The creation of the "combined operations"

The British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, was convinced that the only means to beat the Germans was to place the war on the French territory.

To bring the mission to a successful conclusion, three points were laid down : in the first place, to enable a military operation to be launched from Engand itself, the menace of a German invasion on the British ground was to be definitively put aside.

In the second place, the British army, extremely weakened by the beginning of the conflict, needed a new training and equipment.In the third place, one must at all costs take advantage of the extraordinary industrial and economical power of the United States of America.

In 1939, in the beginning of the Second World War for France and Great Britain, no army has the experience of amphibious operations; the troops are not equiped with amphibious crafts and do not clearly realize the strategic stake of a landing.

Winston Churchill creates an organization named "Combined Operations", in order to effectuate assaults without heavy equipment : raids striking quickly and directly at one sensitive point.

The British Prime Minister wishes the creation of the first units of specialized assaults (usually called today "commandos"), which were to be operationals as soon as July 1940. The first military deed of this unit takes place on the island of Guernesey..

In October 1941 Winston Churchill asks the young captain Lord Mounbatten to take the lead of the new organization "Combined Operations" with the following instructions : "You must prepare the invasion of Europe because unless bringing the fight against Hitler on land, we will never win this war".

The Teheran conference

The Russians, facing a ferocious enemy on their territory, send an emergency call for help to the Allied forces : the Americans going to war after the Japanise attack on the island of Pearl Harbour, on the 7th of december 1941, send them heavy material (tanks, aeroplanes) and light one (arms,am munitions, fuel) but it is not enough.

After the turning point of the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942, the Red Army reconquers the territory which was lost during the previous fights.However, the confrontation keeps extremely hard for the soviet troops : Staline asks to the Allied leaders to have a meeting in order to take the essential decisions in the military field.

So, and for the first time, the three main leaders of the Allied countries (Roosevelt for the United States, Staline for the Soviet Union) meet in order to take shared military decisions against the Axis forces. The place for this meeting is situated in Teheran, the present capital of Iran.

The meeting begins on November 28, 1943 and ends on December 1. The political chiefs decide in particular, at the request of Stalin, to prepare a vast offensive allowing to open a second front on the european continent, but this-time at the West. Churchill then proposes an attack in the Balkans.

The Teheran conference finishes without no true agreements being signed, but the Americans suggest to launch an operation, baptized “Jubilee”. It is an amphibious landing near the town of Calais, France during the summer 1942.

But it is imperatively necessary to help the Soviets by opening a second front in Western Europe. This objective accelerates the work of the allied soldiers working at the “Combined Operations”. A thing is certain, the attack will be done starting from England, for logistic reasons. It is now necessary to indicate the landing point.

The Atlantic coasts are too far away and moreover, the German submarines, the famous U-Boot, are too dangerous. It is the same for the Brittany coasts, while the current near the Belgian beaches is too strong and would be likely to destroy a great number of boats, what represents an useless risk. As for the beaches of Holland, the grounds behind the beaches are flooded and do not facilitate the landing of material.

Raid on Dieppe

The raid on Dieppe in August 1942 is entrusted to the 2nd Canadian division, supported by the new Churchill tanks of 40 tons, which must land right in front of the objective, while the commandos attack on the sides to neutralize the coastal batteries installed on cliffs. But the Royal Navy does not want to risk its large units in the English Channel, thus the attack is preceded by no preparation of marine artillery.

Thus, the Canadians are hung on the beach exposed to the shootings and only some manage to cross the concrete dam and to infiltrate downtown.

Reinforcements which were to be sent to the combat, were not it because the Allies simply “tested” the Atlantic Wall. The enemy movements were observed, timed and analyzed in order to prepare an attack of greater scale later.

Canadian and British soldiers were sacrificed to allow the Allies to collect informations for a future greater scale landing.

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