Hi All, Trying to help out a longtime contact here. He has been given some detail about an attempt by special forces to execute an amphibious landing on Phuket in 1945, which was a disaster and resulted in the annihilation of the Allied Forces taking part. He has found absolutely nothing on line about this operation, codenamed 'Roger'. Can anyone shine some light on this? Many thanks Steve
Answering my own question, I see that there are at least three files at the TNA about this operation. Has anyone seen any of these or come across any participants. An further help much appreciated. Steve
Allason proposed to Mountbatten an airborne operation to move the front line forward, launched from an insignificant island called Phuket. To Churchill’s amusement, Allason christened it Operation Roger; the airfield led to Phuket (now pronounced differently) becoming a major tourist resort. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/8597474/Lt-Col-James-Allason.html About Roger http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XjNwnBbfkroC&pg=PA173&lpg=PA173&dq=Phuket+island+operation+roger+failure&source=bl&ots=iI40cKbjc0&sig=6ykUUlkoQtVGIR4pgYkLpIBz8ec&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qvxhU8WLJ8fKPcMn&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Phuket%20island%20operation%20roger%20failure&f=false
Thats odd as most of what I have read seems to say the this operation was abandoned and didn't take place ?? http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/LondonGazette/39202.pdf - pages 2128 & 2129 edited to add: specifically read point 15 page 2129
Thanks for all the input. I'm making steady progress, with an eye on not getting to waylaid by this topic for fear of deflection from my own.
Digging this one up from the vaults as I've just been doing a bit of digging into Phuket for my www.coppsurvey.uk website. Although Roger may have never gone ahead, Combined Operations Pilotage Parties did a couple of reconnaissance operations in Phuket in March 1945. It was a bit of a fiasco. Operation Baboon Carried out from the submarine HMS Torbay, three of the seven men who landed were killed. Some intelligence regarding the beach (now located right under final approach to Phuket International Airport) was gathered. Operation Copywright Carried out from the submarine HMS Thrasher, all six of the men who landed failed to return. The majority in this party were Royal Marines from Detachment 385, part of the Small Operations Group (SOG). Both parties landed with an RAF officer to help assess the airfield situation. Neither RAF man returned. Apparently the number of sentries/troops on the shore was considerably more than anticipated. I wonder if the Japanese claim that Operation Roger took place but was thwarted is 'hyped up' from the fact that they killed/captured so many from these reconnaissance operations.