Operation Tombola
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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 opposi ...
, Operation Tombola was a major raid conducted by the 2 Special Air Service, under the command of SAS Major
Roy Farran Major Roy Alexander Farran (2 January 1921 – 2 June 2006) was a British-Canadian soldier, politician, farmer, author and journalist. He was highly decorated for his exploits with the Special Air Service (SAS) during the Second World War. Far ...
, and Special Operations Executive's Captain
Michael Lees Michael Lees (17 May 1922 – 23 March 1993) was a British soldier and member of the Special Operations Executive during World War II, who operated behind enemy lines supporting Italian and Yugoslavian partisan forces. The chief planner of Opera ...
. The operation was launched prematurely against orders from the Allied
15th Army Group The 15th Army Group was an Army Group in World War II, composed of the British Eighth and the U.S. Fifth Armies, which apart from troops from the British Empire and U.S.A., also had whole units from other allied countries/regions; like two of ...
.


Planning

Fifty men parachuted to the
Monte Cusna Monte Cusna is the 2nd highest peak in the northern Apennines after Monte Cimone. But, it is much steeper and more remote. Geography The mountain is located along the Appennino Crest Trail (A00) between Cerreto and Lagastrello Passes, wit ...
area ( Reggio Emilia) between 4 and 24 March 1945, under command of Major
Roy Farran Major Roy Alexander Farran (2 January 1921 – 2 June 2006) was a British-Canadian soldier, politician, farmer, author and journalist. He was highly decorated for his exploits with the Special Air Service (SAS) during the Second World War. Far ...
to link up with the SOE mission "Envelope" under the command of Michael Lees. The force liaised
Italian Partisans The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...
, whose force also included 70 escaped
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
POWs. On 19 March, two German defectors brought Envelope mission information regarding the location of a German Headquarters (they believed
14th Army Fourteenth Army or 14th Army may refer to: * 14th Army (German Empire), a World War I field Army * 14th Army (Wehrmacht), a World War II field army * Italian Fourteenth Army * Japanese Fourteenth Army, a World War II field army, in 1944 converted ...
, but it may have been LI Gebirgs (Mountain) Corps). The German HQ was located in two villas in Botteghe d'Albinea in the hills above Reggio Emilia. Lees' signaled SOE that he and Farran planned to launch an attack. Later that day, Lees' message was passed to Allied 15th Army Group HQ, who approved the attack, with two caveats. First, Lees and Farran had to reconnoitre and submit a plan of attack, and second, the attack was not to be launched immediately. Instead, it was to be coordinated with
Operation Grapeshot The spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the final Allied attack during the Italian Campaign in the final stages of the Second World War. The attack into the Lombard Plain by the 15th Allied Army Group started on ...
, 15th Army's planned Spring offensive that would end with the capitulation of Axis forces in Italy. Though these orders were received by Lees and Farran, the pair did not incorporate them into their plans. They reconnoitred the enemy HQ and submitted their plan of attack, earmarking 28 March for the operation. This caused alarm at 15th Army Group, with a reply sent "you only have to wait one week after target date...Your scheme will then be correctly time for maximum effort." This appeal did not succeed, and despite confirming Les and Farran had received their orders, 15th Army Group tried in vain to reign in Lees and Farran. The only signal received from the two was on 23 March, that ignored 15th Army Group's orders. It read "Confirm we attack 26 March...Plans irrevocable now...."


Operation

Farran and Lees began the attack on the night of 27 March, beginning with the sound of a Scottish piper, David Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick had volunteered to be dropped into the area, to identify the operation as British – so that reprisals would not be carried out against the local population. The attack itself was a success, the Germans sustained 50–60 casualties (including an unknown number killed). Three SAS personnel were killed in action at Villa Rossi, and about seven SAS and partisans were wounded (four British, two Italians and a Russian). Among the wounded was Michael Lees, who was evacuted to France, and then England. Though the attack was a success, it did not cause the disruption it would have, had it coincided with the beginning of Operation Grapeshot. The offensive would not begin for another week.


Aftermath

The Partisans, SOE, and SAS continued operations until 23 April, including raids against roads as Axis installations. Just as important as the 300 or so Germans killed and 200 captured, was the number of Axis defenders moved from other duties to secure the area. A number of Allied airmen, who were being hidden by civilians in the area, were also returned to friendly lines. Shortly after the war, Farran recommended Lees be gazetted with 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 ...
, for his bravery during the raid. Reviewing the operation, Farran's recommendation was denied, on the grounds that "the value of this operation depended on its timing and Captain Lees with the SAS detachment carried it out prematurely and recklessly, in spite of the express orders from 15th Army Group transmitted by this HQ. But for the gallantry displayed and the fact that Captain Lees was wounded in the action, it is probable that disciplinary action would have been considered."John Grosvenor Beevor, July 25, 1945 in HS 9/906/6 SOE Personnel file Michael Lees.


Post-War Accounts

The commander of the operation, Roy Farran, published his account in the book ''Operation Tombola'' (Special Forces Library, Arms and Armour Press, 1986). The BBC series ''Secret War'' narrated by
Alisdair Simpson Alisdair Simpson (born 1969) is a British actor, voice-over artist and narrator. He has a distinctive, Male, masculine voice, making him a popular and recognisable narrator of documentaries on television. He appeared as Ser Donnel Waynward, the ...
(Acorn Media) in 2011 focuses on the exploits of Roy Farran and Michael Lees in the episode "SAS Italian Job". The operation is narrated also in the TV mini-series "Great SAS missions" (2004). A book written in Italian ''Il bracciale di sterline'' by Matteo Incerti & Valentina Ruozi (Aliberti April 2011) details for the first time the operations with the use of British, Italian, and German documents. A second book ''Il paradiso dei folli'' (Imprimatur-Aliberti 2014) by Matteo Incerti to, focused on the war and post war experience of several participants of this secret mission. "Il suonatore matto" (Imprimatur 2017) also written by Matteo Incerti focused about the life of David 'mad piper' Kirkpatrick. Incerti found documents and memory who prove that the sound of Kirkpatrick's bagpipe and the sacrifice of the three SAS soldiers killed in action (Riccomini, Bolden, Guscott) in Villa Rossi, made the Germans believe that Tombola was a conventional military attack, rather than a "partisan" action
As a result the Nazis didn't inflict reprisals on the civilian population of Albinea
During the second part of Operation ''Tombola'', on 21 April 1945 action in Torre Maina (Modena) also the 2 SAS paratrooper Justo Balerdi-Robert Bruce was killed in action. He was a Basque antifascist,
republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, and a former member of the French Foreign Legion. Bruce was the only Basque to fight with the British SAS in World War II. The story of Justo Balerdi-Robert Bruce appears in the books "Il bracciale di sterline" and "Il suonatore matto".


References


Further reading

*


See also

* Separate entry on Operation Tombola, detailed in the article on Major Roy Farran. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tombola, Operation of 1945 1945 in Italy Conflicts in 1945 Special Air Service World War II British Commando raids