Campaign Groups and Pairs
The commandos would be transported to the islands aboard two new infantry landing ships, escorted by four Tribal class and one L class destroyer of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla. The overall commander of the raid was Rear Admiral L. H. K. Hamilton. The objectives of Operation Claymore were threefold. The Royal Navy were tasked to safely escort the transports carrying the landing force to the islands and back. While there they were to destroy or capture any German shipping or Norwegian shipping working for the Germans and provide naval gunfire support for the landing forces. The naval forces taking part were the escorts from the 6th Destroyer Flotilla: HMS Somali, HMS Bedouin, HMS Tartar, HMS Eskimo, and HMS Legion under the command of Captain C. Caslon, R.N. There were two newly converted landing ships the HMS Queen Emma and the HMS Princess Beatrix which were to transport the landing force. The landing force was provided by the Special Service Brigade under command of Brigadier J. C. Haydon. The commandos taking part were 250 all ranks from No. 3 Commando under command Major J. F. Durnford-Slater, and 250 all ranks of No. 4 Commando, under command of Lieutenant Colonel D.S. Lister. They were supported by a Section of Royal Engineers of No 55 Field Company, under command of Second Lieutenant H. M. Turner, and 4 officers and 48 other ranks of the Royal Norwegian Navy, under the command of Captain Martin Linge.
The landing force were to destroy the oil producing facilities in the ports of Stamsund, Henningsvaer, Solver, and Brettesnes, engage the German garrison and attempt to make prisoners of war of the personnel found in the area. They were also to detain any supporters of the Norwegian Quisling party and persuade the local population to leave with them and join the Free Norwegian Forces. The force started gathering at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands on 21 February 1941 and remained there for almost a week before leaving for Norway just after midnight on 1 March 1941. The landing force was distributed amongst the ships, headquarters Special Service Brigade were transported on HMS Somali. No. 4 Commando which had been assigned landings at Svolvær and Brettesnes were on board HMS Queen Emma. No 3 Commando which had been assigned landings at Stamsund and Henningsvær were on board HMS Princess Beatrix. The Royal Engineers and Norwegian forces were divided between both the landing ships. The time they had spent at Scapa Flow was used getting acquainted with the transport ships and the Assault Landing Craft they would be using to reach the shore. The problems the navy perceived providing gunfire support were also discussed, as the destroyers would not be able to approach closer than 1 mile to shore owing to the shallows. Because of this the commandos were trained to rely on their own weapons to provide covering fire and support each other from their landing craft. Plans were also made for them to look after themselves in case the destroyers were called away to deal with a naval threat, which included every man being ordered to take enough rations to last 48 hours ashore.
The naval task force known by the codename Rebel left Scapa Flow and headed towards the Faroes. They berthed in the Skalafjordur at 19:00 hours 1 March 1941 to take on fuel. Refuelling took five hours and the naval task force set out again heading northwards towards the Arctic to avoid detection by German air and sea patrols. They then turned east and headed towards Norway, arriving at the Lofoten Islands during the early morning of 4th March 1941, just before 04:00 hours. Entering the Vestfjorden they were surprised to see all the harbour navigational lights illuminated, which they believed to be a sign that they were not expected and had achieved complete surprise.
During the planning for the operation, plans were drawn up that called for simultaneous landings at all their targets at 06:30 hours but on arrival they decided to postpone the landings by 15 minutes so they would not be landing in total darkness. When they did commence to disembark the landing force, they were all ashore by 06:50 hours. On shore the landing force commenced their operations, unopposed. The only shots fired were by the armed trawler Krebs, which managed to fire four rounds at HMS Somali before being sunk. Other ships sunk by the landing forces were the merchant ships Hamburg, Pasajes, Felix, Mira, Eilenau, Rissen, Andø, Grotto and Bernhard Schulte, which amounted to 18,000 tons of shipping. Additionally the force that landed at Stamsund destroyed the Lofotens Cod Boiling Plant. Two factories were destroyed at Henningsvær and 13 at Svolvær. In total about 800,000 imperial gallons of fish oil, paraffin were set on fire, and 228 prisoners of war were captured, seven from the Kriegsmarine, three from the Heer, 15 from the Luftwaffe, two from the Schutzstaffel (SS), 147 from the Merchant Navy and 14 civilians.
Perhaps the most significant outcome of the raid, however, was the capture of a set of rotor wheels for an Enigma cypher machine and its code books. These were rescued from the sinking German armed trawler Krebs. Their capture enabled Bletchley Park to read all the German naval codes for some time, which provided the intelligence needed to allow allied convoys to avoid U-Boat concentrations.
By 13:00 hours both the infantry landing ships HMS Princess Beatrix and HMS Queen Emma had embarked all their troops and were ready to sail. With them came 300 volunteers for the Free Norwegian Forces in Britain. Operation Claymore was the first of 12 commando raids directed against Norway during the Second World War. Lillico, who signed himself off ‘Jack’ sent a telegram on his return from the Lofoten Islands to his wife ‘Mrs R.J. Lillico, of 36 Welbeck Road, Sheepwash, Choppington’ dated Troon 8th March 1941 which reads: ‘Home safe from Lofoten Islands letter following’.
Operation Jubilee - the Dieppe Raid
Lillico was then next a part of Operation Jubilee - the Dieppe Raid, 19 August 1942. At this period, though he is known to have been a Commando who had taken part in the Lofoten Islands raid back on 1st March 1941, the exact unit he was with still remains a mystery, there being no documentation giving his exact unit, but the photograph of him wearing the early shoulder title for No. 4 Commando would certainly suggest this unit, in which he would have served in a demolitions role, having quite possibly been a member of the original men from No. 55 Field Company, Royal Engineers who had taken part in the Lofoten Islands raid. A process of deduction from his further known service with 1st Special Services Brigade later retitled as the 1st Commando Brigade would also indicate No. 4 Army Commando, as men of No. 3 Commando were later sent to the Mediterranean from 1943-1944 to take part in the Sicily Landings, and the Italy Star is not present in his group. Another factor in helping to ascertain that Lillico was a member of No. 4 Commando is the fact that his telegram on his return from the Lofoten Raid was sent from Troon, which was the base for No. 4 Commando, as such he would have served as a specialist within the unit, almost certainly demolitions or else for assisting in crossing obstacles.
No. 4 Army Commando after returning from Norway, started training for Operation Puma, the occupation of the Canary Islands. The operation was planned following intelligence that Spain was going to join the war on the side of the Axis forces. The intention was to prevent Germany using the islands as a U-Boat base. The force assembled included five commando units, an army brigade, two Royal Marine brigades and supporting arms. Training for Operation Puma culminated in landing exercises in the Hebrides. The operation was renamed Operation Pilgrim and after a number of delays was put on hold by the Chiefs-of-Staff.
On 13 September 1941 a token force including a troop from No. 4 Commando was dispatched to West Africa. The troop was based in Sierra Leone and Nigeria until returning to Britain in February 1942, after the cancellation of the operation. While this was happening a new second in command was appointed, Major Charles Vaughan, and a Captain Lord Lovat joined the unit as the training officer. Lovat had been attached to the Lofoten raid as an observer and had applied for a posting to the commandos.
For the Dieppe Raid No. 3, No. 4 and the newly formed ‘A’ (Royal Marine) Commando were to land by sea and attack the artillery batteries and the harbour. The Dieppe Raid was a major operation planned by Admiral Lord Mountbatten and Combined Operations Headquarters. The attacking force consisted of around 6,000 troops. The Royal Navy supplied 237 ships and landing craft, and the Royal Air Force 74 squadrons of aircraft, of which 66 were fighter squadrons. Landing on the eastern flank No. 3 Commando would assault the Goebbels artillery battery, while No. 4 Commando would be responsible for the Hess battery on the western flank. The Hess battery consisted of six 150 millimetres (5.9in) guns in a concrete emplacement 1,100 yards (1,000m) inland from the coastal cliffs. The emplacement was surrounded by two rows of barbed wire, and protected by several machine gun posts. A nearby anti-aircraft tower could also defend against a ground attack on the guns. The commandos were responsible for their own planning and selected two landing beaches codenamed Orange one and two.
Orange One at Varengeville was overlooked by a chalk cliff but had two gullies leading to the top of the cliff. Before the war there were steps down to the beach. But these had been removed and the gullies filled with barbed wire and other obstacles. The second beach Orange Two was at Quiberville 1.5 miles further west at the mouth of the River Saane. This offered access to the top of the cliffs
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