Raymond Mitchell - Commando Despatch Rider: With 41 royal Marines commando in North-West Europe 1944-1945

By the same author

Marine Commando, Sicily and Salerno 1943

with 41 Royal Marines Commando, Robert Hale Ltd 1988,

re-issued in paperback 1994.

They Did What Was Asked of Them,

41 (Royal Marines) Commando 19421946

Firebird Books, reprinted 1996.

First published in Great Britain 2001 by

LEO COOPER

an imprint of Pen & Sword Books

47 Church Street

Barnsley

South Yorkshire S70 2AS

Copyright 2001 by Raymond Mitchell

ISBN 0 85052 797 X

eISBN 978 1 78337 929 3

A CIP catalogue record for this book is

available from the British Library.

Typeset in 11/13pt Sabon by

Phoenix Typesetting, Ilkley, West Yorkshire.

Printed and bound by

CPI UK

Dedicated to the memory of

Ply/X 111113 Marine H.T.W.B. (Bill) SWINDALE

No. 41 (Royal Marines) Commando

Killed in Action, 6 June 1944

Lion-sur-Mer, Normandy

a fellow Geordie and good friend

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

by

MAJOR GENERAL JULIAN THOMPSON

CB OBE

Before Ray Mitchell reached the age of 24 he had taken part in four of the major Allied amphibious assaults of the Second World War: Sicily, Salerno, Normandy and Walcheren, all with 41 (Royal Marines) Commando. This book is about the latter two; his experiences in the first two operations are the subject of an earlier book, Marine Commando: Sicily and Salerno 1943 with 41 Royal Marines Commando. His latest book is more than just an account of the great events of June and November 1944, it is also a marine's eye view of the campaign in North-West Europe.

Ray Mitchell kept a diary, which, for security reasons, was forbidden. This, now lodged in the Imperial War Museum, is the basis for his new book. As an author who has spent much time researching in the archives of the Imperial War Museum, I can vouch for the value of books based on diaries written at the time. Time can play tricks with even the sharpest of memories and Ray Mitchell's book is all the more valuable as a testimony to one Royal Marine's experiences because he can refer to his diaries as a backup to his recall of events.

Anyone not familiar with commando soldiering might regard being a despatch rider (DR - or Dog Roger in the phonetic alphabet of the time) as a cushy number. Starting with landing on Sword Beach on D-Day carrying a 75 lb Welbike (folding motorcycle) in his arms, down the see-sawing wooden landing plank of one of the infamous Landing Craft Infantry (Small), Ray Mitchell's experiences as a DR varied from hairy to hilarious', mostly the former.

A DR's life was both lonely and dangerous. Carrying despatches necessitates knowing exactly where you are going and how to get there, including avoiding any route that will lead you straight into enemy hands, all of which requires good map-reading. Road and tracks were usually pinpointed on the enemy's map and treated to frequent doses of artillery and mortar fire. If that was not enough, friendly traffic was an added hazard. DRs were, of course, also required to take their place as riflemen from time to time.

Churchill wrote about the Westkapelle operations at Walcheren, The extreme gallantry of the Royal Marines stands forth. Ray Mitchell was one of the Commando DRs selected to land with his comrades of the 4th Special Service Brigade to capture the five great batteries of coastal guns guarding the entrance to the River Scheldt. He recalls that, in contrast to Normandy five months earlier, The task force had been put ashore, and all craft still seaworthy had been withdrawn. There would be no streams of supplies, no backup, no reinforcements: the Brigade was on its own. The only way off the saucer-shaped island, whose centre had been deliberately flooded, was by silencing the batteries sited on its sand-dune rim, a costly and hazardous operation.

In normal circumstances man proposes, God disposes'. In battle it is the other way around, God, in the form of the higher command, may propose the strategy, but the outcome will ultimately depend upon what someone called the most exclusive club in the world: the relatively small number of those who do the actual fighting. The Royal Marines Commandos occupy a special corner of that club. This is a fascinating account of the second part of one marine's very busy war in that company.

GLOSSARY