Origins of Combined Operations

Information and Resources

Combined Operations Insignia

MOTTO: United We Conquer

There are several books and websites that provide information about how the Combined Operations organization began. A few are listed below.

1. Combined Operations by Clayton Marks, London, Ontario

Excerpt: After the evacuation of Dunkerque (between May 27 and June 4, 1940), Combined Operations began to take on a definite plan under the leadership of Sir Roger Keyes. It was indeed the raising of the Burning Brand; the signal proclaiming that the Allied Forces were at last prepared to rally to the offensive.

In October of 1941, Winston Churchill relieved Sir Roger Keyes of all duties as Chief of Combined Operations and appointed Comm. Louis Mountbatten as Chief of Combined Operations, with the direct order to start a program of raids of ever increasing intensity so as to keep the enemy coastline on the alert from the North Cape to the Bay of Biscay. But he stated that the main objective must be the re-invasion of France.

"You must create the machine which will make it possible to beat Hitler and his associates on land. You must select and build bases from which the assault will be launched, and create training centres at which the soldiers and seamen can be trained in amphibious assault. I want you to bring in the Air Force as well and create a proper inter-service organization to produce the technique of modern assault. I want you to select the area in which you feel the final assault should take place and start bending all your energies towards getting ready for that great day. Finally, at the present, all other Headquarters in Britain are on the defensive. Your headquarters are created to be on the offensive." (Source - History of the Combined Operations Organization, 1940 - 1945 London, 1956)

2. 'Combined Operations Explained' by Geoff Slee, Scotland, at his extensive website -  combinedops.com

Excerpt: Origins

The need was urgent and Churchill wasted no time. On June 4th 1940, just hours after the evacuation at Dunkirk came to an end, he ordered the Chiefs of Staff (Army, Navy and Air Force) to set up what became the Combined Operations Command. The Command would concentrate solely on offensive operations against the enemy. It would not be distracted by defensive considerations.

 More to follow.

Link to Websites re Combined Operations

Photo GH

Website: The Imperial War Museum, London England

The Imperial War Museum

By searching online at "Imperial War Museum Combined Operations" a number of links will lead to WW2 films and photographs, often accompanied by descriptions of, and links to, more materials and resources. Happy hunting, I say.

Link to the following to see some of the many possible items one can locate easily:

1. Combined Operations: Beach Organisation : A film, 24 minutes in length, from the extensive Imperial War Museum website.

Comments: A British Army instructional film made prior to the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 describes with animated maps, graphics and live action sequences the role, structure and organisation of a Beach Maintenance Area during the initial stages of an amphibious landing on an enemy coast. (Courtesy of IWM website). A full, lengthy description is provided linked to the film's timeline. Live action views of various landing craft are provided.

Some views of beach terrain closely resemble that between Irvine and Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland. Associated places include Saunton Sands, Devon, England, UK. 

Associated events Operation Husky, Allied Invasion of Sicily 1943, Italy, Second World War

2. Combined Operations Commando Raid on Dieppe, 1942

Caption: Landing craft of No 4 Commando running in to land at Vasterival

on the right flank of the main assault at Dieppe. The unit achieved its objective,

the destruction of the 'Hess' Battery in a copybook action, the only success of the raid.

A wrecked Churchill tank bogged down in the Dieppe sand.

Tanks and landing craft burning on the beach after the Allied raid on Dieppe.

There are hundreds if not thousands of photographs just waiting to be found.

Link to Websites re Combined Operations

Photo credit: Imperial War Museum

Passages: From 'Combined Operations'

Dieppe: The Landing by Robert McRae, LT, RCNVR

[Lt. McRae became a POW at Dieppe, 1942. Above is

"the drawing of my experiences as a POW pianist."]

The following passages are taken from a story or piece of prose found in a Combined Operations book entitled St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941 - 1945, pages 61 - 62.

Toronto made me, Dieppe undid me;
26, RCNVR, ordinary seaman to lieutenant
by '42, RN destroyers and mine-sweepers
in the North Sea, then from May the same year
hitched up to a new RCN flotilla
learning Combined Operations, 100 men, 15 sub-lieutenants
working our butts off up in Scotland making landings
in anything that floated - then in August ordered to Southampton
where persuasive talkers wanting men and boats
for a mystery job took us in hook, line and sinker,
our officers and men sprinkled through the fleet,
not going in as a unit, the price to be paid
for a chance at some close-in action...

[St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War, Volume 1]

At Dawn we seemed to be near the French coast,
but it was mostly invisible behind a heavy smoke-screen.
The sounds of war just beyond us were unlike anything
I'd ever heard before - particularly the frightful whine
of mortar shells. Our flotillas of R-boats stood about in the outskirts
of the thick smoke-screen until about 7:30 AM,
when, as the reserves, we got orders to go in, land our troops
(again, I only discovered much later, this was action to reinforce failure
on the seafront of the town, contrary to all rules of war
that I'd ever heard of). So as quickly as possible we formed up in line
abreast and went through the smoke-screen.

Coming out on the other side with a full view now of the coast,
we found we were fatally headed toward the beach under the steep cliffs
to the right side of the town instead of the town front,
with the ominous heads of the enemy clearly visible
lined along the top of the cliffs. And now they began to pour
machine-gun fire down into the boats. In our craft, Campbell,
who was at the wheel, received a line of bullets across his thighs
{later as a POW he lost his legs to amputations
and died before Christmas from gangrene).
Cavanagh, standing beside him, was shot in the chest,
and died an hour later thrashing in torment while his lungs filled up.
My third crewman, Brown, took something in the stomach
that damaged him for the rest of his life. But although wounded,
he took over Campbell's place at the wheel,
and for his action received a gallantry award
after the war. As it was my place to stand behind the man at the wheel,
Campbell had stopped the machine-gun bullets
I might otherwise have received...

More to the story appears in the book, as does the following brief note:

AB Lloyd Campbell, #17138 was from London, Ontario. Richard Cavanaugh, V6678, was from Ottawa, Ontario. AB Joseph McKenna, V1540, from PEI, was also killed that day, as was S/Lt.Clifford D. Wallace, from Montreal. Recorded by Doug Harrison, L/Sea, RCNVR of Norwich, Ontario (page 121)

Link to Books re Combined Operations

Photos GH

Books re Combined Operations

St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941 - 1945

[St. Nazaire to Singapore (2 volumes), inspired by Combined Operations]

The two volumes (8.5 in. by 11 in., light blue cardboard covers) are rare but essential to those collecting information and veterans' stories about Canadian efforts in Combined Operations, WW2. I obtained copies from my father many years ago and did not know they were treasures until just a few years back. I was delighted to buy an extra set via AbeBooks.com just one month ago. I check used-book sites regularly in the hopes of buying more. They can fortunately be viewed online at Our Roots as well as borrowed from the Canadian War Museum library via one's local library.

[Comb. Ops veterans put their heads and stories together in the 1990s]

A quick glance at the table of contents will reveal the wealth of information contained within the set. Stories are written by the veterans and are sometimes accompanied by rare photos or rarer hand drawings.

[Stories are often arranged in chronological order]

[Several stories tell of the disaster at Dieppe, Aug. 1942]

[Drawing of Robert McRae, a POW at the piano, circa 1945:
Signature is an 'M', perhaps a self-portrait]

[The two volumes are thick with accounts of Comb. Ops activities]

[David and Kit Lewis and Len Birkenes (Alberta) compiled the two-volume set]

My impression is that once printed in the early 1990s the books were distributed at Navy reunions and by word-of-mouth. Many sets are likely sitting on bookshelves belonging to veterans of WW2 or their survivors, but my feeling is the books need to be republished for public consumption. And I will see what I can do in that regard and pass information along on this site.

Link to Books re Combined Operations

Photos GH

Photographs re Combined Operations

Operation Torch, North Africa - November 1942 (2)

Though most captions linked to photographs taken during the invasion of North Africa refer to American troops, several Canadian members of Combined Operations can be seen manning the LCAs and LCMs. Click here to read about one Canadian's recollections.

[Caption: Naval ratings off duty enjoying a bathe on the

North African coast at Oran or Mers-El-Kebir.]

[American troops on board a landing craft heading for the beaches

at Oran in Algeria during Operation 'Torch', November 1942.]

[American troops landing stores on Arzeu beach from a landing

craft. Various sized ships can be seen in the distance.]

[American troops making their way inland after landing at Arzeu. Several

small landing craft can be seen in the foreground whilst in the distance

can be seen some of the troopships that helped transport the men.]

[Some of the inhabitants of Arzeu, meet the US soldiers on the beach.]

When my father's Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM) arrived safely one day on the beach near Arzeu, and within sight of an outdoor cafe, he said, "Good reconn."

Canadians in Combined Operations were kept pretty busy so I doubt he got even a take-out cup of Joe.

Link to Operation Torch, North Africa - November 1942 (1)

Photo Credits: Imperial War Museum
Royal Navy photographers F. A. Hudson and E. J. Russell

Photographs re Combined Operations

Operation Torch, North Africa - November 1942 (1)

The Allied force that readied for the invasion of North Africa has been described as the largest amphibious operation or Naval armada in history. That being said, the size of the operation was later dwarfed by preparations for the invasion of Sicily in July, 1943, and later again by the invasion of France in June, 1944. 

American troops are seen boarding and exitting landing craft near Oran and Arzeu that were very likely manned by Canadian members of Combined Operations.

 [Caption:American troops manning their landing craft assault from

a doorway in the side of the liner REINA DEL PACIFICO. Two

of the landing craft are numbered LCA 428 and LCA 447.] 

[Troops and ammunition for light guns being brought ashore from a

landing craft assault (ramped) (LCA 428) on Arzeau beach, Algeria,

North Africa, whilst another LCA (LCA 287) approaches the beach.]

[American troops landing on the beach at Arzeu, near Oran, from a landing

craft assault (LCA 26), some of them are carrying boxes of supplies.]

[In the distance a destroyer is laying a smoke screen round one of the transports

off Oran. Two landing craft assault and one landing craft personnel (ramped)

can be seen in the foreground they are LCA 85, LCA 394 and LCP (R) 838.]

[American troops exiting their landing craft assault on the beach at Are,

near Oran. Some of the ships of that convoy can be seen in the distance.]

Photo Credits: Imperial War Museum

Royal Navy photographers F. A. Hudson and E. J. Russell

Link to more Photographs of Combined Operations

Books re Combined Operations

Combined Operations by Clayton Marks

Clayton 'Red' Marks from London, Ontario compiled stories, factual details and photographs from many Canadian members of Combined Operations and self-published this seminal work in the early 1990s. Copies today are extremely rare but the book may resurface with the aid of his children.

Contents include lengthy eye-witness accounts of famous raids and invasions, e.g., re Canadians at Dieppe by Al Kirby (from Woodstock, Ontario), poems and prose by Canadian sailors, e.g., 'The Sinking of the S.S. Clan McTaggart' after the North African landings by W. Smith, C.P.O., stories re life, death and chaos during landings in Sicily and Italy (July 10 and September 3, 1943), and some rare, some iconic photographs of Allied troops in training and battle action.

Clayton Marks' valuable text, though the first, limited edition* is out of print and hard to find, inspired two further volumes of memoirs, stories, prose, photos, etc., that were compiled in the mid-1990s and distributed at Navy reunions to interested members of Combined Operations. (The two volumes and online link will be mentioned here at a later date.) Combined, the three texts are an invaluable source of historic and 'eye-witness' information concerning Canadians in the Combined Operations organization in WW2.

The photographs below give some indication of what can be gleaned from Clayton's book that, according to one of his sons, was "typed up by my mother at the kitchen table."

 ["Sorry. I mark up my books on a regular basis"]

 ["Location may be south of Irvine, Scotland or near Southampton, England"]

*The first edition cannot be re-published in its original state. However, the book is now being re-organized for future publication and distribution. When the book becomes available once again I will immediately update readers and this entry.

Link to Books re Combined Operations

Photos by GH

Websites: Combined Operations Command

Combined Operations Command

There are several websites one can visit in order to learn more about the activities and significance of the Combined Operations organization. There is none better or with more pertinent information or with more well-informed links than Combined Operations Command, created and studiously maintained by Scotsman Geoff Slee.

Photo: Geoff Slee (left) and Gord Harrison at Geoff's home, south of Edinburgh.

Link to Combined Operations Command by Geoff Slee, Scotland

Link to Memories of a WW2 Landing Craft by Lloyd Evans, a Canadian veteran of RCNVR and Combined Operations

Link to Operation Husky re invasion of Sicily, significant Combined Operations action

If you desire a thorough education related to Combined Operations, please visit Geoff's website regularly.

Photographs re Combined Operations

On the Train to Vancouver Island

Some Canadian members of Combined Operations who completed their two years of service ('Hostilities Only' or HO) by the end of 1943 were allowed to return home, where they encountered the opportunity to volunteer for more duties, this time related to training new recruits in seamanship and gunnery skills at Givenchy III, a Combined Operations training camp on The Spit, near the towns of Comox and Courtenay on Vancouver Island.

Photo: This photo was taken in late December, 1943 or early January, 1944 as Canadian members of Combined Operations take a smoke break in Hornepayne, Ontario, on their way to Vancouver, BC. From left to right: Don Linder, Chuck Rose, Buryl McIntyre (behind), Joe Watson, Don Westbrook. The photo was likely taken by my father, Doug Harrison. The shell of the train station remains, and modern trains still stop in Hornepayne on their journey west and back. 

Little is written about Givenchy III, closed shortly after the war ended, but the site remains in the hands of the Dept. of National Defence and is called HMCS Quadra, and serves as a site for training Sea Cadets.

Books with some mention of Givenchy III:

"Dad, Well Done": The Naval Memoirs of Leading Seaman Coxswain Gordon Douglas Harrison by Gordon A. Harrison, 2012

The Naval Service of Canada: Its Official History (Volume 2) by G. N. Tucker, 1952

(Links to above books will be provided in the future)

Links to HMCS Quadra:

Cadet Summer Training Centre - Comox, BC

HMCS Quadra Alumni Association

Books re Combined Operations

Assault Landing Craft

[Copies can be purchased at AbeBooks.com]

[Allied troops practice exitting ALCs (aka LCAs) in Inveraray, Scotland]

Book title and author: Assault Landing Craft: Design, Construction and Operations by Brian Lavery, 2009

Chapters: Inception and design, Layout and build, Crews, Parent Ships, Techniques and tactics, The army on board, Specialist Craft and roles, Operations

Introduction: The Assault Landing Craft, or ALC... was the only serviceable British landing craft in the early stages of the Second World War... The assault landing craft was the humblest vessel in the wartime Royal Navy during (WW2)... Nearly 2,000 were built and these were a vital link in allied wartime operations.

 [Caption: LCAs are checked on a dockside before the landings at Anzio (Italy)]

 [ALC 428 is boarded by American troops exitting the
Riena Del Pacifico at N. Africa, November 1942]

[A/B Seaman Doug Harrison (my father), a member of RCNVR & Comb. Ops

attached to ALC 428, assists American troops at Arzeu, N. Africa in Nov. 1942]

Comments: Many photos reveal Canadian members of Combined Operations at work during training, actual raids and significant invasions. I spotted my father in one of them (above) and now have a copy of the photograph from the Imperial War Museum.

Chapter 8 - Operations: This is a valuable, lengthy chapter that provides details re Combined Operations involvement on many fronts, eventually including the efforts of many Canadians. E.g., Narvick - April 1940, Dunkirk - May 1940, Dakar - September 1940, Early Commando Raids, The evacuation of Greece - April 1941, Crete - May 1941, More Commando Raids, Madagascar - May 1942, Dieppe - August 1942, North Africa - November 1942, Sicily - July 1943, Italy - September 1943, Anzio - January 1944, Normandy - June 1944.

The book reveals much about the experiences of the average Combined Ops rating or seaman during training and combat missions.

Link to Canadian Members of Combined Operations

Photos by GH

Photo credits to Imperial War Museum
& Royal Navy photographers F. A. Hudson and J. E. Russell

Canadian Members of Combined Operations

A Work in Progress

Surely, the names of Canadians who volunteered for special duties in the Combined Operations organization, starting in 1941, will run into the hundreds, then thousands. I have not seen, however, a final tally in any Canadian book or Navy record.

["Photo may have been taken in Toronto in Dec.1943 or Jan. 1944*]

The five men who appear in the title photo were among the first to volunteer:

1. Don Linder, Kitchener, Ontario

2. Doug Harrison, Norwich, Ontario

3. Joe Watson, Simcoe, Ontario

4. Buryl McIntyre, Norwich, Ontario

5. Charles 'Chuck' Rose, Chippawa, Ontario

More to follow.

*These men returned to Halifax, Nova Scotia in December, 1943 upon the Aquitania after two years of 'Hostilities Only' or HO service overseas, which included manning the invasion barges during the Dieppe raid in August, 1942 and the subsequent invasions of North Africa, Sicily and Italy. In Dec. 1943 or Jan. 1944 they dressed to the nines and boarded a train bound for more Combined Ops duties at a Navy base called Givenchy III on The Spit, near Comox, Vancouver Island.

Submissions: Canadians in Combined Operations, WW2

Welcome to Readers

Your Submissions are Welcome Too

[RCNVR and Comb. Ops in ALC 428 at Arzeu, North Africa*]

Many Canadian men enlisted or volunteered to serve in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR or the Wavy Navy) during World War II. Some also volunteered for special duties overseas in Combined Operations, which often included manning landing craft or barges during numerous dangerous raids (e.g., Dieppe) and the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Normandy, France.

Veterans' WW2 stories, photographs, memoirs, books and various details concerning Combined Ops activities will be displayed here. 

Your related submissions are most welcome.

If your father, grandfather, other relative, friend or acquaintance was a member of RCNVR and/or Combined Operations please don't hesitate to send along details concerning his training days, trip overseas, where he served, his stories about active duty during WW2, letters home, and related photographs, etc., to this website. I will attempt to display all pertinent information in an organized fashion, with links to similar materials on this website or elsewhere.

Email: gordh7700@gmail.com or leave a comment with your email address in the 'comment section' at the bottom of this post or any other. I check for comments on a fairly regular basis, and will attempt to respond and answer any or all questions promptly.

* ALC 428 is manned by Canadians assisting with the landing of American troops, ammunition and supplies during Operation Torch, November, 1942. The Canadian sailor just left of the heavily-laden American freshly disembarked is my father, Doug Harrison, from Norwich Ontario (Sept. 6, 1920 - Feb. 6, 2003.

Photo Credit - Imperial War Museum, UK