August 1943

August 2nd, 1943 – August 4th, 1943

Operation Forfar (Beer III)

Commandos, No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando

Ten men of No. 12 Commando and No. 1 French troop, No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando known as Fynn Force commanded by Major Fynn. Their mission is a beach reconnaissance at Eletot in the Seine-Maritime region of northern France. The mission is aborted.

August 3rd, 1943 – August 4th, 1943

Operation Forfar (Love)

Special Boat Section

Four men of the Special Boat Section, two Cockle Mk.2 Canoes. Their mission is capture German prisoners for interrogation and to reconnoitre the Dunkirk Pier, France. The two teams of canoes are revealed by searchlights while approaching their target. They decide to retreat.

August 3rd, 1943

Operazione Baia di Gibilterra 7

Xa Flottiglia MAS

Raid on Gibraltar. Three Siluro a Lenta Corsa’s with three two-man crews leave the Olterra. They sink steamship Harrison Gray Otis and Stanridge and the tanker Thorshøvdi. All three Siluro a Lenta Corsa’s return to the Olterra. One of the crewmembers is captured.

August 15th, 1943 – September 26th, 1943

Vella Lavella Campaign

1st Commando Fiji Guerrilla

Fifty commandos of the 1st Commando Fiji Guerrillas, ten New Zealanders and forty Fijians, with Lieutenant D. G. Graham and three sergeants of the Third New Zealand Division attached for experience, embarked from Guadalcanal on August 29th, 1943 for Vella Lavella. Most of the unit was still weak from malaria, so the two patrols were made up of the fittest men available. The Americans had bypassed Kolombangara and its estimated ten thousand Japanese to occupy Vella Lavella, landing unopposed on August 15th, 1943, and building an airfield at Barakoma. A few hundred of the enemy had fled north, and when air-raids worsened, the Americans decided to place a radar station on the island’s northern tip, the task that drew the commandos in. Reaching Barakoma on August 31st, 1943, and attached to the U.S. 35th Infantry Regiment, the force split into three patrols: Tripp up the east coast toward Lambu Lambu Cove, Williams up the west coast to reconnoitre the northern tip, and Graham inland to watch the enemy’s cross-island track. On the east coast, a map taken from a dead Japanese officer revealed the defensive positions at Horaniu. The Americans brought up artillery, and when the infantry attacked on September 14th, 1943, they found the guns had done all the work, the shellfire, guided by the captured map, had scored direct hits on positions prepared for two thousand men. The enemy fled north-west, abandoning guns, mortars, ammunition, and stores of rations and medical supplies. For days the commandos lived on captured Japanese rations, in some respects better than their own. On the west coast, Williams reached the coast-watcher Josselyn at Topolando after a punishing 80-kilometre march through steep, thickly forested country. His patrols kept watch on Japanese forces massing in the north, over two hundred counted heading for Warimbari Bay on September 16th, 1943, and fed the positions back by radio. From their high vantage the commandos perfected a low-risk method they enjoyed: whenever a barge-load of Japanese put off from the island, a plane from Barakoma would sink it within a few miles. When the 14th New Zealand Brigade landed to clear the northern coast, Graham supplied accurate positions for the five hundred Japanese now trying to evacuate. The brigade took charge and cleared the island a fortnight later. The commandos took no part in the final attack, sickness was too heavy in the unit, and returned to Guadalcanal on September 26th, 1943.

August 15th, 1943 – August 16th, 1943

Operation Blackcock

Commandos

No. 2 Commando. Their mission is part of a pair of Allied operations to cut off the last elements of the German forces trying to fall back to their evacuation point at Messina in north-eastern Sicily. No. 2 Commando lands a bit off the intended spot, at Scaletta a small coastal town, behind the German lines, about twenty-five kilometres south of Messina. When they move inland, they quickly engage the tail-end of the German rear-guard who are heading at top speed towards their evacuation point at Messina. The vehicle and their passengers have not much of a chance and the fight is over a short while. The following morning it becomes clear that several soldiers of the German rear-guard are hiding in houses and other buildings in Scaletta. The Commandos move in, and heavy street fighting follows during the morning of August 16th, 1943, resulting in casualties on both sides. After the conclusion of the fight at Scaletta, the commander of No. 2 Commando Lieutenant Colonel “Mad Jack” Churchill and a few officers get into a vehicle and head for Messina. Driving at high-speed while brushing off other British groups who try to join them to reach Messina first, they discover when they arrive there, that the Americans arrived there first during the previous night.

August 30th, 1943 – August 31st, 1943

Operation Forfar (Item I)

Commandos, No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando

Eight men from No. 12 Commando, No. 3 (X) troop, No. 10 Commando under command of Captain 0. B. Rooney also known as Rooney Force. Their Mission was capturing German prisoners and examinate a German searchlight emplacement in the Saint Valery en Caux area in Normandy, France. Mission is aborted.

August 31st, 1943 – September 1st, 1943

Operation Forfar Item II

Commandos, No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando

Eight men from No. 12 Commando, No. 3 (X) troop, No. 10 Commando under command of Captain 0. B. Rooney also known as Rooney Force. Their Mission was capturing German prisoners and examinate a German searchlight emplacement in the Saint Valery en Caux area in Normandy, France. Mission is aborted.