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- THE SMALL SCALE RAIDING FORCE (SSRF) - This page details the activities of the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF) during the early 1940s. They specialised in "pinprick" raids on the coast of Northern France and the Channel Islands which were designed to have a demoralising effect on the German troops as well as more generally tying up enemy resources that would otherwise be used on other fronts.
~ Background ~ Following the evacuation of the Allied Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk in late May early June 1940 there was a need to create a new battleground until Britain and her allies could return to European shores in great numbers. It would take years to equip and train such a force for a major amphibious landing. Churchill believed that "pinprick" raids against German coastal defences and installations along the Channel coast of German occupied France would have a demoralising effect on the enemy forces. They would also keep the Germans in a state of nervous vigilance requiring the deployment of purely defensive resources. One initiative to meet this requirement was the establishment of the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF). Operationally it came under Mountbatten, the Chief of Combined Operations (CCO), but control was shared with the Special Operations Executive (SOE). In early 1942 the force was founded by Major Gus March-Phillips, DSO, OBE; Major J Geoffrey Appleyard, DSO, MC; and Captain Graham Hayes, MC.* They engaged in training the newly formed force at Wareham (Dorset) and later teamed up with Coastal Command's motor torpedo boats (MTBs). Some training was also undertaken in the English Lake District. MTBs were used because they were fast and relatively quiet when running on auxiliary engine power only... a combination which minimised detection at sea and when close to shore. Success depended on competence in the use of small boats inshore, particularly the dory - often the boat of preference. A typical raiding party was around 8 to 10 in strength, sometimes fewer. The size of the total force is now uncertain but probably never more than 60 about half of them officers, taken from groups like the Special Boat Service (SBS) and the SOE itself. The nationals of many countries were recruited... French, Poles, Dutch and Czechs. Some with German sounding names were given new identities or 'war names.' Many came from the Pioneer Corps. In 1941 the SSRF was called ‘Maid Honour Force,’ after a Brixham trawler requisitioned by Major Gus March-Phillips. It was converted for the clandestine transportation of weaponry. Maid Honour took 30 men to West Africa in August 1941. An operation, codenamed ‘Postmaster,’ planned to capture a German tanker in harbour on the island of Fernando Po. The date was January 1942 and although the island was Spanish territory, therefore officially neutral, the mission went ahead and was accomplished taking the German tanker and an Italian freighter! So successful was ‘Postmaster’ that additional men were recruited and the expanded force re-designated Small Scale Raiding Force. The SOE had itself been created earlier in 1940 when the tide of war was very much flowing against the British. Popular belief has it that SOE was set up following Churchill's famous comment, 'set Europe ablaze,' but it was Chamberlain who, on the 19th July 1940, put his name to the paper which effectively created the organisation which laid down that 'A new organization shall be formed forthwith to co-ordinate all action, by way of subversion and sabotage, against the enemy overseas.' SOE itself regarded this paper as its founding charter. SOE would gradually establish itself and send agents not just across Europe but also elsewhere around the world, undertaking sabotage, gathering intelligence, liaising with sympathetic foreign nationals and groups and arming and co-ordinating with resistance. ‘F’ section (France) of S.O.E. is estimated to have lost some 25% of the some 480 agents (Men and women ) parachuted into France in the latter part of WWII. The SSRF was therefore just a small fragment of something much more complex and was of course far from being on its own as a raiding force. There had been many others involving Commando, Naval forces with air support. Follow Raids and Landings link on our Index page.
Freddie Bourne served in Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs) with Britain's Coastal Command Forces during WW2 attacking German convoys and warships and ferrying commandos to occupied France and the Channel Islands. It is the latter role that is of special interest to Combined Operations. Bourne was based at HMS Gosport when he became involved in Coastal Forces. A chance meeting with Lt Roger Thornycroft, of the well known shipbuilding family, resulted in his association with their small high speed vessels. Experimental types were built in 1942 and numbered 344, 345 and 346. No. 344 was 60 ft long and the other two 45 ft long. All were twin-screwed and powered by Thornycroft petrol engines of 1200 BHP giving a speed of up to 40 knots. For action against shipping they were armed with two 18" torpedoes. At this time Bourne was a lieutenant waiting for his first command which came in the form of MTB 344. The Navy made her available to the SSRF and this began Bourne's involvement with the organisation. They christened her "The Little Pisser" because of her high power compared with the motor launches the Navy had offered earlier. For the clandestine missions the MTBs engaged in they normally sailed at dusk. When they were close to their objective the main engines were cut and the approach made on the auxiliary engine.
Because of her relatively small size MTB 344 was difficult to detect by radar. Her armaments comprised two Vickers machine guns either side of the bridge and Lewis guns aft of the crew's quarters. Apart from Bourne she had a crew of seven. On the night of September 2/3 1942 MTB 344 was anchored off the Casquets lighthouse, seven miles west of Alderney, which was being used by the Germans as a radio listening post. Bourne lowered an 18 ft dory from the boat which then carried 8 raiders to the rocks beneath the lighthouse. When they returned later they had the enemy's code books and seven prisoners - the lighthouse keepers, radio operators and guards.
Later that month MTB 344 took part in Operation Aquatint when raiders landed on a beach in the Baie de la Seine near Cherbourg. On this occasion the raiding party was ambushed by a German patrol and all the Commandos were killed. Some were shot in the water as they attempted to swim back to the boat and one of the MTB's engines was put out of action by a German bullet. Bourne had to flee on half power. His next operation was to occupied Sark in the Channel Islands. This raid was to have very serious, unforeseen consequences for all future 'special forces' operations in enemy held territory. The raiding party landed successfully, evaded a German patrol and broke into a house belonging to a Mrs Pittard. She provided invaluable intelligence including the whereabouts of the enemy garrison - an annex of the Dixcart Hotel. The Commandos killed the guard posted outside the building and stormed in. The five soldiers billeted there were taken prisoner but, as they were being escorted to the beach, they began to struggle and scream for help. Unable to quickly pacify them, and fearful of being discovered, the prisoners were shot regrettably still with their hands tied. As a result Hitler ordered that any British Commandos captured armed or unarmed, in or out of uniform, should be executed with no exceptions. (See Glomfjord for information on the first use of Hitler's Commando Order). In all Bourne and his crew in MTB 344 took part in 17 raids off the north coast of France and the Channel Islands. He left 344 in May 1943 on appointment to Flotilla 11 at Felixstowe. In January 1943 the SSRF raids were coordinated by an Auxiliary Operations Group and independent raids in the English Channel ceased. SSRF was later disbanded and for his part in their operations Bourne was awarded the DSC.
On the night of 12/13 September 1942 a Goatly [a canvas sided wooden bottomed collapsible boat, 17ft 6ins (5+m) long with a beam of 4ft 6ins, weight 2 cwt, assembled by two men in 1.5 minutes] dropped Graham Hayes with 9 men at St Honorine des Pertes near the Cherbourg Peninsula. Geoff Appleyard remained in the MTB having sustained a leg injury on an earlier raid. He heard the landing party ambush a German patrol only to hear them in turn ambushed by a larger German force. Gus March-Phillips and three of his men were killed as they returned to their boat on the beach. The flimsy canvas sided boat sank leaving Hayes to swim along the shore. He eventually reached neutral Spain with the help of several Frenchmen (French Resistance?) but was handed over to the Gestapo by the local Spanish police. In the summer of 1943 Graham Hayes was executed (shot) in a Paris prison proving the danger to special forces personnel if caught even in a neutral country. ~ Other Actions ~ (not a complete list).
* All three service personnel were killed in action while serving with SSRF or other special forces units. ~ Further Reading. ~ On this website see Operation Aquatint See a Roll of Honour on a website with the objective of listing all Allied Special Forces casualties from WW2 onwards. I was directed to your excellent website by Bert Markham who served in the SSRF. He was a crew member on MTB 344 and later of MTB 494. During the night of the 6th of April 1945 he was onboard 494 during an engagement with German S-Boats. 494 was rammed and sunk by S-176. My cousin, Gus Holland, was also a member of the crew of 494 on that night and sadly perished after the engagement. According to all the accounts of this engagement, including a report by the German Skipper of S-176, there were only two survivors from 494. However, it now transpires that Bert Markham was a third survivor! Bert and my cousin Gus survived the collision with S-176 and sat on the upturned keel of 494 along with the boat's radar rating. Nearby was 493 which was immobilized and with its forward section completely destroyed. The crew continued to fire their Lewis gun at the other attacking S-Boats. The crew of 493 saw Bert, my cousin Gus, and the radar rating clinging to the keel of 494. Since 493 was immobilised Bert swam to its stern and was pulled onboard while Gus swam to the badly damaged forward section. Bert saw Gus clinging to the shattered remains of the forecastle and urged him to swim to the stern but before he could do so he lost his grip and floated away. The radar rating never made it to 493. The next day Bert saw the bodies of Gus, the radar rating and the boat's Mid Shipman being brought ashore. Following Bert's eye witness account of the tragic events of that night I've added his name to the list of survivors from 494 on my website at http://home.it.net.au/~lambeth/mtb494.html. Patrick Holland. Perth, Western Australia. Lest we Forget.
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