COMBINED OPERATIONS
*    UNITED WE CONQUER    *

A long overdue memorial to the COPPists will be erected on Hayling Island probably within the next 12 to 18 months. Prince Charles is the Patron of the memorial fund raising effort and donations will be warmly welcomed. Visit their website at www.coppheroes.org for more information.
 

Background

Both by instinct and training sailors have a great respect for uncharted and unfamiliar coastal waters and given the option would choose to give them a wide berth. The natural hazards of submerged shoals, rocks and unknown tides and currents present a formidable challenge. Add to this submerged enemy coastal defences and patrols and the dangers and difficulties multiply several times. This was the scenario which confronted Lt. Commander Nigel Clogstoun-Willmott RN as he pondered a planned raid on Rhodes in the summer of 1941. He was the navigating officer for the raid.

He recalled the difficulties his uncle experienced off Gallipoli in 1915 when the deployment of battleships was delayed or restricted by fear of enemy mines. Closer inshore there were both natural and man made obstacles to contend with in waters offering limited room for manoeuvre... and all under the gaze of gun emplacements with barrels pointing seaward. There were few who believed that the 4000 ton landing craft needed for a major raid or landing would survive these multiple hazards. Willmott fully appreciated the dangers and risks from his experiences in Norwegian waters when over half of the Allied ships lost in 1940 foundered on rocks and shoals in coastal waters.

To improve the odds in favour of the amphibious landing forces many thousands of fully trained navigators were needed. However, in 1940/41 they were already in short supply and most suitable training establishments and training resources were given over to satisfy the RAF's greater need.

As the Lt. Commander surveyed the coastal waters and beaches of Rhodes from the periscope of a mine laying submarine, he was acutely aware that the information he was gathering was of limited value. He could not, for example, confirm the nature and disposition of enemy defensive positions on and near the landing beaches. He had no knowledge of hidden sandbars close to the beaches which could lead heavily laden troops to prematurely disembark into deep water believing they had shallow water all the way to the dry beach. He could not be certain of the composition of the beaches and thereby their suitability for the discharge of heavy lorries and tanks onto them. The lack of information (intelligence) on any one of these aspects would put lives at risk and missions in jeopardy.

In time beach reconnaissance would become very sophisticated and based solidly on observations and the scientific analysis of data on currents, tides and samples of sand and gravel taken from the beaches. It was very different when Willmott undertook basic covert beach reconnaissance on Rhodes in the early months of 1941 with his compass and torch! Others had undertaken similar recces including Lt Commander Milner-Gibson RN who had made 9 reconnaissance visits to beaches near Boulogne in 1940 prior to a raid.

The Formative Months

Willmott put his ideas into effect by visiting the beaches of Rhodes but not without opposition. Field commanders were fearful that tell tale traces of such visits would alert the enemy to the possibility of attack while the capture of the men and their equipment would jeopardise months of detailed planning and future operations in the area.

Brigadier Laycock (of Layforce) introduced Willmott to Roger Courtney of the Special Boat Section (SBS) and so the RN Lt Commander and the Army Captain found themselves laying down the foundations of what would become the Combined Operations Assault Pilotage Parties. Courtney instructed Willmott in the use of the frail Folbot canoe and together they practised swimming ashore, organising sentry duties, foraging around beaches and avoiding leaving any evidence of their visit... and all without being detected.

They were very different characters in build and approach to problems. Willmott, the navigator, was tall, thin, precise and meticulous in his approach whereas Courtney was heavily built and something of an adventurer and improviser when in a tight corner. Each brought his own knowledge, skills, experience and temperament to the challenges they faced.

They undertook beach recces on Rhodes from the submarine HMS Triumph. Their Folbot was equipped with their weapon of choice (the Tommy gun), grenades, infra-red signalling gear and a flask of coffee laced with brandy. The Folbot was carefully lowered by ratings from the submarine into the water. The two men rowed the mile and a half towards the beach and at about 100 yards Willmott slipped over the side into the cold water. From there he swam ashore and immediately discovered that an area identified for tank landings was completely unsuitable because of rocky outcrops. At one point, as he lay half on the beach half in the breaking waves, he had a close brush with enemy sentries. He lay motionless and it was a considerable relief when the patrolling sentries moved on. In all he managed to gather information from 4 locations on the beach and its approaches. He found a false beach 15 yards from the shore beyond which could have caused disembarking tanks to disappear below the waves.

The two did 4 more recces on consecutive nights. On the first 3 Willmott was the "swimmer" and Courtney the "paddler." Their roles were reversed on the last night which could so easily have ended in disaster. Courtney suffered severe cramp on the beach while a nearby agitated dog barked loudly. Willmott brought the Folbot inshore, Tommy gun at the ready. Courtney was in obvious pain but swam out to meet him and managed to pull himself on board.

With the German advance into Greece the planned raid on Rhodes was abandoned. Roger Courtney returned to his SBS activities and Willmott returned to his planning duties. Those in authority were, however, pleased with the information gathered and back at Combined Operations HQ (COHQ) in London beach reconnaissance became part of the planned invasion of North Africa (Operation Torch). Willmott was recalled to the UK in the summer of 1942 to set up the required training programmes.

The Training

As was often the case with Combined Operations time was at a premium. It was early September 1942 before formal approval for the training programmes was received. This left just 8 weeks to train sufficient men for North Africa. With Mountbatten's approval Willmott recruited Lt Neville McHarg RN and Lt Norman Teacher RN to his team to be joined later by Roger Courtney's brother when the number of landing points was increased. The training was initially based at the yacht club on Hayling Island and later at the Hollywood Hotal in Largs, Scotland.

The training was rather basic at first and was substantially based on Willmott's experience on the beaches of Rhodes. Equipment was rudimentary and some would argue not worth taking to the beaches. However, the range of equipment increased and its quality and functionality improved in the light of experience. By 1943 the standard equipment included;

•  a wet suit with watertight fit around exposed face, reinforced elbows and knees (for crawling), buoyancy control, various pockets and pouches and rope soled fishermens' boots,

•  chinagraph pencil attached to suit by short line,

•  matt white slate for underwater writing,

•  revolver in holster which had to be stripped and cleaned after each sortie,

•  waterproof torch with blue lens,

•  fighting knife in scabbard,

•  weight on line for depth of water measurement,

•  fishing line on reel attached to 1 ft brass rod for distance from shore measurements,

•  waterproof small compass,

•  infra-red signal lamp (Morse code),

•  No 36 or similar grenade for use as SUE (Signal Underwater Explosion),

•  auger tube for taking core samples from beaches,

•  'bong stick' (a metal box containing a mechanical hammer operated by a rotating handle attached to a rod of a fixed length. With the rod in the water the sound could be picked up by Asdic from a distance of up to 12 miles. More certain as a homing device than infrared which could often be obscured by wave action.

Also occasionally carried were trowels, flares, a bandolier of bags for shingle samples, emergency rations and a brandy flask.

The Parties

In June 1944 the total number of personnel (all ranks) was 174; HQ training and Admin 57, parties 1 - 6 & 10 had 12 each = 84 and parties No 7 - 9 had 11 each = 33.

No 1 COPP undertook beach surveys in the winter months of late 1943 and early 1944. On D-Day navigators/pilots from this COPP led the British 1 Corp to Sword and Juno beaches and crewed X craft markers. Also in 1944 they surveyed the planned landing beaches in Southern France.

In 1945, under Lt Peter Wild RN, they saw action in the Far East attached to the Small Operations Group (SOG). They set timed demolition charges and blew a gap in the anti-boat stakes in the area of the Myebon landings. In the process of night time recces the canoes collided with a Japanese boat on one occasion. Despite alerting the enemy they paddled away to safety probably being mistaken for natives. The COPPists were often in great danger during their 15 operations in the Arakan as they made their way around enemy sampans as their search lights probed the waterways.

They were waiting for new orders in Madras when the war in the Far East ended.

No 2 COPP crewed Landing Craft Navigation (LCNs) in late 1943 as part of the Normandy surveys. They later moved to the Agean and Adriatic Seas under the command of Lt Richard Fyson RN where they worked with raiding forces.

No 3 COPP undertook recces of Sicily's beaches and coastal waters in February of 1943. Sadly 3 of their number were lost. In July 1944 they were in the Far East where they undertook recces in the Arakan as part of the Small Operations Group (SOG) (see map above right). In March 1945 they landed at Phuket Island on what was an unsuccessful recce. Later in 1945 they surveyed the Morib beaches for the planned Malaya landings.

No 4 Copp suffered losses on February 26 and March 9 1943 while undertaking recces of Sicilian beaches. As the amphibious war drew to a close in the west this party, with others, moved to the Far East attached to SOG. They operated in the Arakan often in less than ideal conditions.

No 5 Copp were reccying off Syracuse in Sicily in late June of 1943. They discovered hitherto unknown gun emplacements tunnelled into the cliffs and not visible from the air. They laid 3 beacon buoys on D-1 which were timed to surface just before H hour on July 10. Despite stormy weather their canoes were launched and they, together with other COPPists in Motor Launches, led the British assault force onto the landing beaches using signals from the beacons to fix accurate positions.

In July they did further surveys in the Gulf of Gioia which were not, in the event, used and in August they operated in the Salerno area with the Special Boat Section (SBS). On return to the UK they reccied the Rhine at Wesel on the night before the crossing on March 23/24 1945. They had no artillery support and it was a bright moonlight night but they successfully surveyed the  river bank for minefields. They later shipped out to Asia but were "too late to take part in any operations."

No 6 Copp operated in the Mediterranean from April 1943 and surveyed Sicilian beaches in June of that year. During the Normandy landings they guided in Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE) to their designated beaches. These tank-like heavy tracked vehicles provided battlefield engineer support to armoured battle groups by clearing obstacles, bridging gaps and ploughing through minefields with 'Python'.

No 7 Copp was the first party to reach India. They reccied Akyab Island off Burma in October 1943 and in the following March an island off Sumatra. On return to the western front they undertook river recces in NW Europe as the Allied armies advanced. Most notable of these was the swimming of the River Elbe in April 1945 to recce the crossing.

No 8 Copp followed No 7 to India and operated NW of Akyab and northern Sumatra.

No 9 Copp crewed a marker boat off Sword beach on D-Day, June 6 1944, to guide landing and other craft to their designated beach. In 1945 they saw active service in the Far East attached to the SOG and came under fire on several occasions.

No 10 Copp carried out 31 operations between June and November 1944 in the Medterranean - Anzio, Adriatic Islands. Piraeus and Salonika. They moved to India in 1945. (See 'Correspondence' below).

From the memoirs of Lt Cdr Thomas H Shaw RNR

Tom Shaw was the navigating officer of the Infantry Assault ship HMS Prince Leopold which had just returned to Gourock following the Vaagso Raid in Norway. He continues…………….

A personal letter from H.M.S. Dryad informed me that I was being attached to Combined Operations (early 1942) for navigating duties and would be sent on a special training course, a short one, in their Pilotage Parties. I thought this was something to do with the pilotage of vessels but to my horror found out that the object of C.O.P.P. was to land on, and survey, enemy beaches in advance of any landings. However well charted these may be there was always the possibility that the beach in question had local obstructions such as rocks and so on that was not shown on the ordinary chart. No problem for ordinary navigation but for landing craft running on to the beach very important indeed if they did not want their bottoms ripped out or severely damaged. In short a very skilled and dangerous job and for which I showed no notable enthusiasm! It was all very well carrying out our training on our own beaches, even these had their hazards, but no joy on enemy occupied territory which were mostly heavily guarded, mined and the survey carried out in total darkness.

Briefly each team consisted of two men, one or both being navigating specialists or experts in other fields, and were taken close inshore usually by submarine. They were dressed like a present day skin-diver, or frogman, and at the dropping point paddled to the beach in a folbot and the survey carried out. The folbot had to be safely secured and the beach covered by foot by walking up and down probing for any possible obstructions. All this had to be done quietly and it is not easy to take notes in the dark, all the while being aware that one may be discovered or set off a mine. On completion the folbot was recovered and paddled out to the pickup position which in theory meant that the submarine trained an infra-red signal lamp on a certain bearing. The returning team picked up the ray, made a similar one in return and got alongside and then on board. All very well if both craft knew where each other was and in direct signalling line with each other but not so hot in practice!

For some strange and unknown reason Tubby and I were sent with another team to carry out a survey on what was considered to be a quiet sector of the French coast. I could have seen the sense in it if they had split us up with the more experienced officers but we were to land together alongside the other craft. The weather and sea conditions were ideal that night and we had no trouble getting ashore, securing the folbots and carrying out the survey, also collecting some sand and shingle specimens for analysis on return. Our return was not quite so smooth as we lost sight of our companion craft, and I in front was not having any luck picking up the submarine’s signal beam in between bouts of paddling. In short we did not have a clue as to where anyone was, except Jerry landwards! So much for accurate navigation.

Tubby was a great pipe smoker as I have mentioned earlier. I had been very pleasantly surprised to find him on the course. We kept paddling on and spotted our companions just off our bow. A low hail told us they were as clueless as we were as to the position and were keeping their fingers crossed. Just then the whole area was lit up with what appeared to be a combination of Blackpool illuminations, V.E. and V.J. polytechnic fireworks! At least it seemed that to me but in fact was the bold boy Tubby, taking advantage of the break in the paddling, endeavouring to light his pipe! Now a match or even the glow of a cigarette in the darkness at sea stands out for miles. I expected the whole German Army to open up on us! However it had its good uses as the submarine closed us and made contact, they having spotted the flare of the match which meant that they had been keeping a very good look out in the right direction. We got inboard in no time, had a good stiff drink and off to base. Tubby’s first words on the way to our quarters after landing was "have ee got a match, Tom?" "Mine be finished!" No comment. A great character whom I am sorry to say died from a heart attack in 1950.

Tom Shaw did not do any further operations with COPPS although he did take part in the Dieppe Raid in August 1942. He was one of the navigating officers of the Infantry Assault ship HMS Invicta. At the very last minute he agreed to replace a landing craft officer who had fallen sick. Tom landed Canadian soldiers of the South Saskatuan Regiment on Pourville Beach (Green Beach). He later made several return landings under murderous fire to rescue soldiers wounded and trapped on the beach before finally being wounded himself by a shell exploding near his landing craft ramp.

Further Reading

www.coppheroes.org  This website contains information on missions, composition of the COPPs units and biographical details including many photographs.

“Survey by Starlight,” by Ralph Neville, Hodder & Sloughton, London, 1949. (Ralph Neville was an alias for Ralph Stanbury, the commander of COPP Team 5.)

Stealthily by Night by Ian Trenowden, UK.Crecy.1995. 250pp Ills. Map

Correspondence

COPP 8 / PO Gascoigne. I'm seeking information on P.O Gascoigne who served in Copp 8 and also a couple of information sources cited in Ian Trenowden’s book “Stealthily by Night”. These are Alec Colson’s transcript of the COPP 8 logbook and his unpublished manuscript about Operation David (“Double Handle”). In particular I'm interested to know if these documents are still available to public scrutiny.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated

Thank you in anticipation.

Paul Miller

Major Jack Crane – COPP 1. I would like to hear from anyone who served in Combined Operations Pilotage Parties (COPP), or from their relatives. My grandfather was Major Jack Crane, Royal Engineers (277770), who was part of the COPP 1 re-commission that served in the Far East (Sri Lanka, Burma, India) from November 1944 to September 1945.

With many thanks in advance.

Rob Crane

I am fairly sure that all were COPPists who went ashore on Sicily prior to the Allied invasion, I have been in touch with South Africa and know about the two SANF's but understand from my contact there that, in total there were about eight or ten landed. Some were captured, some shot and two, having missed their pickup submarine, paddled their canoe from Sicily to Malta. Any information or book references would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in anticipation. David Yeomans.
 

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Hayling Island. I'm chair of a heritage group on Hayling Island called Discover Hayling charged with raising awareness of our island's history. We have been going for 3 years and, as I delve deeper into our past, I'm both fascinated and saddened that locally so little is known of the COPPs presence here at Hayling Island Sailing Club (HISC). We aim to remedy that by giving the COPP story on Hayling the prominence it merits. I'm anxious to speak to any surviving members, or their families, for information of interest and to create some sort of memorial to the COPPists on the Hayling seafront. We have had full cooperation from HISC, but the logistics of their operation precludes a public memorial on the original site. I would appreciate your views and help in making contacts. I have already been fortunate to meet and talk to Logan Scott-Wilmott. Yours, Robin Walton. [Anyone with information likely to be of interest to Discover Hayling should contact Robin on the e-mail link opposite].

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10 Copp - Book Publication. My father George Talbot DSC was in COPP 10 After the war he wrote a book about his experiences. A copy of the book which is both factual and amusing about operations such as Anzio, Yugoslavia, Italy and the Greek Islands has been held in the Imperial War Museum. As his daughter l am about to have the book published and would be very interested to hear from any of the COPP 10 members or their families. Thank you in anticipation. Jill de Angelis.

If you have any information or photos about the COPPists which might be added to this page please contact us.