This month sees the 70th anniversary of the Bruneval Raid when 117 members of C Company 2nd Parachute Battalion, one Pioneer Corps interpreter and one RAF radar specialist dropped into northern France on the night of 27th/28th February.......with typical French logic there is a commemoration of the event on 24th June 2012.......not sure I will be able to make it but others may wish to.....also not sure if anything is actually happening on the day or should it be night?
I believe the commerations are from 24 till 26 february. Pathfinder Group Europe has droppings on saturday the 25th. I have no further details about the programme. Ron...
Saturday 25th February, there is Paratroopers drop on original DZ. After that, conference and exhibition about the Raid. Sunday 26th February, inauguration of a new memorial sign to tribute Hugh McIntyre killed during the operation. His family will be here to inaugurate this one.
Good to hear something is happening near the actual anniversary.....the June ceremony is now on the airborne network website......
Hi, some photos of the 70th anniversary of February : Exhibition of WW2 equipment at La Poterie - Cap d'Antifer by the association Victory Club Normandy : Alain Millet, Biting operation's historian, talks to Webster and McIntyre families (veterans of the Raid). Flight-Sergeant Cox, radar operator during the Raid Sergeant of the C Coy, 2nd Parachute Battalion Petty Officer of the Royal Navy Tommy of the embarkment troops Soldier of the Heer with radar operator of the Luftwaffe Conference about the Raid by Alain Millet Inauguration of the new memorial plaque under a first plaque Hugh McIntyre was killed at La Poterie Cap d'Antifer just next to the castle on the cliff (LONE HOUSE). The parachutist Alan Scott dead on the Bruneval beach. Graves of both with flowers by British families. Paper to order a very complete book about the operation (352 pages, book in French but photos legends are in English too) The next ceremony is in June.
The planned drop on the 25th sadly did not take place due to quite thick mist. There was still thick mist of the Sun morning/midday which was a backup time for a drop. I believe that C 'Bruneval' Co of 2 Para plan a 30 to 40 strong drop in June in conjunction with the inauguration of the refurbished Bruneval memorial which is situated close to the beach from which they were extracted by Royal Navy LCVs, escorted by RN MGBs, and a destroyer or two further out to sea, never mind RAF air cover on the return sea journey. Incidentally, the sole surviving member of any of the forces involved that took place in the Bruneval Raid, Ken HOLDEN of MGB 317, 92 years young!, was present last weekend for the various ceremonies in La Poterie Cap-d'Antifer. Orraverybest David David W Webster FSA Scot (The genealogist who located the living nieces, 2 of 4 of whom were in France, of 3252284 Rifleman Hugh Duncan McDonald McINTYRE, 9th Bn The Scottish Rifles [Cameronians], Attached The Parachute Regiment, Army Air Corps])
(The genealogist who located the living nieces, 2 of 4 of whom were in France, of 3252284 Rifleman Hugh Duncan McDonald McINTYRE, 9th Bn The Scottish Rifles [Cameronians], Attached The Parachute Regiment, Army Air Corps]) A daring British paratrooper who was killed while stealing a German radar in World War II has been honoured in the French village where he fell. Hugh McIntyre, 28, was shot to death by Nazis in 1942 during the elite squadron's first ever raid in the country. Read more: World War II paratrooper who helped steal elite German radar honoured in French village where he was killed | Mail Online
I was there a couple of years ago when the local authorities were upgrading the gully down to the Belvedere and installing a metalled surface.It looked as if they were also improving the parking on the top which which gives access down to the memorial plaques and down to the Belvedere via the "Escalier d'General De Gaulle". I seem to remember there was an excellent thread on Bruneval sometime ago with a contribution from a local French forum member. For the record,F/S Cox for some unknown reason was not allowed army uniform to protect him from special technical interrogation treatment should he had been captured. Apparently 119 paratroopers plus F/S Cox were dropped by 12 No 51 Squadron Whitleys led by W/C Percy Pickard who would later lead the Amiens Jail raid in 1944.RAF training for Biting was undertaken at Andover with the operation launched from Thruxton.
My father was on one of the MTB's which took them off the beach and back to England, for him at 18 odd the bigger picture he didn't know but never really spoke of it.
For the record,F/S Cox for some unknown reason was not allowed army uniform to protect him from special technical interrogation treatment should he had been captured. Charles Cox couldn't have Army uniforms because it posed administrative problems (assignments, papers, etc ...). But he had prepared an excuse if he was captured. He reportedly told the Germans that was part of the flight crew of a Whitley and he wanted to follow the paratroopers... My father was on one of the MTB's which took them off the beach and back to England, for him at 18 odd the bigger picture he didn't know but never really spoke of it. Your father was in the cover troops, Royal Navy or 181 Field Ambulance ?
