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Disruption of the arrival of German reinforcements to Normandy after D-Day.
Operational Area
Morbihan area, Bretagne, France.
Unit Force
18 men of 4th Special Air Service
Opposing Forces
Operation
The mission of the initial phase of Operation Dingson involved establishing a secret support base near Vannes and preparing drop zones and landing zones for further landings of the regiment. From there they were to contact local resistance groups and integrate them into guerrilla operations. Once operational the battalion’s objective is to disrupt German reinforcements by carrying out actions such as destroying communication lines, setting up ambushes, and conducting sabotage operations targeting convoys moving through Brittany towards Normandy after D-Day.
June 5th, 1944
At 23:30, two sticks of nine men of 4th Special Air Service jump near the forest of Duault in Côtes-d’Armoras part of the first phase of Operation Dingson. Stick 1, Pierre 1 consists of Lieutenant Pierre Marienne, Emile Bouétard, Pierre Etrich, F. Jourdan, François Krysik, Pierre Pams, Loïc Raufast, Maurice Sauvé, Jean Content, and Captain Hue Hunter. Stick 2, Pierre 2 contained Lieutenant Henri Déplante, Adjudant Auguste Chilo, Jean Paulin, Jacques Bailly, Alexandre Charbonnier, Antoine Treis, and Henri Filippi.
June 6th, 1944
The teams led by Lieutenants Marienne and Déplante, drop near Plumelec but encounter German auxiliary troops consisting of Georgians and Ukrainians serving in the Vlassov Army. Aroun 00:40, Corporal Emile Bouétard is shot and fatally wounded. He may have been one of the first Allied soldiers from Operation Overlord to die on June 6th, 1944. Marienne’s unit also loses all three of their radios during the drop, and they are captured. Nevertheless, 14 of the 18 paratroopers manage to reach the Saint-Marcel maquis, located about 15 kilometers away, with the aid of local Resistance fighters.
June 7th, 1944
Glider Pilot flight X moves to Tarrant Rushton, where training continues with Halifax tugs for Operation Dingson 35A.
June 18th, 1944
The resistance is well organised, by this day, a total of 160 soldiers from the 4th French Special Air Service are parachuted into the Dingson base near Saint-Marcel. Concurrently, a substantial cache of equipment was air-dropped almost nightly onto the Whale Drop Zone, situated at the Nouette farm in Sérent. This included, just before a German offensive, four jeeps and several machine guns, though the machine guns were damaged upon landing, reducing the squadron’s firepower. Survivors from the Samwest operation, as well as a few other scattered units seeking rearmament, had by then converged at the Dingson base.
July 12th, 1944
German soldiers raid the command post of the Dingson cell led by Lieutenant Marienne at Kerihuel near Plumelec. The German forces launch an assault on the maquis. The French side suffers around thirty fatalities, with German soldiers ruthlessly executing wounded Resistance members and Special Air Service soldiers. Post-battle, German troops, with the aid of French collaborators and using a recovered Special Air Service uniform, continue to pursue the remaining Special Air Service soldiers and maquisards. Captain Marienne and seventeen men present at the base (six Special Air Service troopers, eight resistance fighters, and three farmers) are executed at dawn.
August 4th, 1944
During the morning, Colonel Chatterton of the Glider Pilot Regiment arrives at the airfield with ten jeeps carrying thirty-five French Special Air Service troops. Each jeep is armed with twin Vickers K machine guns mounted fore and aft, along with Sten guns, explosives, and a PIAT anti-tank weapon. The glider pilots are then briefed on their mission: they must transport the French Special Air Service troops 270 kilometres behind enemy lines to Vannes in southern Brittany. The Special Air Service troops are part of a 150-man contingent from the 4th Special Air Service, which has already been dropped in the Vannes area with extensive weaponry and supplies delivered by Stirlings of No. 299 and No. 196 Squadrons from Keevil. Their objective is to link up with 3,000 Maquis resistance fighters.
August 5th, 1944
The ten glider combinations depart from Tarrant Rushton at 20:00 hours, bound for a small landing zone near Sainte Helena, approximately 16 kilometres from Auray. The mission is escorted by thirty-two Spitfires, which break away near the Brittany coast to engage German Focke-Wulf fighters stationed in Brest. Flying at 240 metres, the gliders and their tugs descend to just 60 metres upon reaching the North Brittany coast to evade German radar before proceeding inland.
No opposition is encountered as the gliders cross the Brittany peninsula, where they are greeted by cheering civilians waving flags and cloths. As darkness falls, the pilots execute precise landings, where they are welcomed by Maquis fighters. By 23:00 hours, the glider pilots and Special Air Service troops set off in convoy, navigating secluded rural roads under the escort of the Maquis. They arrive at a coastal inlet by dawn, where the Special Air Service troops continue their mission while the glider pilots are given shelter by the local resistance.
August 16th, 1944
The glider pilots observe the Special Air Service and Maquis conducting sabotage operations, targeting German infrastructure and eliminating enemy personnel. Their presence is quickly noted by German forces, who issue wanted posters offering 20,000 francs for their capture, dead or alive. However, the pilots remain hidden and eventually make their way through the advancing American lines to Vannes. From there, they are transported to the British Intelligence headquarters at the Hotel de Paris in Rennes before returning to England by Dakota eleven days after their departure.
