Royal Marines in Hook of Holland

Discussion in 'Commandos & Royal Marines' started by Gooseman, Jan 25, 2013.

  1. Gooseman

    Gooseman Senior Member

    The German invasion of Holland also provoked a mild British response, most of which was an execution of pre-planned operations. These planned operations were focussed on demolition of strategic bulk material and harbour installations. They went along under the cover name “XD Operations”, and were mainly executed by reservist engineers, supported by a few Marines and naval troops. The British had no desire whatsoever to support the Dutch operations, but were strictly applied to the theatre to safeguard British interests. These interest were expanded with the salvage of Dutch stock-gold, which was the remainder of the national gold reserve in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. A significant portion of that was indeed shipped into the UK, later moved on to Canada.

    There were some more British troops sent in. The most significant formation that was sent to the Hook of Holland was the so called ‘Harpoon Force’, which consisted of a number of Irish and Welch Guards coys to a combined strength of around 700 men. They were commanded by lt-col. Haydon. I think that these forces originated from the 20th Guards Brigade (Brig. W. Fox-Pitt). General John Dill seemed to have issued the order to send this battalion size formation to the Hook.

    Their prime goal was to safeguard the repatriation of British diplomats and prominent citizens, mostly from the Hague. The force had been sent to the Hook, when the news had arrived that the city of the Hague had come under siege due to the extended German airborne landings around the governmental city. The narrow corridor that seemed to be left open, was to be used by the Guards to escort the VIPs out and get them on board British navy ships.

    The arrival of the Guards had been preluded by a formation of around 200 British Royal Marines. These had been shipped in by HMS Venomous and HMS Verity. Early on the third day of the invasion this contingent of Marines arrived in the harbour at the Hook. They were further escorted by HMS Wild Swan and a squadron of Blenheim 1F fighter-cruisers. The latter collided with a formation of Bf-110’s, which ended with both sides leaving one plane biting the dust. The Marines had meanwhile left the ships and were distributed across some strategic points in order to protect the sappers of XD Ops and the British navy liaison party, that had landed in the Hook too.

    My question is about these Royal Marines. It was stated in a Dutch source that these Marines were in fact no regular fighting outfit of the Corps, but staff troops, such as administrative and intendant personnel. The main body of the Corps was supposed to be elsewhere, Norway amongst other locations. I have a couple of questions that may find answers on this well informed forum:

    1) I am unaware of the magnitude of the Royal Marines on the eve of battle in May 1940. Can anyone fill me in on numbers and their occupations in April/May 1940?

    2) I am also not aware of their general specification. Were they well trained, professional soldiers in those days – like the Dutch Marines were (in fact, the only professional outfit in the entire Dutch armed forces) – or were they simply naval soldiers, like the American marines (no offence intended ...:p).

    3) Does anybody know more on the commanding officer of these Marines in the Hook of Holland (Major B.G.B. Mitchell, DSC)?. Does anybody have a biography on this officer?

    Every bit of additional info is appreciated.
     
  2. Orwell1984

    Orwell1984 Senior Member

    Not much to add but I found two references to B G B Mitchell of the Royal Marines, both very brief.
    One is here:
    4th Special Service Brigade
    under July 11 1944
    1130 - Lt Col B.G.B. MITCHELL RM, CSO SS Gp Sigs visited Bde HQ.
    The other is here:
    http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/37339/pages/5405/page.pdf
    Second column under Oct 19th 1945:
    Maj. (Actg. Col.) B. G. B. MITCHELL, D.S.C., to
    relinquish the rank of Actg. Col. 17th Oct. 1945.
    Maj. B. G. B. MITCHELL, D.S.C., to Retd. List.
    17th Oct. 1945.
    Cheers
    Mark

    | The National Archives
    This document is free for downloading from the National Archives and might be of some interest as it contains the following:
    3. REINFORCEMENTS FOR FORTRESS HOLLAND. Consideration of signal from Major Mitchell.

    Also came across this brief description:
    Hook Force withdraws
     
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  3. dryan67

    dryan67 Senior Member

    Here is a little more about Force A from "The Royal Marines" by James D. Ladd.
     

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  4. dryan67

    dryan67 Senior Member

    The is not quite May 1940, but it will give you an idea of Royal Marine organisation at the start of war on September 3rd, 1939:


    The Royal Marines — 3 September 1939

    The Royal Marine Division, Chatham - 1st Division
    (Provided detachments for Chatham Capital Ships and Crusiers)

    The Royal Marine Division, Portsmouth - 2nd Division - (Eastney)
    (Provided detachments for Portsmouth Capital Ships and Crusiers)

    Mobile Naval Base Defence Organization ‘Nucleus’ - Fort Cumberland - (12 September 1939 authorized to full strength)
    Skelton, Air Defence Brigade HQ, Signals Company, Fire Control for 6" Batteries and
    a Landing, Transport and Workshop Company
    (Note: 1st Royal Marine AA Battery at Alexandria, Egypt with 277 all ranks and 8 3.7" guns)

    School of Land Artillery - Eastney

    Inter-Services Training and Development Centre - Fort Cumberland (included Royal Marines)

    The Royal Marine Division, Plymouth - 3rd Division - (Stonehouse Barracks)
    (Provided detachments for Plymouth Capital Ships and Crusiers)

    The Royal Marine Depot, Deal - (East, North and South Barracks) - Initial training of all recruits

    Recruit Training
    A,B,C,D Companies
    Royal Naval School of Music (A & B Companies)

    Special Gun-Mounting Party, Royal Marines - Blyth, Northumberland - Mounting 6" guns

    Fortress Unit I - Scapa Flow - (Left 3 September 1939 for Portsmouth)

    HQ and 5 Companies (Landing Company, Ship Unloading Company, Gun-Mounting Company, Boat
    Company and Transport and Workshop Company)
    Survey Section
    Signals Section
     
  5. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

  6. Gooseman

    Gooseman Senior Member

  7. Gooseman

    Gooseman Senior Member

    Cheers all! Didn't expect so much info in such a short time. Well informed forum this is!
     
  8. idler

    idler GeneralList

  9. Gooseman

    Gooseman Senior Member

    Here is a little more about Force A from "The Royal Marines" by James D. Ladd.

    Appreciate the source. It amazes me to read the nonsense about the tactical situation in these flashy reports. German mobile column on two clicks off of the Hook? Just before the Germans arrived?

    There was a German formation of a few dozen stranded air-lifted infantry on a location 2 km east of the Hook. Easily contained by Dutch forces and not at all interested to expand on their hide-out but focussed on survival all along. Their Ju-52 made emergency landings on the first day when the airfields had been blocked and they were kind of flying on fumes. There wasn't a British soldier getting near these few Germans.

    The panic under the troops was enormeous. Every little rumour got the Hook going. The only true threat came from the skies though. The German KG.30, operating the quite capable tactical dive bomber Ju-88, appeared over the Hook all the time. Also other formations were sent in. The constant traffic of British destroyers had them pray the area around the clock, also at night. The air raids were often aimed at the shipping, but the harbour installations and station (apparently out of fear of shipping troops inland) were targetted too. That demanded the life of quite some military, also a handful of British, which are commemorated on our website Geallieerde gesneuvelden (Allied casualties) [Zuidfront Holland - Mei 1940]

    The Germans arrived on the 15th only. A small party. Later a few more. Up until the point where the last Britisch shipping departed the Germans were not even north of the Meuse / Waterway. Let alone, nearby the Hook. When the last of the Marines and Guards left, the battle for Rotterdam was still raging, albeit in its final stage.

    The destruction of the harbour facilities and the oil constructions was sanctioned by the Dutch supreme command. Both were done in such a way that the Germans had little problems to recover. The destruction of the oil reserve failed. Only 5% was actually burnt or poluted beyond recovery. The balance was saved. The sappers had taken along insufficient explosives and charges, causing only mild damage everywhere where they operated, like Ymuiden, the Hook and Flushing.

    Dutch historians often take the Mickey out of these British actions, but tend to forget that our own demo scheme was largely insufficient. Our general command had totally neglected the destruction of strategic materials and installations with exception of the central military works near Zaandam. If it wouldn't have been for these British engineers, nothing would have been done to prevent the Germans of seizing these installations intact. And that had been exactly the root cause of the British XD Operations all along: the anticipation of neglect on behalf of the continental 'Allies to be'.
     

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