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 COMBINED OPERATIONS

Memorial donations of around £27,500 funded construction, dedication and routine ground maintenance in perpetuity.

  Donate here to a small contingency fund to repair and maintain the memorial structures as and when required.
 


Combined Operations - French Index Page.

Animated waving French flag.

Links to web pages with strong French connections to Combined Operations.

Operation Overlord

D Day, June 6 1944. Operations Neptune and Overlord were the culmination of years of planning and training by Combined Operation planners and others, notably the USA.

Mulberry Harbours

The Allies needed secure sheltered harbour facilities within days of the Normandy landings to supply their advancing forces until ports like Cherbourg were captured. How did they erect two harbours, each the size of Dover, in just a few days in wartime, when Dover took 7 years to construct in peacetime?

PLUTO

The Pipeline Under the Ocean (PLUTO), was designed to supply petrol from storage tanks in southern England, to the advancing Allied armies in France in the months following D-Day. This page tells the story of the planning, development, testing and installation of the pipelines and of their contribution to the war effort.

Normandy Poems

Poems mainly about the Normandy landings.

The Gratitude of a Nation [Churchill]

An expression of a Nation's gratitude for the role of Combined Operations in planning and training for the amphibious aspects of D-Day, written to Mountbatten by Churchill on the evening of D + 6 after visiting the Normandy beaches.

Bruneval, France. (Biting)

Operation Biting (27/2/42) was a daring Combined Operations raid on a German radar station at Bruneval in northern France. The purpose was to obtain German radar components for analysis by experts.  [Air] 1 Whitley Squadron. [Sea] Landing Craft & Escorts. 

St Nazaire, France (Chariot)

Operation Chariot (28/3/42) was an audacious Combined Operation raid on the port of St Nazaire in German occupied France. Packed with tons of high explosives, a destroyer was rammed into the gates of the only dry dock capable of servicing the German battleship Tirpitz. Such was the damage caused, that the dry dock was rendered unusable for the remainder of the war.  [Land] Nos.1,2,3,4,5,9 & 10 Commandos. [Sea] HMS Campbelltown.

Dieppe, France (Jubilee)

Operation Jubilee (19/8/42), the Dieppe Raid, was very costly for Canadian forces but valuable lessons were learned in planning future operations, including D-Day. [Land] Nos 3 & 4 Commando with 50 US Rangers, the Canadian 2nd Division. [Sea] 230 ships with 3000 men. [Air] 65 RAF Squadrons (fighters, fighter/bombers and bombers).

'Omaha' Beach (Aquatint)

Operation Aquatint (12-13/9/42) was a Small Scale Raiding Force's (SSRF) operation which took place on part of 'Omaha' beach, which, unbeknown to anyone at the time, would witness the largest amphibious invasion force in history just 21 months later on June 6 1944.  [Land] 12 Commandos of the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF). [Sea] MTB 344 the Little Pisser under the command of Freddie Bourne.

River Gironde, France (Frankton)

Operation Frankton (7/12/42), popularly known as the Cockleshell Heroes, tells how a handful of Royal Marines paddled their way up 70 miles of the Gironde River to lay charges on enemy shipping.  [Land] 10 Royal Marines - "The Cockleshell Heroes." [Sea] Sub. HMS Tuna.

Normandy, France (Neptune & Overlord)

Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings of June 1944, was the beginning of the end for Hitler and his army in Europe. The German forces were under increasing pressure from all sides and the great effort by Allied forces proved decisive. Many hard battles, now etched in the collective memory of the nation, were fought along the route to the German heartland. 170,000 assault troops, 5000 ships and 820 aircraft mainly from Canada, UK and the USA.

Combined Ops Memorial  

Information about the memorial, including its location in the grounds of the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. The memorial embraces all the Allied nations whose service men and women served in or alongside Combined Operations, or were trained by them in amphibious warfare.

Further Reading

There are around 300 books listed on our 'Combined Operations Books' page. They, or any other books you know about, can be purchased on-line from the Advanced Book Exchange (ABE). Their search banner link, on our 'Books' page, checks the shelves of thousands of book shops world-wide. Just type in, or copy and paste the title of your choice, or use the 'keyword' box for book suggestions. There's no obligation to buy, no registration and no passwords.
 


News & Information

Photo of single poppy.About Us

Background to the website and memorial project and a look to the future; plus other small print stuff and website accounts etc. Click here for information.

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Featured Links; Combined Ops Heritage; 40 D Day Stories & Combined Operations Jigsaw Challenge
 

 

Photo of single poppy.Remember a Veteran

Pay a personal tribute to veterans who served in, or alongside, the Combined Operations Command in WW2 by adding their details and optional photo to our Roll of Honour or They Also Served pages on this website, which include the Combined Operations prayer.

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Facebook

Visit our Facebook page about the Combined Operations Command in appreciation of our WW2 veterans. You are welcome to add information, photos and comment or reply to messages posted by others.

Photo of single poppy.Events and Places to Visit

Organisers: Reach the people who will be interested to know about your Combined Operations or war related event by adding it to our  webpage free of charge. Everyone else: Visit our webpage for information on events and places to visit. If you know of an event or place of interest, that is not listed, please let us know. To notify an event or place of interest, click here. To visit the webpage click here.

Photo of single poppy.Find Books of Interest 

Search for Books direct from our Books page. Don't have the name of a book in mind? Just type in a keyword to get a list of possibilities... and if you want to purchase you can do so on line through the Advanced Book Exchange (ABE).

Photo of single poppy.Combined Operations Handbook (Far East)

The handbook was prepared for Combined Operations in the Far East. It illustrates the depth and complexity of the planning process necessary to ensure that the 3 services worked together as a unified force.

Photo of single poppy.New to Combined Ops?

Visit Combined Operations Explained for an easy introduction to this complex subject.

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