Commandos Archery
A Moonless Night's Alright for Raiding: Dartmouth's Hidden Life as a Base for Secret Agents
During the Second World War, Dartmouth was the base for the sort of clandestine operations that you would expect to see in a spy novel.
Men left under the cover of moonless nights to risk their lives throughout the war – and the operations they were engaged in are not only the stuff of Boys’ Own legends, they helped win the conflict for the allies.
The Nazi invasion of France and the continent affected everyday Britons, especially along the South Coast, in a way it is difficult to imagine today. France is now a place most of us have popped across to on holiday on a ferry – but in 1940 it was an enemy land on our doorstep; menacing, hostile and frightening.
Just 60 miles away, the enemy weighed on the minds of everyone, not just those involved in the military. Torpedoes were housed at the mouth of the river and everyone knew that if an invasion came, their purpose was to sink the first ship at the harbour’s entrance to hinder other enemy vessels coming in. Wars don’t get much closer to home than this.
If this was not enough, after the Nazi occupation of Europe, Dartmouth saw its own invasion: more than 70 boats of varying sizes arrived carrying those escaping the Nazi menace.
Dartmouth was a busy harbour during the War: it was a safe stop-off for the supply convoys working to keep Britain and its troops going despite the dangers of sailing in the English Channel and the Atlantic.
This provided good cover for covert operations and many men slipped out under cover of darkness, often never to return.
The Coastal Forces, a division of the Navy dedicated to protecting shipping and launching raids on Nazi bases and assets, had a regional HQ in the Harbour, based at the Royal Dart Hotel.
The 15th Motor Gun Boat Flotilla was moored here and, from 1942 to the end of the war, its contribution to the war effort cannot be underestimated. The flotilla, at considerable risk to its crew members, landed countless agents in France, picked them up if they were lucky enough to complete their mission and return and also helped airmen shot down over the continent to get out. The flotilla was also vital in maintaining communication with resistance movements on the continent and at times was one of only two secure links across the whole of mainland Europe. The MGBs also carried out their own reconnaissance in the run up to D-Day, giving vital information on coastal defences and troop movements.
The Free French Naval Forces also had a base in the harbour and were also involved in supplying and communicating with the Resistance.
The danger of what these forces and individuals undertook is difficult to communicate now – they risked their lives every time they ventured out of harbour. As the resistance movement became more established, so the German efforts to stop them increased and the risk of capture, torture or death rose in tandem. Every movement on the water and getting to land was fraught with risk: the boats had to ensure they were not visible from the land and as silent as possible, despite also having to make their position clear to those they were rendezvousing with.
Many of the French residents who helped them were tortured and sent to the notorious concentration camp at Dachau if captured.
The harbour was also a base for some of the earliest operations of the new ‘Commandos’: a force brought together after a direct order from Churchill to undertake daring raids to gain intelligence, strike fear into the Germans and to disrupt their operations.
The ‘Small Raiding Force’ as it was known, was set up to achieve the maximum impact on the morale of the enemy whilst risking little in terms of men and operations – Churchill wanted the Nazi’s to feel that they were constantly in danger of attack, either from Commando raids or resistance attacks from land. Men came to Dartmouth not only to launch operations, but to train along the cliffs and in the coves for the tough challenges to come. They practiced their night-time climbing and landing in inaccessible coves to prepare them to getting into enemy territory undetected.
The success and failure of the Commando raids were often dictated by the information they received about their targets – good information combined with good planning meant there was greater chance of success. Operation ‘Ambassador’ in 1940 is an example of how badly things could go wrong – the Commandos landed on the wrong island, had badly damaged equipment when they got there thanks to their method of transportation (dinghy’s pulled behind larger ships) and then they failed to find any Germans to capture, the main objective of the mission! When they tried to retreat they had to swim 100 metres out to their boat as the tide had risen too high. To add insult to injury four men were left behind and became prisoners of war.
Another raid, Operation ‘Basalt’ in 1942 to the island of Sark, was going to plan before disaster struck. The Dartmouth-based force had caught five German soldiers, after help from a British inhabitant of the island, and was taking them back to their boats to return to Dartmouth, when one of the prisoners tried to raise the alarm. In the ensuing panic, the Commandos killed two. Their bodies were found with their hands tied. Hitler reacted by ordering all Commandos should be shot upon capture, whether they tried to surrender or not. However, this raid did get one prisoner back to Britain, who was described at the time as a ‘gold mine’ of information.
The most infamous raid was Operation ‘Hardtack 28’ in December 1943, again on Sark. Commandos from international allied forces were tasked with capturing the German Commandant on the island. The men were first landed needing to climb an impossible cliff to get to their target and had to return after a tricky descent in the dark. They returned two days later and succeeded in finding a way up the cliffs, only to walk straight through a minefield. Two of the team were killed in the ensuring explosions, and only one member of the seven-man team escaped without serious injuries.
However, there were also successes – Operation Fahrenheit was well planned and executed, and was responsible for the Germans’ losing confidence in their security arrangements on the Coast.
Men who trained and billeted in Dartmouth were also involved in what has become known as ‘The Greatest Raid’ on St Nazaire in 1942 – when an old destroyer filled with explosives was used to demolish German dry-dock facilities. Its success would cement the reputation of the British Special Services around the world and many of those men lived and trained in and around Dartmouth.
First Published August 2013 By The Dart