Combined Operations - French Index Page

Combined Operations - French Index Page.

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

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.