~ WHAT IS A COMBINED OPERATION? ~

What is a Combined Operation? This page gives a brief explanation for the benefit of those new to the subject with links to additional information. Find out how Wolfe, of Quebec fame, was perhaps unwittingly, involved!

 ~ Background ~

Two evolutionary events conspired to create the need for combined operations. The first was man's mastery of the waves and the second was his insatiable appetite to explore, and in less enlightened times, to conquer. History is littered with stories of amphibious campaigns arguably going back to the Phoenicians and earlier. All have one thing in common - the need for seamen to transport soldiers to fight and, in modern times, airmen to drop parachutists, smoke screens and bombs and to provide air cover in support of the ground troops and ships.

By the time of Wolfe's amphibious assault against the French at Quebec in 1759 it was becoming clear that certain rules and principles might be applied to ensure a reasonable chance of success against entrenched forces. Hitler understood these rules and principles all too well. At a time when there were the most compelling reasons to continue his push from mainland Europe into the British Isles he halted his advance at the English Channel. His forces were simply not geared up for an amphibious invasion and he failed to gain supremacy in the air.

 ~ Early Developments ~

In between the two world wars Combined Operations took a back seat... the ill fated WWI Dardanelles amphibious landing no doubt acting as a damper on ideas and initiatives. Politicians and planners alike had other priorities and money was so tight that spending anything on the development of Combined Operations was not a priority. Nevertheless on the 22nd of February 1936 a document, prepared by the Royal Naval Staff College in Greenwich, was to have a profound effect on the future development of Combined Operations. Its author, Captain (later Vice Admiral) Bertram Watson, swept aside all the negative and backward looking thoughts and ideas and set out a vision for the future. The principles he laid down were to;

•  train in all methods for the seizure of defended beaches,

•  develop the materiel necessary for such methods with special regard to the protection of troops, speed of landing and the attainment of surprise,

•  develop methods and materiel for the destruction or neutralisation of enemy defences, including bombardment and aircraft co-operation,

•  in time of war, to employ the whole force for carrying out minor operations by itself; or in conjunction with military forces, as the covering force to seize and hold beaches for the main landing.

Two years later a second well argued paper, this time written by Sir Ronald Adam, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, was presented to the decision makers. Suddenly the Inter-Services Training and Development Centre (I.S.T.D.C.) was born. Situated at Fort Cumberland near Portsmouth, it comprised four officers, a small clerical staff, a free hand, a lot of encouragement, direct access to the Deputy Chiefs of Staff and thirty thousand pounds! From little acorns mighty oak trees grow!!

 ~ The Emergence of Combined Operations ~

During the first six months of the war very little happened on the western front. The British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.) and the French forces had great faith in the Maginot defensive line which ran along the French/German border. However the main German attack, when it came on the 10th of May 1940, was through the Benelux countries to the north. By May 27 the B.E.F. had been pushed into an enclave around the Channel ports which resulted in the evacuation of 328,000 men from the beaches of Dunkirk. 

There had been virtually no Combined Operations up to this point but Dunkirk changed all that. A new approach was needed to harass the enemy and tie up his forces from northern Norway to southern France. On June 14 Lieutenant-General Alan Bourne was appointed "Commander of Raiding Operations on coasts in enemy occupation and Advisor to the Chiefs of Staff on Combined Operations." Bourne was a Royal Marine Commander with experience of both land and sea operations. Irregular Commandos were raised followed by ineffective raids on Boulogne and the Channel Islands. Churchill was not impressed with these pin-prick raids and for 8 months there was a lull in activity. During this time a clearer vision of the role of the Commandos was formed and training honed accordingly. On the 17th of July 1940 Roger Keyes was appointed Director of Combined Operations to be followed by Lord Louis Mountbatten in October 1941.

 ~ The Principles ~

It would be arrogant to suggest that the complexities of  WW2 amphibious combined operations could be distilled into a few simple rules as might be found in a "Dummy's Guide to Combined Ops."  However, that said, a number of important prerequisites do appear to apply to all major amphibious campaigns and these are summarised below.

To secure the best possible result, with the resources available, a combined operation should ideally have;

•  unity of purpose, mutual trust and confidence at the highest political and military levels. The political leadership (The War Cabinet), the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the participating services and the Supreme (Field) Commander should be involved, together in discussion, in the development of the strategic plan.

•  similar unity of purpose, mutual trust and confidence at field commander level. The Supreme Commander and his Commanders in Chief (C in C) from the various participating services, should consider and discuss the strategic plans and agree the best course of action. They should be of one mind on the subject.

•  accurate and up to date intelligence on the chosen landing beaches including hidden obstacles, the water gap, slope of beach, currents and the condition of the sand and gravel.

•  accurate and up to date intelligence on the enemy's coastal defences.

•  overwhelming superior firepower (rockets, shells and bombs) to weaken, confuse, disrupt and dislodge opposing forces prior to landings.

•  a large element of strategic and/or tactical surprise arising from the circulation of mis-information, spoofing and feints (not always possible).

•  command and control or HQ ship to provide a communication hub, to monitor progress and to direct operations in the light of intelligence received during the campaign.

To these could be added rules concerning training, weather forecasting, beach head logistics, supply chain (food, fuel, munitions, spares etc), maintenance, medical support and ......

 ~ Conclusion ~

In the confusion of war, and with many conflicting exigencies in the allocation of scarce resources, seldom, if ever, were all these conditions met. Additionally, as is in the nature of human relationships,  the "unity of purpose, mutual trust and confidence" were often unattainable in full measure. When they were not present there was usually a price to pay without the welcome intervention of lady luck.

For information on specific WW2 Combined Operations go to Raids and Landings

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