941.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chopper, Operation of 1941 Conflicts in 1941 World War II British Commando raids 1941 in France Military history of Normandy C Amphibious operations involving the United Kingdom