Lawrence Paterson - Operation Colossus: The First British Airborne Raid of World War II

OPERATION

COLOSSUS

Frontispiece: Full-scale training drop with containers and men at Tatton Park.

A Whitley II over Tatton Park during parachute training.

Soviet paratroopers.

The dbcle of Dunkirk.

Bruce Williams, who crewed as a rear-gunner during Colossus.

Squadron Leader Louis Strange.

Lt.-Col. Charles Jackson, CO of No.2 (Parachute) Commando.

Gen. Dill inspects 11 SAS Battalion, December 1940.

Recruits training for jumping through the hole in a Whitley bomber.

The perch from which the Whitley pull off method was used.

Going through the hole on a Whitley for real.

Italian internment on the Isle of Man.

Fortunato Picchi.

Raoul Lucovich, alias Ralph Henry Lucky. (Dierdre Le Faye)

Tag Pritchard, commanding officer of X Troop.

Wally Lashbrook with his DFC ribbon.

An artists impression of the capture of Prince Olaf of Norways car during the manoeuvres at Shrewton.

X Troop with a warrant officer instructor.

Flying Officer Adrian Warby Warburton.

Corporal Ralph Chapman. (Tony Chapman)

A Whitley bomber dropping paratroopers.

Men of 11 SAS Battalion in January 1941.

X Troop before they left for Malta. (Airborne Assault Museum)

The photograph of the Tragino aqueduct used in planning the mission.

The nearest of the farmhouses to the aqueducts. (Graham Fielder)

The aqueduct over the Fosse della Cinestra.

A photo taken from Calitri, showing the Tragino aqueduct, Fosse della Cinestra aqueduct and the small bridge. (Graham Fielder)

Campo 78, Sulmona. (ICRC, V-P-HIST-03491-08)

X Troop men in their compound in Campo 78. (Airborne Assault Museum)

Members of X Troop at Campo di Lavoro 102 in 1942. (Airborne Assault Museum)

Fortunato Picchis mugshot following capture

Roll call at Campo 78, Sulmona.

Oflag IX-A/Z, where Captain Lea ended the war. (ICRC V-P-HIST-02284-52)

Private James Parker in his Durham Light Infantry uniform.

Private Nicola Nastri after the war.

Christopher Gerald Lea photographed post-war.

Percy Clements in 1944.

Arthur Lawley in 19445.

Tag Pritchard and liberating Soviet troops, April 1945.

Anthony Deane-Drummond.

The Pugliese aqueduct system, 1941

Italy, with the target location and prisoner of war camps

The target area and drop zones

Attack force blocking positions

Lawrence Paterson has written a lively and informed account of the earliest British parachute operation of WWII. Conceived during 1940 and executed in February 1941, Operation Colossus provided operational exposure of the parachute arm in its earliest incarnation. At its outset parachuting was considered a means of insertion to support raids against enemy targets, principally on mainland Europe under the auspices of Combined Operations and the fledgling commando forces. Indeed, Number 2 Commando was designated II SAS and those who undertook Operation Colossus were drawn from its ranks.

The books early chapters provide a vivid account of the trials and tribulations of those charged with turning Churchills broad direction for a corps of 5,000 parachute troops into reality. Parachuting and developing an airborne arm was not a priority for the RAF as it was perceived to divert resources away from the strategic bombing campaign. However, perseverance by the Army and RAF airborne pioneers at the Central Landing Establishment at Ringway and Tatton Park, coupled with the rigorous field training undertaken at the commando school at Achnacarry and out to Knoydart to the west provided the impetus from which to select a small force to undertake a parachute insertion to attack the Tragino Aqueduct.

Operation Colossus was launched from Malta following prepositioning of the raiding force from Mildenhall. At the time such a flight was, in itself, no mean feat and the Whitleys arrived in Malta packed to the gunnels with the raiding force and spare aircraft parts. The insertion, on the night of 10 February 1941, was not without its mishaps and a scattered drop mirrored subsequent divisional-size parachute insertions later in the war.

One of the strengths of Patersons book is the detail with which he describes the level of cooperation between the RAF and the Army at the business end to make the attack work. It is interesting to note, for example, that the senior airman for the insertion was Willie Tait who went on to command 617 (Dambuster) Squadron and finished the war as a highly decorated wing commander.