Operation Colossus

Discussion in 'Airborne' started by airborne medic, Apr 12, 2006.

  1. Paul Pariso

    Paul Pariso Very Senior Member

    A very nice story there mate :).
    Here's the pic I think you mean, showing Harry at the 50th Birthday of the Parachute Regiment.

    All the best............. :)
     

    Attached Files:

  2. airborne medic

    airborne medic Very Senior Member

    Ranville,

    Glad to hear Harry is still alive and kicking.....I visited him for research into SB and he contirbuted the foreword...if you see him again say hello from me......
     
  3. ranville

    ranville Senior Member

    A very nice story there mate :).
    Here's the pic I think you mean, showing Harry at the 50th Birthday of the Parachute Regiment.

    All the best............. :)
    Cheers and thanks for the pic
     
  4. ranville

    ranville Senior Member

    Ranville,

    Glad to hear Harry is still alive and kicking.....I visited him for research into SB and he contirbuted the foreword...if you see him again say hello from me......

    He's not as active as he was but his humour is still as sharp as anything!
    He told me is interested in getting a lap top and i volunteered to help him use it.
    I bump into him quite regularly so i will pass on your good wishes.
     
  5. airborne medic

    airborne medic Very Senior Member

    Roy,

    Would be up to coming to Duxford????? Assuming you can bring him and take him back??????
     
  6. ranville

    ranville Senior Member

    Roy,

    Would be up to coming to Duxford????? Assuming you can bring him and take him back??????
    A good idea Niall, Not sure about the pracitcalities,given the distance and his moblity problems,but will look in to it.
     
  7. SoldierGrice

    SoldierGrice Junior Member

    I am a serving soldier and also the Grandson of Cpl Joe Grice, a member of x troop. I never got to meet my Grandfather and would love to find out more about him, I have read all the books I can find on Op Colossus, but would to perhaps try and organise a visit to Harry, to see if he remembers him at all. I am also in the early stages of organising a visit tracing the route taken by X troop in Italy, as a surprise holiday for my father and brothers.
     
  8. Widow's Son

    Widow's Son Junior Member

    My Grandfather James Parker was a member of X-Troop and took part in this mission. I had the pleasure to meet Harry Pexton and the other surviving members at the 59th and 60th reunion in Knutsford. I had no idea my Grandad was part of this group until 30 years after his death,he started his service with the Durham Light Infantry in 1928,only after some research did we find that he took part on this mission.
    I was pleased to find the book The Guinea Pigs and had Harry and the other members sign it. I enjoyed seeing photos of my Grandad and reading about the Joardie who ground his teeth.
    If there is anymore information,photos..etc..on this mission please let me know. Sincerely Tony Baltuskonis...Wildwood,New Jersey U.S.A
     
  9. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    There's 19 files at the National Archives related to this Op inc this one:

    CAB 106/8 Account of operation "Colossus", combined operations raid in Italy, 1941 Feb. 10, by Lieutenant A. J. Dean Drummond.
     
  10. Widow's Son

    Widow's Son Junior Member

    Thanks for the information Drew, I assume that you must pay for the files,as I was not able to view them.
     
  11. Tom Wallace

    Tom Wallace Junior Member

    I'd not seen Channel 4's 'Commando' when it aired, as I was overseas at the time, but I've recently discovered it on 4oD. It's the first time I've seen film of the viaduct, too. A film about Deane-Drummond would be worth making.

    Commando - Episode 4

    Other than being one of the original 50 volunteers at Ringway, where else did Ernie Chinnery serve?

    Tom
     
  12. mrso252

    mrso252 New Member

    Harry Pexton is my dad and has been in hospital since June following a fall. He still retains his chirpiness and loves talking about his POW time
     
  13. Justina

    Justina Member

    Hi. My Granddad was in Operation Colossus and was one of only two men that returned to England immediately afterwards. He and two other men made it to a homestead in the mountains that had been ransacked by the enemy; the men killed and the women raped. After being nursed, my Granddad and the other two men drew straws and one stayed at the homestead to protect it, and as a thank you for saving their lives. My Granddad and the other man hiked through the mountains until they were finally connected to the Resistance. Both were separately smuggled back to England.
    He wouldn't talk about it until 2001 when he was tracked down by an ex-army executive wanting to know about his return to England and if Deane-Drummond's account was accurate. As a result he wrote memoirs, but they are quite complicated and extremely brief.
    In Return Ticket Deane-Drummond refers to my Granddad as Royal Engineer, Corporal Watson (the one who blew up the bridge). However, he wasn't just an engineer; he had already been a GHQ Liason Unit "Brookies Boy," and a #2 Commando, and was at that time an SSO. He was specifically sent as a fail safe Back-up Demo Man.
    I am attempting to find more information about my Granddad's WW2 exploits but so much of it is covert. (Incredibly he was in almost every special forces unit at some point during the war.)
    Does anyone have any information about this account of Colossus or know how I can find any?
    Thanks,
    Justina
     
  14. Justina

    Justina Member

    Hi, just a Post Script. My Granddad's name was Dennis William Shelton Watson. He had a bunch of code names; sometimes went by Bill Shelton. He isn't even listed on the Paradata site regarding Colossus... and he actually wrote the first report about a month after the Operation... but it's buried... hence my difficulty.
     
  15. horsapassenger

    horsapassenger Senior Member

    I think that you'll find that the Watson that Deane Drummond refers to, in his book Return Ticket, was 1888304 L/Cpl Robert Brimmer Watson, at that time attached to 11 SAS. He was subsequently awarded the Military Medal, Gazetted 21st February 1946, for his actions as part of Op Colossus and subsequent activities as a POW.

    He was captured on 13th February 1941, virtually immediately after the operation, and imprisoned at Naples, Salmona and Aquilla, where he served as a member of the Escape Committee, After the Italian Armistice, in September 1943, he was released and sought shelter at Coppito but was recaptured in December 1943. Later that month he escaped but was recaptured in May 1944. He then escaped from the train taking him to Germany and finally reached safety in Switzerland on 15th July 1944.

    I think that you will find that L/Cpl R B Watson and his MM Award are recorded on the Paradata page relating to Op Colossus
     
  16. Justina

    Justina Member

    Thank you for the reply.
    I know about RB Watson but he's not my Granddad.
    My Granddad was also there but not recorded on the Paradata site. When he returned to England in April he was "hidden" at the AFDC at Amesbury for a time and was sent on missions from there as an SSO.
    I'm attempting to contact the ex-army executive who tracked my Granddad down in 2001.
     
  17. Justina

    Justina Member

     
  18. Justina

    Justina Member

    Hello mrso252,

    If it's not too intrusive could you ask your dad if he remembers a Dennis or Bill Watson also in Operation Colossus (although he is not recorded as being part of it).

    I'm glad he's doing well despite his fall.

    Thanks, Justina
     
  19. airborne medic

    airborne medic Very Senior Member

    So 75 years ago this day....34 men of X Troop were on the run......one had been found at the aqueduct with a broken ankle......Remembering these brave men.... Towards the end of 1940 at a meeting in London, a decision was taken based on information from a civil engineering firm (George Kent and Sons), that if an aqueduct in Italy could be destroyed it would severely damage the Italian war effort. The contractor had originally built this aqueduct near a place called Tragino near Naples in southern Italy. The water supply for three major ports crossed a valley here. Various options were looked at and finally a request to help went to Britain’s only parachute unit. This was the 11th Special Air Service Battalion who had been formed from No 2 Commando in the middle of 1940.
    Volunteers were called for and the whole unit stepped forward. Command of the operation (later known as Colossus) was given to Major T Pritchard. After much training in the UK the volunteers, known as X Troop, moved to an advanced operating base in Malta. As well as the men from 11th SAS Battalion, two others went on the operation as interpreters. One was an RAF officer Flight lieutenant Lucky and other an Italian national Fortunato Picchi, although he was briefed as a Free French soldier by the name of Dupont.
    The RAF had provided eight Whitleys for the operation, six carrying six paratroopers each and two to carry out a diversionary raid on Foggia. As it turned out, one man in one of the six troop-carrying aircraft went sick on the runway and was off-loaded, so 35 men took part in the operation.
    The six aircraft eventually all made it to the general area of the target, but not all the stores were dropped and one aircraft dropped its stick in the wrong valley and they never made it to the objective. However, enough explosives were collected to blow up the aqueduct although the damage was repaired within a few days. The men of X Troop were now meant to walk a distance of around 60 miles to meet a submarine, HMS Triumph, which would take them back to Malta. Regretfully the submarine was recalled but there was no way of getting this information to the men in Italy. Travelling in four separate groups they were all recaptured over the course of the next few days.
    News reached England of the success of the raid through reports in Italian newspapers and the US Military Attaché who visited the captured men in prison camp in Italy. On Palm Sunday 1941 Fortunato Picchi was executed for his part in the operation, becoming the only casualty of Colossus.
    The first eyewitness account of the raid came from Lieutenant Deane-Drummond after his successful escape from an Italian PoW camp in 1942.
    Whilst a strategic failure the raid showed in dark days that Britain was prepared to strike back and diverted Italian soldiers to guard dams, power stations and bridges the length and breadth of Italy, when they could have been better employed at the front. It also gave valuable lessons in the planning and execution of an airborne operation.

    Personnel involved in Operation Colossus:
    Major Pritchard, Captain Lea, Captain Daly, Lieutenant Deane-Drummond, Second Lieutenant Jowett, Second Lieutenant Paterson and Flight Lieutenant Lucky.
    Sergeant Clements, Sergeant Durie, Sergeant Lawley, Sergeant Shutt and Sergeant Walker.
    Corporal Fletcher, Corporal Grice, Corporal Julian and Corporal O’Brien.
    L/Corporal Boulter, L/Corporal Henderson, L/Corporal Jones, L/Corporal Maher, L/Corporal Pexton, L/Corporal Tomlin and L/Corporal Watson.
    Private Humphrey, Private Nastri/Tristan, Private Parker and Private Samuels.
    Sapper Davidson, Sapper Parker, Sapper Phillips, Sapper Pryor, Sapper Ross and Sapper Struthers.
    Driver Crawford.
    Fortunato Picchi


    Decorations Awarded to The Men of X Troop:
    Distinguished Service Order
    25th November 1941 Captain (temporary Major) T A G Pritchard Royal Welch Fusiliers
    Military Cross
    29th September 1942 Lieutenant A J Deane-Drummond Royal Corps of Signals
    Date unknown Captain C Lea Lancashire Fusiliers
    Date unknown Second Lieutenant G R Paterson Royal Corps of Engineers
    Date unknown Second Lieutenant A G Jowett Highland Light Infantry
    Military Medal
    20th June 1946 Sergeant P P Clements Leicestershire Regiment
    20th June 1946 WOII A W A Lawley 11th SAS Regiment AAC
    Date unknown Sergeant E W Durie
    Date unknown L/Corporal R B Watson
    Date unknown L/Corporal H Boulter North Staffordshire Regiment (this award was for actions with the partisans after his escape from Italian captivity in 1943)
    Mentioned in despatches
    Date unknown but probably 1946
    Captain G F K Daly
    L/Corporal J E Maher
    Private N Nastri
     
  20. Pompey Pal

    Pompey Pal Member

    Captain Daly was a Royal Engineer who was captured and spent the rest of the war as a POW. He married just after the war. His wife had been married to Lieutenant Alexander Hope of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment. He was killed on 2 October 1944 near Driel on the road close to the Koervaar brickworks whilst attached to the 7th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment. His name appears on the memorial to the missing at Groesbeek,, but in fact he is now buried in that cemetery, as his body was discovered in 1988 by a local farmer. Alex Hope never met his son David who was born in January 1945. In due course he became David Daly and I met him and his step brother, born after Mrs Daly had married for the second time, when they visited Groesbeek and the Hampshire memorial near Heteren for the first time in 2014.
    They recalled growing up in an army family with frequent visits by Captains Daly's former comtrades including amongst them Tony Deane-Drummond who remained a close friend of Captain Daly.
     

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