The collapse of French resistance meant that XD operations, as these demolition operations were officially known, were no longer pre-planned but being mounted on an ad hoc basis. The four parties had returned from their operations at Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne, before we got back from France. The operations had been abortive but only either because oil was non-existent or already destroyed by enemy action. The situation they found was well described by Cyril Cox, who was just back from Dunkirk, in his report:
We arrived in Milton barracks with our natural elation clouded by the loss of one of our number, but at least confident of a warm welcome from the comrades we had left behind. Like a cold douche came reality, the bleak empty barracks with only a few familiar faces, cooks, waiters, telephonists and the like, the remainder of the unit had departed for the Havre-Rouen area. A strange Colonel sat in OC Troops Office and grudgingly granted each man twenty fours leave – most of it utilized to make up arrears of sleep – then set them to work on road blocks, sweeping the barracks, cleaning latrines and similar routine jobs. Captain West became Officer I/C road blocks. Captain Buxton accommodation Officer, Second Lieutenant Barton a sort of stores clerk and myself, a glorified office boy entitled Assistant Adjutant to OC Troops – a post which entailed sitting in the gloomy twilight of OC Troops office for about twelve hours each day. The comparison was too great for immediate adjustment of the human mind from the tense excitement of those hours under enemy fire to the quiet monotonous existence in barracks, and tempers became frayed, the men longed for a further smack at the common enemy, us two subalterns chaffed at the futility of our present occupation, and confided to each other our intense desire to escape from the soul destroying deadness, but the time passed slowly by and there seemed no prospect of relief.
At about 1.00 p.m. on Sunday, 6 June, I was sitting in the OC Troops Office signing ‘for Adjutant’, when the phone rang and a voice asked for Captain West saying ‘Major Bourne here’. At the sound of that magic name I pricked up my ears and explained that Captain West was out but that I was the senior Kent Fortress officer in the barracks. ‘Tell Captain West I want to know how many special parties he can form, and that I shall want about five parties at short notice’.
Major Bourne was known to be a staff officer in Military Operations at the War Office so there was much excitement among all ranks at the prospect of release from this humdrum existence and the chance to get involved in further operations.
Oil storage installations at Caen, Cherbourg and St Malo were the objectives this time. One difficulty was that Caen was inland and the nearest port was Cherbourg eighty miles away. For this reason West decided to send a third officer to Cherbourg. The parties for Cherbourg and Caen were commanded by Lieutenant Cox with Second Lieutenants Barton and Birley, the latter having been specially posted in from Chatham at short notice. When they arrived at Portsmouth they were immediately embarked on HMS Alresford, a roomy ship which had been used previously as a navigation school. An hour later a naval demolition party arrived and both parties were put under command of Lieutenant Commander Grindle. They immediately put to sea and the Navy with their usual hospitality supplied the men with cocoa and bread and cheese and the officers enjoyed a meal in the wardroom. Everybody then turned in to get what sleep they could.
At 4.00 a.m. they were roused and the Navy again turned up trumps and gave them an excellent breakfast of bacon and eggs. An hour later they berthed alongside the Gare Maritime in Cherbourg. Grindle and Cox went to the British HQ that was close by in the local casino. Their arrival was completely unexpected and at first they were refused any sort of cooperation. After some time a sleepy naval liaison officer and an army staff officer were dug out of bed and it was learnt that the entire staff moved out to a château at night to avoid the routine bombing of the harbour. Cox managed, after much wrangling, to extract two 30cwt lorries and a four-seater car from them and also got reluctant permission to use the army huts near the harbour as billets for both parties. The news that the huts had been evacuated owing to the severity of the bombing attacks worried the chaps not at all! The OC of a local transit camp undertook to keep the men supplied with food and also lent them two cooks to prepare it.
When Grindle and Cox went to the local French naval authorities to discuss arrangements for the demolition of the oil, it was the usual story: ‘It was absurd. The Germans could never advance so far, ridiculous, mad Englishmen!’ It was evident that relations with the French had completely broken down. Grindle also complained that it was impossible to find who was in charge in the army; it appeared to be the most senior officer present but as he changed every few hours it made it very difficult to get a decision.
After a long argument Cox, with one party, was allowed to proceed to Ouistreham which was about eight miles south of Caen on the coast. Barton’s party loaded their stores onto a lorry, with Cox and Barton in the car and proceeded to Caen. They were surprised at first to see signs saying ‘Rue Bombe’ but they realized after a mile or two it was merely to indicate a rough surface! The lorry broke down and after repairing it they eventually reached Caen where Barton was put in the hands of a French naval liaison officer and Cox returned by car to Cherbourg. There he found very little progress had been made in persuading the French to cooperate. Surprisingly Arthur Barton rang up to say that he had been allowed to destroy the oil stocks at Ouistreham but as his lorry was on its last legs, wanted another be sent for them. As Cox was achieving very little at Cherbourg he decided to go himself with a car, a lorry and a dispatch rider. Unfortunately the roads were being strafed and he first lost the motor cycle with a bullet through the engine, then the lorry was shot up through the back axle and so they were forced to return when only about three miles from Caen. It subsequently transpired that the Germans were already in Caen. Cox telephoned Barton at Ouistreham through the Caen exchange, telling him to get back as best he could using country roads. They managed to patch up their broken down lorry and, by hugging back roads, reached Cherbourg safely some three hours later.
All the fuel stored at Cherbourg was bunker oil and Cox realized that it would be virtually impossible to destroy quickly as the tanks were all underground and no oxygen would be available. However they were unable even to try as the French naval guards prevented their entry to the site right to the end.
Commander Grindle then instructed Cox to join in the port demolitions which they did, with relish. Cranes were toppled over into the dock, ships were sunk and one outstanding feature was the felling of a pair of 250-ton sheer legs which took a 2,000-ton coaster to the bottom with them. At the last moment they all ran onto HM destroyer Sabre which was moored stern on to the quay and as the last man jumped on, it took off like a scalded cat.
The section bound for St Malo was under the command of Second Lieutenant Ashwell. When they arrived at Portsmouth they embarked on HMS Wild Swan. Sapper Shelton gives an apt description:
On arrival at Portsmouth we were greeted with some very choice language from the naval ratings to go on the job with us. They had been with us on other raids and that accounted for their greeting!
After a meal, they set sail and stopped briefly at Jersey in the Channel Islands where some officers went ashore before pushing on to St Malo, where they disembarked. Sapper Shelton takes up the story again:
After disembarking we made our way to the casino, where we were to be billeted during our stay. We were put in the picture by Lieutenant Ashwell, after which we took up positions on road blocks. At that time troops were marching back from Rennes and embarking for England. We saw the last troops go and the last boat. Our worry was how we were to get out when our job was completed. After several days we were told by Lieutenant Ashwell that the Germans were at Rennes and it was time to get cracking. Our work was to be a tank farm, and very awkward it proved, owing to the fact that in front of the storage tanks were a row of houses.
After smashing the valves and opening the cocks to flood all round the tanks, and with all our men accounted for, Lieutenant Ashwell fired his Very pistol to complete the job. Another successful mission.
We made for the harbour and to our surprise and relief found about six motor boats waiting for us. We afterwards found out that the arrangements had been made by those officers who went ashore at Jersey for a group of very brave volunteers to bring us out of St Malo. We were very relieved to be out of France.
After a very rough trip we arrived at St Helier, all glad to be on dry land once more. We spent two days in St Helier and enjoyed a good rest and we then received orders to move on as the Germans had occupied St Malo. We left St Helier on the only boat available, the SS Rye, which was loaded with potatoes, and after a hectic voyage we landed at Weymouth. Another exercise successfully completed.
We owe our sincere thanks to the brave men of St Helier.