30 Assault Unit in Normandy

Hi All,

Those of you following the 'American POWs transit points in Normandy' thread will know that we have located footage of Ian Fleming's elusive British 30 Assault Unit as they accompany the American 9th ID into the SW suburbs of Cherbourg. The screenshots used here are taken from footage in Tyler Alberts DVD '9th Infantry Division - Invasion of Normandy Series' and reproduced here with his permission.

A brief outline of this Unit might be helpful before we proceed.

30 Assault Unit was formed in 1943 following the merger of 33 Navy Troop and 34 Army Troop. It was a joint venture which emerged from a turf war between Royal Navy Intelligence and Combined Operations and had a direct link to NID 30 in the Admiralty. Both units worked side by side in the field, with 30 AU being the bodyguards for the RNVR Officers in NID 30 as they raced around Europe just ahead of the advancing Allied armies gathering naval and secret intelligence before the retreating Axis forces could destroy it.

The Unit's founder, Lt. Commander Ian Fleming (author of the James Bond books) told them before they went to France in the summer of 1944:

It was a fair comment as many members of 30 AU were also members of the previous 33 Navy Troop and 34 Army Troop which had operated in the Mediterranean the previous year. They were however, a well trained and highly motivated group of brave individuals. They had few equals even in the Allied elite forces family.

The Unit was divided into four 'Troops':

• A Troop (Captain Peter Huntington-Whiteley)
• B Troop (Captain Geoff Douglas)
• X Troop (Captain Geoffrey Pike)
• HQ Troop

The Unit's C.O. was Lt. Colonel Arthur Woolley, who had been the former commander of No. 47 RM Commando. All the fighting men were Royal Marines and the Unit was based at Littlehampton on the Sussex coast prior to the Normandy Invasion. Incidentally the terms, 'A', 'B' and 'X' Troops comes from the turret designations of a warship. They were firmly grounded in all things naval but many of the missions that the Unit was to take on took them far inland on many occasions.

During the Normandy Invasion, 30 AU's primary mission was to seize naval intelligence from the Kriesmarine HQ at Villa Meurice in Cherbourg during (not after!) the capture of the city.

A secondary mission, but just as important, was the capture of intelligence at the radar station at Douvres la Delivrande, inland from Juno Beach on D-Day. This mission was assigned to 'X' Troop under the name PIKEFORCE from it's commander. Again, the task was to grab secret German radar intelligence and equipment before the Germans had time to destroy it. As it turned out, this secondary mission was the more successful.

A second group known as CURTFORCE commanded by Duncan Curtis landed on D+1 at Arromanches on Gold Beach. This force consisted of two additional officers and nineteen marines. this group was to bring in heavy weapons and specialist vehicles to aid in the capture of the radar station.

The third and largest group was WOOLFORCE who landed on Utah Beach on D+4, the 10th June with the primary mission of securing the naval intelligence in Cherbourg. They also had an interest in the V2 site at Sottevast on the way up the Cotentin accompanying the American 9th Infantry Division.

This is where we find them in the footage taken during the fighting at Cherbourg and my first effort is to try and identify the two individuals of WOOLFORCE in the screenshot below:

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Am I correct in saying that the guy holding the R/T handset is a captain?

If so, are we looking at the commander of A Troop, Captain Peter Huntington-Whiteley? The commander of B Troop, Captain Geoff Douglas, was wounded by an anti personnel bomb dropped by a German plane during their first night in Normandy 'near' Sainte Mere Eglise.

Can anyone confirm the collar rank badge as being that of a British captain?

Thanks,

Pat

 

Hi All,

Thanks to Niels, I have been able to establish the location of Villa Meurice, the German Naval HQ in Cherbourg and main target for 30 AU in Normandy. The villa is circled red in the GE screenshot below:

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I was anxious to get a look at the 'street view' and luckily there is indeed cover on the NW corner of the property:

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I draw the reader's attention to the very distinctive plaster work in this zoomed view below...

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...because, guess who I found snooping around in my copy of Tyler Alberts DVD '9th Infantry Division - Invasion of Normandy Series':

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The Officer on the right above, who looks to be the same guy with the R/T hand set in my last post, turns and directs the tommy gunner to go up the steps:

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Regards,

Pat

 

Thanks Sean,

I thought the collar 'insignia' looked a bit like the American Captain's double bar and that the British might be using a similar marking. You are quite correct about the jump wings; they are clearly visible as he turns in the footage. I'll post a better screenshot tonight.

I will also post the screenshot on the Commando Veterans Association Forum to see if anyone can ID the two guys.

Regards,

Pat

Edit inserted @ 19:48
Posted on the Commando Veterans Association Forum here. Let's see what comes back.

 

Hi Sean,

Here are the jump wings:

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Regards,

Pat

 

Hi All,

I am have found additional footage in Tyler Alberts DVD '9th Infantry Division - Invasion of Normandy Series' showing more of 30 AU's 'WOOLFORCE' Commandos in Octiville, a suburb of Cherbourg again shot on the 26th June. The footage was taken at a street junction along the main thoroughfare, Rue Sadi Carnot, not far from the Kriegsmarine HQ at Villa Meurice (see previous post above). First the screenshots; note the same 'Corner Door' in all but one below:

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So, where is the location?
Much of Cherbourg has been rebuilt since the war and several 'virtual' walks up and down Rue Sadi Carnot in GE 'street view' mode failed to find the junction. As I have often found in the past, a web search for old post cards provided the answer. Below is the first of two which solved the mystery:

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I would guess that it was taken around the beginning of the 20th century and clearly shows the same 'Corner Door' as we see in the screenshots above. However, the roof lines visible in the post card had also changed and I could still not be sure of the location - or indeed which side of Rue Sadi Carnot it showed.

All was revealed when I found the second post card below which shows an aerial view of Octiville taken sometime in the 1960s or 70s:

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Note the red 'Corner Door' shining like a beacon across the years
The junction has two eastern branches which added to the confusion for a time. Note the two 30 AU Commandos and the single 9th ID GI walking up the narrow street in the last screenshot above - they are not on Rue de la Mairie (now Rue du General Du Gaulle) heading to Octiville Church as I first thought, but rather heading south past the group of German dead along the 'Narrow Street' marked on the second 'street view' image below:

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Our AoI in Octiville is shown within the red rectangle below...

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...zoomed to here:

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Still working on an identity for the two 30 AU Commandos with the R/T set.

Regards,

Pat

 

Hi Niels,

Thanks for the reminder; I had forgotten that you had included the junction location in other research. My apologies for the oversight.

Yes, the screenshots took about an hour to mark up :blush:

Regards,

Pat

 

Hi Bob,

Thanks for adding substantially to the progress of this thread and shedding more light on these mysterious 30 AU individuals.

The second photograph on this page shows a lower resolution version of the one you sent me today via email. I would doubt that the 30 AU officer on the right is the same guy holding the R/T handset in the still frame from the footage. The moustache is darker and the first aid kit visible in the helmet netting in the R/T handset still does not seem to be visible here in the tunnel picture. The German officer appears from the caption on this version of the photograph to be a naval man and is definitely not GenLt von Schlieben nor his aide GenMaj Sattler; beyond that I have no idea as to who he might be.

Looking forward to your identification of the R/T handset pair and any others you may find Bob

Regards,

Pat

 

Hi Bob,

Thank you for your email this afternoon suggesting Captain Hargreaves Heap as a possible candidate for the 30AU officer holding the R/T handset...

...and you are spot on

After a little digging following the arrival of your email, I found the photograph below in a PDF version of "The History of 30 AU" compiled by Guy Allan Farrin:

Image Credit: Guy Allan Farrin / www.30AU.co.uk​

Our man is seated on the left

Very well done Bob!

Regards,

Pat

 

Hi Bob,

Have you discovered any new information on the British captain who was leading the French Resistance group at Chateauneuf de Faou in Brittany?

I am doing a bit of digging down there at the moment trying to get to grips with the SAS and Jedburgh teams who operated on the peninsula before and during Patton's drive to the ports.

If you want to keep any new info for your book private, then that's fine, otherwise I will include this unknown captain in my wider efforts on a new Brittany related SAS/Jed thread.

Thanks,

Pat

 

Hi All,

We have have been asked by John Strathie from Scotland to see if its possible to learn the movements of his late father, Marine John Henry Strathie, PO/X118941, 30 A.U. while he was in Normandy in 1944.

John, as indicated in his recent email, has some knowledge of his father's time with 30 Assault Unit but has asked if we might be able to fill in some more detail:

I firstly had a look at Forces War Records to see if they held any additional information on Marine Strathie and unfortunately, as does happen sometimes, their database held no record for him.

Sometimes its easier initially to research those that have been killed in action, so I next had a look on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site to see if I could find the Marine who was killed beside John H. Strathie as per John's email above. It turns out this man was Marine Henry Raymond Jeffcott, PO/X103979, 30 A.U., who was killed in action on the 25th June.

I downloaded the initial Graves Concentration Report Form for this man which shows that he was initially buried in the American Cemetery at Sainte Mere Eglise and then re-interned in the Bayeux War Cemetery on the 3rd November 1944 in Plot II / Row G / Grave 19. I have created a PDF of the two pertinent CWGC documents and inserted them below:

<iframe src="http://www.normandy.whitebeamimages.ie/30au/john_henry_strathie/cwgc_docs_for_henry_raymond_jeffcott.pdf" width="850" height="300" frameborder="0"></iframe>​

This information on the location of Marine Henry R. Jeffcott's initial burial implies that both this man and Marine John H. Strathie were both part of 'WOOLFORCE' and the date of 25th June would imply that the two men were in or near Cherbourg when Jeffcott was killed.

I had a look at Nicholas Rankin's 'Ian Flemming's Commandos' and noted with interest this extract from page 241:

So, although there is a day's discrepancy around 24th/25th June, it looks to me like the other un-named Marine killed in action in the above extract, was Marine Henry R. Jeffcott.

Note that Marine Frank 'Paddy' O'Callaghan is listed in both the CWGC documents in my PDF above, though interestingly, he is unit is recorded as 40 Royal Marine Commando. As far as I can see, 'Forty Commando' was not in Normandy.

Anyone able to shed more light on where these two men were killed on either 24th or 25th June?

Thanks,

Pat

 

Hi All,

If, as now seems pretty certain, Marine John Henry Strathie was a member of WOOLFORCE, then his first night in Normandy would have been one he would not soon forget!

WOOLFORCE, named after its commander, Lt. Colonel A.R. Woolley, was the last of three 30 AU forces to land in Normandy. It was made up of A and B Troops, tasked with the job of capturing and securing German naval intelligence in Cherbourg before the enemy could destroy it.

Thanks to research carried out by Paul Woodadge a few years ago, we have the location where 'WOOLFORCE' spent its first night in Normandy. The field is marked on the the Google Maps extract below:

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The account of what happened to WOOLFORCE in this field is best described in 'Ian Flemming's Commandos' by Nicholas Rankin. Page 233 refers:

The account above varies slightly from the official 30 AU War Diary again kindly sent to me today by Paul Woodadge:

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As can be seen, the War Diary records this incident at Sainte Marie du Mont, not Sainte Mere Eglise and the number killed is recorded as two, not three.

Paul is pretty certain of the location as per this extract of his email today:

As a result of this location becoming known to me, I have changed my mind as to the best frame to acquire from sortie 140/334 flown by S/Ldr Longley on the 17th June. The only frame which catches this field, the crossroads the subject of 'The Horsa at the Crossroads of D115 & D913' thread and the Brecourt Manor battery field, is frame 3125. Ordered has gone in to NCAP tonight.

Once again, my thanks to Paul for his allowing the use of his research work here.

More follows...

Regards,

Pat

 

Hi All,

John Strathie has sent me a group photograph of RM School for NCOs marked C Company:

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Marine John Henry Strathie is indicated thereon.

Thanks for sharing this photo with us John. Does any reader recognize any other members of 30 AU in the photo?

Regards,

Pat

 

Hi All,

Frame 3125 of Sortie 140/334 flown on the 17th June is reproduced down sized below with the field Paul has identified as the location where WOOLFORCE spent its first night in Normandy:

Image Credit: RCAHMS/www.ncap.org.uk​

I had a good look at the full resolution copy of this frame and can see so sign of what might be anti-personnel bomblete craters, nor do I see any sign of fox holes in this field. Below is the area of the red rectangle at full resolution:

Image Credit: RCAHMS/www.ncap.org.uk​

I should stress however that I am not sure what signs to look for, but if this weapon was dropped in a canister which subsequently opened at some point on the decent from the aircraft, the craters on the ground would, to my mind at least, produce some form of 'shotgun blast' effect in the field where the bomblets impacted. The question is how extensive an area would be affected?

The description of the attack as quoted in post #17 above from Nicholas Rankin's 'Ian Flemming's Commandos' is expanded upon one page later (p. 234) thus:

'Bon Royle and Lofty Whyman were experienced enough to dig themselves a slit trench at the bottom of a ditch where the ground was softer and to line it with bracken. They were talking to Captain Geoff Douglas when a plane flew over and the 'curious shirring and whistling sound' of the bombs made them dive for cover quicker than their officer. Royale recalled the German anti-personnel bombs not as 'butterflies' but projectiles the size of a two inch mortar round, with fins at one end and a striker plate on the other to make sure the bomb blasted its shrapnel far and wide rather than being safely smothered in soft earth.'

Does anyone know if the canister was attached to a parachute or did it free fall from the aircraft?

I ask because presumably a parachute would retard the forward motion of the decent following the line of flight, producing a more rounded and even distribution of craters, where as a free falling canister would presumably produce a more oval footprint of craters. Just a theory of mine and I could be wrong.

Looking further afield on the high resolution version of this aerial photograph, I did notice a peculiar impact site some 700 meters to the south west of the field indicated by Paul inside the blue rectangle. Below is a full resolution version of this area:

Image Credit: RCAHMS/www.ncap.org.uk​

Note the lower of the two impact sites does not appear to have a central crater as does its companion in the next field. This impact site also appears to have a more uniform distribution of dislocated earth. Could this site be the footprint of multiple bomblet craters?

There is also a water course running along the north west hedgerow which is absent in the other field - see the IGN map extract below:

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Anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks,

Pat