Operation Savanna (or Operation Savannah) was the first insertion of SOE trained

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 ...

paratroops into German-occupied France during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. This SOE mission, requested by the Air Ministry, was to ambush and kill as many pilots as possible of the

Kampfgeschwader 100 ''Kampfgeschwader'' 100 (KG 100) was a ''Luftwaffe'' medium and heavy bomber wing of World War II and the first military aviation unit to use a precision-guided munition (the Fritz X anti-ship glide bomb) in combat to sink a warship (the Itali ...

, a German Pathfinder formation stationed at

Meucon Meucon (; br, Meukon) is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France. Inhabitants of Meucon are called in French ''Meuconais''. See also *Communes of the Morbihan department The following is a list of the 249 co ...

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 Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic Era The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who lived ...

(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 Georges Roger Pierre Bergé (3 January 1909 – 15 September 1997) was a French Army general who served during World War II. He enlisted in the Free French Forces, where he took command of the ''1re compagnie de chasseurs parachutistes'' (1st P ...

instructed his men to disperse and go on general reconnaissance and meet at

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 administra ...

at the end of the month for extraction by sea. One of the men was already missing and another failed to make the rendezvous. After several nights watching from the sand dunes, on 4/5 April, Bergé saw

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 York ...

of the SOE's

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 ...

paddling ashore after launching from the submarine HMS ''Tigris''. The two other kayaks were damaged being launched so only Bergé and Forman could be extracted.

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' ...

remained behind and made his way to a safehouse in Paris and continued as an SOE operative. The Free French paratroops went on to later form the French SAS and Bergé took part in some early raids in the near east, eventually rising to the rank of general.

References

;Footnotes ;Notes ;Bibliography * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Savannah Battles and operations of World War II Special Air Service 1941 in France Military operations of World War II involving Germany Conflicts in 1941