Learn while you play - online jigsaws of website photos!

From week 7, you are in control. You can now change the number of pieces from the initial 200 to suit all ages and you can view the image whenever you want... or not at all. To help you get started, the edge pieces only can be displayed. Good luck!

21 - 08/06/21  Jigsaw   Story behind the picture. How did some primary school children imagine what D Day was like? Their artistic efforts were displayed in the National Memorial Arboretum reception marquee on the occasion of the Combined Operations Memorial dedication ceremony in July 2013. Find out more here.

20 - 01/06/21  Jigsaw   Story behind the picture. Able seaman Harold French served in the Royal Navy from 1925 to 1949. During the war, he was attached to Combined Operations serving as crew on HMS Misoa. Complete this jigsaw to see the proud record his family have of his wartime service. More information about HMS Misoa here.

19 - 25/05/21  Jigsaw   Story behind the picture. We recently learned of a Combined Ops veteran about to celebrate his 100th birthday. Covid prevented any significant social gathering and he had no family. Through our Facebook page, we appealed for birthday cards and greetings. The astonishing result can be seen in this jigsaw! Find out more here.

18 - 18/05/21  Jigsaw   Story behind the picture. As an integral part of Combined Operations, the RAF provided air support on Commando raids and major landings including D Day. However, Combined Operations had their own RAF Squadron for a special purpose as this jigsaw attests.Find out more here.

17 - 11/05/21  Jigsaw   Story behind the picture. What did the crew of Landing Barge Emergency Repair No 29 (LBE 29) do with their French spending money off the Normandy coast on D Day? Solve this puzzle to find out! Find out more here.

16 - 04/05/21  Jigsaw   Story behind the picture. Hundreds of thousands of service personnel, from the Army, Navy and Air Force, required to train together in a new kind of amphibious warfare... but where could they do this in complete secrecy? The answer was a small, remote Scottish village with its own castle and resident Duke. Find out more here.

15 - 27/04/21  Jigsaw   Story behind the picture. For the D Day landings and immediate aftermath, land based radar, along the coastline of southern England, was unable to provide sufficient advance warning of enemy air attacks against the Allied land, sea and air forces. The solution was innovative and at the cutting edge of science and technology. Find out more here.

14 - 22/04/21  Jigsaw   Story behind the picture. Their mission in November 1941was to capture one of Hitler's top Generals, Erwin Rommel from his remote North African HQ. When elements of  No 11 Scottish Commando failed to gain entry one dark night, they knocked on door and, in perfect German, demanded entry. The door was unlocked and entry gained. Find out more here.

13 - 15/04/21  Jigsaw   Story behind the picture. Landing Craft Assault (LCA) typically carried around 36 armed soldiers from troop carrying mother ships a few miles offshore to landing beaches. Over 2000 were manufactured at many engineering yards around the UK and then delivered to their new owners. How they did this in some cases might surprise you. Find out more here.

12 - 08/04/21 Jigsaw   Story behind the picture. Over 75 years ago, the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF) was the precursor of the larger, better trained and equipped Commando Units that followed. The men of SSRF were pioneers in their field of clandestine amphibious raids on enemy occupied territory and lessons learned strongly influenced the formation of the Commando Units. Find out more here.

11 - 01/04/21 Jigsaw  Story behind the picture. The subject of today's jigsaw is HMS Monch, but, inspired by the proximity of 'April Fools Day', all is not as it seems! Find out more here.

10 - 25/03/21 Jigsaw Story behind the picture. How were the crews of smaller landing craft, with no space for a kitchen, provided with hot meals off the Normandy beaches in WW2? By the nautical equivalent of a drive in / carry out service a few miles offshore with unlimited 'parking'. The Landing Barge Kitchens were a lifeline for thousands. Find out more here.

9 - 18/03/21 Jigsaw Story behind the picture. The story goes that Churchill wanted to visit the Normandy beaches before it was safe to do so. He finally relented when King George told him he would go with him! Whatever the case, Churchill and his military advisers made the journey on D Day + 6. Find out more here.

8 - 11/03/21 Jigsaw Story behind the picture. A rusty relic from the Mulberry Harbours - a long abandoned  "Beetle" on the beach at Aldwick near Bognor Regis on the south coast of England. Beetles were concrete and steel floats or pontoons that supported the Mulberry roadways. Each was capable of carrying 56 tons + 25 tons - the weight of a tank. Find out more about the amazing Mulberry Harbours story here.

7 - 04/03/21 Jigsaw Story behind the picture. All coastlines of countries occupied by the enemy were defended and there were no friendly ports and harbours. All troops, tanks, armaments, vehicles, supplies, medical care and ancillary equipment together with inshore gun, rocket and mortar support, were provided from about 40 different kinds of landing craft which totalled over 4000 on D Day alone. The LCA was one of the smallest with a capacity of about 35 armed troops. Find out more about the deployment of Landing Craft Assault (LCA) here.

6 - 25/02/21 Jigsaw  Story behind the picture. PLUTO was more than a planet in WW2. It was an acronym for a top secret, large scale engineering project to pump fuel, for tanks and other vehicles, hundreds of miles from England, under the English Channel, to front-line troops as they advanced towards Germany - Pipe Line Under The Ocean x 21. Pumping stations on beaches were disguised as houses, cafes etc. Find out more about the design, development and construction of the pipeline here.

5 - 18/02/21 Jigsaw  Story behind the picture. Following major landings on enemy occupied territory, the advancing invading force needed air support from the RAF & USAF. This could only be provided from captured air fields or hastily improvised landing strips close to front lines. The Royal Air Servicing Commando Units serviced, maintained, repaired and re-armed aircraft under hazardous conditions and were trained to defend their air strips if attacked..  Find out more about the brave men who volunteered for unknown hazardous duties  here.

4 - 11/02/21 Jigsaw  Story behind the picture. This beautiful tranquil scene of a Norwegian fjord belies the drama, bravery and boldness of a small group of Commandos and two Norwegian corporals, working for the Special Operations Executive, in destroying aluminium production in the coastal town of Glomfjord. Shockingly, those captured were transported to Colditz and then to Berlin where they were executed. Find out more here.

3 - 04/02/21. Approx 100 pieces  Approx 200 pieces  Story behind the picture. There were many special units established in WW2 whose work was absolutely vital to the success of landings onto unimproved beaches in enemy occupied territory. Even their name was designed to deceive the enemy by concealing their real purpose - the Combined Operations Pilotage Parties.  Find out more here.

2 - 28/01/21. Approx 125 pieces  Approx 200 pieces Story behind the picture. The D Day Landings changed the course of the WW2. This map gives a visual representation of Operation Neptune, the amphibious phase of the D Day landings. Thousands of landing craft of many types put boots on the landing beaches, provided fire power on beach targets and anti aircraft cover for the fleet followed by the delivery of vehicles, tanks, supplies, medical provisions, armaments and follow on troops thereafter... all with Royal Navy heavy gun and RAF air support. Find out more here.

1 - 21/01/21.  Approx 100 pieces Story behind the picture. In late 2012, work began on the construction of the Combined Operations Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. The larger rocks, transported from Loch Fyne in Scotland, where training in landing craft operations was concentrated, weighed several tons and required lifting gear. Find out more here.