In February 1942, the men of the newly formed British 2nd Parachute Battalion came into action
for the first time. In one of the most daring raids of the war, they seized and brought back
to England vital components of a German ‘Wurzburg’ radar installation. Thing is, these paratroopers
hadn’t even completed their basic parachute jumping training when they were selected for
this daring raid. It is one of the lesser known and interesting stories of the Second World War.
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Radars in WW2
During the Second World War radar was one of the new technological inventions that proved crucial
for the war effort. Radar was one of the reasons the Royal Air Fighters Command emerged victorious
in the Battle of Britain. During the Blitz, the German Luftwaffe used radio navigation to pinpoint
bombing targets. What followed is occasionally referred to as ‘Battle of the Beams’ as the
British attempted to jam the radio navigation. As 1941 rolled along and the war on the European
mainland leaned towards an apparent German victory, the British RAF
bombers targeted their assaults at the German mainland. Because British bombers were able to
reach German towns and cities, the Luftwaffe now rapidly had to develop its own defensive radars.
Through intelligence work, Dr. Reginald Jones of the British Air Staff managed to keep a close eye
on the German technical developments in this area. In their attempts to develop defensive radars
the Germans constructed a radar network along the Channel coast. Simultaneously, Jones and his team
happened to build up a detailed overview of all of Germany’s radar stations. In autumn that year,
several RAF planes managed to shoot several low-flying photo-reconnaissance pictures.
This daring reconnaissance mission revealed something even more problematic.
On the clifftop at Bruneval, a village near the French port of Le Havre, the Germans had
installed a Würzburg early warning radar. Why was this so important? Well, the Würzburg radar was a
ground-based gun laying radar for the Luftwaffe and Heer. This meant that instead of detecting
aircraft entering the radar field, the Würzburg would track it all the way once it noticed an
aircraft. So if the radar detected RAF aircraft, the possibility to escape was non-existent.
It rendered the planes to sitting ducks for the Luftwaffe or German anti-aircraft
installations on the ground. Something had to be done, and Jones began preparing a plan.
Preparing the Bruneval Raid
Below the Würzburg installation lay a beach. Jones figured the British could
send a boots-on-the-ground commando raid to the beach near the radar. They would then be
able to retrieve the radar from its clifftop. British Air Intelligence put forward the idea
to the headquarters of Combined Operations. Its chief, Lord Louis Mountbatten, approved of the
daring plan. Furthermore, intelligence sent to the British confirmed that radar equipment was kept
in a villa less than 100 metres from the edge of the cliff where the radar station was installed.
The Brits were in touch with French Resistance. They requested French resistance to explore the
German defences near Le Havre, the beach and the Würzburg satellite. Back in England the army
command quickly began planning the rest of the operation. A frontal assault on the
beach would undoubtedly, meet with extreme resistance and cause too many casualties.
So it was decided British Whitley Bombers of the RAF would fly in paratroopers and
drop them inland. Commander Percy Charles Pickard provided aircraft and crew. They had to retrieve
the radar before the Royal Navy picked them up. The C Company of the 2nd Parachute battalion of
the 1st Airborne Division was the unit chosen for this task. One hundred twenty men under the
command of Major John Frost would be parachuting behind enemy lines. Nearly all the men were drawn
from Scottish regiments, including the Black Watch, Cameron Highlanders, King’s Own Scottish
Borderers and Seaforths. Flight Sergeant C.W.H. Cox, a technical expert, would accompany the group
in order to dismantle the Würzburg. Sergeant Cox had never been on a ship, or an aircraft before.
That wasn’t the only thing, though: commander of the 1st Airborne Division, Major-General
Frederick Browning, wanted to keep the 1st parachute battalion for a larger operation.
That is why he chose the 2nd parachute battalion under Major John Frost. And… well,
John Frost formed his company not too long ago. Many paratroopers had not even completed their
parachute jumping course. It sure was going to be a challenge to bring this mission to a good end.
The mission statement seemed straightforward though. The paratroopers were split into three
groups. The first, under Lieutenant John Ross and Lieutenant Euen Charteris, would be dropped first.
They had to advance on the German defence strongholds on the beach and capture them.
The second group was subdivided into three sections under the command of Frost.
They had to seize the villa and the Würzburg radar. Under Lieutenant John Timothy,
the last group would act as a reserve and guard the rear of both groups of paratroopers. Training
commenced for the battalion. They didn’t have much time. They soon would see action.
The RAF’s Photographic Interpretation Unit created a scale model of the area.
Full-scale exercises were held on Britain’s south coast. Finally,
on the 20th of February 1942 the raiding party of paratroopers was ready. Due to some nasty weather,
I mean, it’s England after all, they waited another week before the mission commenced.
The Bruneval Raid
During the night of the 27th of February, the Whitley Aircraft flew
over the English Channel towards Brunval in northern France. Here,
they dropped the paratroopers from a height of around 180 meters onto the countryside below.
Initially, Lieutenant Chartersis’s troops were dropped around 2.5 kilometres beyond
their intended position. Once landed on France’s cold and icy landscape, this group of paratroopers
started their trek towards their intended positio n. So far for a favourable start.
Frost’s troops, on the other hand, were more fortunate. Within 10 minutes, all the
men assembled at the agreed-upon meeting point. Without getting noticed they moved onto the villa
where the Germans kept the radar equipment. Flight Sergeant Cox and several soldiers hauled trolleys
and other equipment necessary for dismembering the radar over several obstacles such as barbed
wire and fences. Frost’s group surrounded the villa. Once everyone had taken their positions,
Frost blew his whistle. This was the moment they had been training for.
Frost later recalled, ‘Immediately, explosions, yells and the sound of automatic fire came from
the proximity of the radar set’. Frost’s group rushed towards the villa, blasted through the
door and tried to secure the building. Only three Germans were present in the building,
of whom Frost’s men killed one. The paratroopers learned the rest of the German soldiers were
stationed not too far from the villa. Due to the firing and explosions, they certainly must
have been alerted. There was no time to waste. Radar equipment in the villa was quickly secured.
Now Cox and several soldiers made their way to the Würzburg radar on the cliff top and ripped most
parts away with brute force. Not too far north was the German position, who opened fire. With bullets
whizzing over their heads, dissembling the radar became a real challenge. Still, the men managed to
barricade themselves somewhat and, they continued exchanging fire with the Germans from both the
villa and the clifftop whilst dissembling the radar. Obviously the Germans called for backup.
After 30 minutes German vehicles arrived and Frost finally gave the order to withdraw.
They suffered just one casualty, and so far, the mission seemed a decent success.
Withdrawal from Bruneval
As Frost’s group withdrew to the beach, a German machine gun in a pillbox hindered them.
The Germans still held the entire beach. The fact Charteris’s group had to walk 2.5 kilometres kind
of ruined this part of the plan. Charteris’s unit finally arrived as Frost’s unit was engaged in a
firefight with the German pillbox. Behind them, the Germans started assembling around the villa.
It turned out on their way to the beach Charteris and his unit already had a deadly
encounter with a German patrol. Now outnumbering the Germans, the pillbox was quickly silenced
and the paratroopers took over the beach. It was past 2 AM by this point,
yet there was no sign of the Royal Navy, tasked with picking up the paratroopers.
To make matters worse: Frost’s radio didn’t work. He was unable to communicate with the
other detachments or with the Royal Navy. Unable to contact the detachment meant to pick them up,
Frost ordered to fire red Verey lights. The Royal Navy showed up in the distance.
Six landing craft sailed towards the coast to pick up the paratroopers. This evacuation, with
Germans firing from the cliffs was anything but orderly. Two of Frost’s signallers got lost and
were left behind. Some of the landing craft were overcrowded, while others remained nearly empty.
The vessels transferred the paratroopers and the Würzburg radar equipment they carried with them
to gunboats located on the English channel. It became clear the navy had been delayed due to a
German destroyer and two E-boats patrolling the area. Dawn soon arrived, and with it,
Royal Navy destroyers and a squadron of Spitfires to escort the paratroopers to Portsmouth.
In the end, two British soldiers died, and six were wounded. All wounded survived the war.
Five German soldiers were killed. Aside from the apparent morale boost, the raid’s success
meant that the army gained an incredible amount of technical knowledge of German radars. It was the
first Würzburg radar they managed to capture, and it revealed the Germans used an advanced
technology that allowed for more straightforward fixes and operation of the radar than the
British model. The raid had a somewhat ironic and unintended consequence. The Germans now upped the
security of their radars… by placing barbed wire around them. The thing is, from the air, it was
extremely easy to spot the radars if surrounded by a fence and barbed wire. During D-Day,
two years later, this would turn out to be a crucial advantage for the allied bombers, clearing
ground for the troops landing on Normandy. I hope you enjoyed this video about the Daring
Bruneval Raid. If you did, consider checking House of History out on Patreon and subscribing to my
channel. Thank you for watching this video and is there a person or event from history that you
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