- VOLUNTEER WRITERS REQUIRED -

Volunteers with some spare time, an interest in the history of modern warfare, and access to a computer, are invited to contact the website for information about researching and writing pages.

WW2 Combined Operations is an immense subject of great interest to many people worldwide. The 60th Anniversary of D-Day saw visits to the website exceed 2,500 in a single day. A welcome consequence of this high level of interest has been an increase in the number of e-mails seeking advice or information, and an increase in postings to the various website notice boards. The time available to undertake research and to prepare pages for the website, is therefore now much reduced, hence this invitation to help in preparing pages.

There are many 'Combined Ops' stories worthy of an airing that are presently less accessible in books, public records, archives, personal papers and as small, dispersed parts of websites. To unlock these stories within a reasonable time of, say, a few years, is most likely beyond our resources.

Some of the pages on the website started off as very brief accounts amounting to just a few hundred words. Subsequent comments and contributions from visitors to the website have seen the pages grow in length and quality of content. The best example is PLUTO [Pipeline under the Ocean] which started life as a 300 word summary. It has grown hugely since then and it has spawned two other pages -  'PLUTO Resurrected' and 'PLUTO - Making the Manufacturing Machines,' both of which can be accessed from the PLUTO page.. From little acorns mighty oak trees grow! A good example of an acorn is the Small Scale Raiding Force page [SSRF].

There are around 100 pages to add to the website and no doubt our list is not comprehensive. The greatest contribution you can make is not, surprisingly, in writing the pages to the point of perfection... it's in researching, assembling the information into logical sequence, and preparing a rough draft or even headings with related facts, information and opinion. We are also very happy to receive final drafts from those who wish to produce them.

Thank you for taking the time to read this appeal for help. If you'd like more information please don't hesitate to drop me a line without any obligation whatsoever... and if you do decide to help please let me know the subject you choose (to avoid duplicating work already in progress).

Geoff Slee

 ~ Pages to be added to the website ~

This is a list of the more obvious subjects which will be added to the website. Since the list is not comprehensive please get in touch if you know of something that should be added.

•  Major Landings - Nov 1942 Madagascar; 1943 Salerno, Italy (Avalanche); Jan 1944 Anzio, Italy  (Shingle); Aug 1944 South of France (Dragoon); Jan 1945 Arakan, Burma; May 1945 Rangoon, Burma (Dracula). Malay Coast Sep 1945 (Operation Zipper) [7 pages]

•  Commando Actions - 3 Sep '43 Reggio, Italy; 11 Sep '43 Taranto Italy;  17 Jun '44, Elba; Italy; 15 Aug '44 Anvil, France; 3 Jan '45 Akyab, Arakan Peninsula; 12 Jan '45  River Myebon, Arakon Peninsula;  21 Jan '45 Ramree, Arakan Peninsula; 22 Jan '45 Kangaw, Arakan Peninsula; 26 Jan '45 Cheduba, Arakan Peninsula; 16 Feb '45 Ruywa, Arakan Peninsula; Apr '45, Comacchio, Italy. [11 pages]

•  Operation Agreement (Tobruk)

•  Insignia, badges and buttons [1 page]

•  Glossary of terms - definitions of ranks, units etc in the 3 services in WW2. [1 page]

•  Commando histories - Nos 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Inter-Allied), 12,14, 30 and Royal Marine Commandos. [12 pages]

•  Landing Craft - perhaps initially a brief history of landing craft with information about each of the many versions - see list below. [Initially 1 page but potentially around 20]

•  Combined Operations HQ (COHQ) [1 page]

•  Brief biographies of the main players. From COHQ in 1942 Willets, Horan, Haydon, Robb, Wildman-Lushington and Ellis and others such as Hobart, Hughes Hallett etc to name but a few. [10 pages]

•  Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF). See brief account of the SSRF which is in need of expansion.[6 pages]

•  Parachute Regiment [1 page]'

•  UK Training Establishments - 45 in all mainly in the west of Scotland and the south of England. A list will shortly be added to the website but in many cases the information is very basic. This needs to be fleshed out. [Initially 1 page but potentially 45 pages].

Landing Craft. By the time of the Normandy landings the range of specialist landing craft had increased enormously in keeping with technological advances and the changing conduct of warfare. I would like to add a section, about these craft, to this site. Do you have any information from personal recollections to technical spec. and anything in between? The craft are; LCA - Landing Craft Assault, LCF- Landing Craft Flak (anti-aircraft use), LCG - Landing Craft Gun, LCGm Landing Craft Gun (medium), LCI - Landing Craft Infantry, LCM - Landing Craft Mechanised, LCOCU - Landing Craft Obstacle Clearance Unit, LCP - Landing Craft Personnel, LCRU - Landing Craft Recovery Unit, LCV(P) - Landing Craft Vehicle & Personnel (American equivalent of LCA), LCS - Landing Craft Support, LCT - Landing Craft Tank, LCT(R) - Landing Craft Tank (Rocket), LRDG - Long Range Desert Group, LSD - Landing Ship Dock, LSG - Landing Ship Gantry, LSI - Landing Ship Infantry, LSP - Landing Ship Personnel, LST - Landing Ship Tank and LVT - Landing Vehicle Tracked (also known as amphibian).

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