Operation Tarbrush was the name of a series of

British Commando The Commandos, also known as the British Commandos, were formed during the Second World War in June 1940, following a request from Winston Churchill, for special forces that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe. Initially drawn ...

raids during the

Second World War 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 ...

, which took place in 1944. Members of

No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando was a commando unit of the British Army during the Second World War, recruited largely from non-British personnel from German-occupied Europe. This unit was used to help co-ordinate attacks with other allied forces ...

were responsible for this operation, which was intended to obtain photographs and other evidence of mines and other traps. Three of the missions were commanded by George Lane. Lane and his team examined mines near Ault on the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

coast. During the preparations 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 ...

, an RAF plane had attacked a pillbox on the French coast. Since the aircraft was equipped with a camera, films were taken during the flyover. The scientists who examined the images noticed that underwater explosions took place when the plane's rockets fell short and fell into the ocean. Since this was possible evidence of mines, the Allied forces needed to investigate whether the enemy had deployed a new type of mine. The reconnaissance mission led by Lane required a two-mile approach up to the coast, which was heavily guarded. His expedition found that in the water near the coast, the Germans had equipped Teller mines on stakes. When the tide was in, the mines would be underwater, and landing craft would be unable to see them at high tide and especially at night, and thus would strike them. However, the setup did not account for the fact that the mines were not waterproof and thus had corroded. Because of the corrosion, the mines only detonated because of the rockets from the RAF fighter, which had fallen short. Lane's conclusion was that the deployment was only a hasty improvisation, and did not represent an advance in the Germans' mine technology. Four of the missions were commanded by Captain Hilton-Jones, based in Dover. Major Ernest Leigh Smith (then Captain) led operation Tarbrush 8 on Quend Plage and successfully returned vital information including a Teller mine. All his team was decorated and he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

. He later joined two similar operations in Westkapelle ahead of the

Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...

landings of 1 November 1944.

Raids

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarbrush, Operation of 1944 Conflicts in 1944 World War II British Commando raids 1944 in France