On the night of 27th/28th March, 1942, Lieutenant-Colonel Newman was in command of the military force detailed to land on enemy occupied territory and destroy the dock installations of the German controlled naval base at St.
ENEMY FRONT HOW TO GET ST NAZAIRE ARCHIVE
2 Commando Date of operation: 27/28 March 1942 Archive record. By his fearless disregard of the great dangers which he ran and of which he was fully aware, and by his magnificent leadership and outstanding gallantry, Lieutenant-Colonel Keyes set an example of supreme self sacrifice and devotion to duty.Īugustus Charles Newman VC Lieutenant Colonel No. On being carried outside by his companions he died within a few minutes. Lieutenant-Colonel Keyes with great daring then entered the second room on the ground floor but was shot almost immediately on flinging open the door and fell back into the passage mortally wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Keyes, who instinctively took the lead, emptied his revolver with great success into the first room and was followed by the other officer who threw a grenade. at the foot of the stairs to prevent interference from the floor above. The noise of the shot naturally aroused the inmates of the house and Lieutenant-Colonel Keyes, appreciating that speed was now of the utmost importance, posted the N.C.O. Unfortunately, when the door was opened, it was found impossible to overcome the sentry silently, and it was necessary to shoot him. Without hesitation, he boldly led his party up to the front door, beat on the door and demanded entrance. At zero hour on the night of 17th-18th November, 1941, having despatched the covering party to block the approaches to the house, he himself with the two others crawled forward past the guards, through the surrounding fence and so up to the house itself. with whom to break into General Rommel's residence and deal with the guards and Headquarters Staff. He then found himself forced to modify his original plans in the light of fresh information elicited from neighbouring Arabs, and was left with only one officer and an N.C.O.
He led his detachment without guides, in dangerous and precipitous country and in pitch darkness, and maintained by his stolid determination and powers of leadership the morale of the detachment. This attack, even if initially successful, meant almost certain death for those who took part in it. From the outset Lieutenant-Colonel Keyes deliberately selected for himself the command of the detachment detailed to attack what was undoubtedly the most hazardous of these objectives-the residence and Headquarters of the General Officer Commanding the German forces in North Africa. Lieutenant-Colonel Keyes commanded a detachment of a force which landed some 250 miles behind the enemy lines to attack Headquarters, Base Installations and Communications. 11 Commando Date of operation: 18 November 1941. Geoffrey Charles Tasker Keyes VC MC Major (Temporary Lieutenant Colonel) No. The George Cross is the equivalent honour for valour "not in face of the enemy". The Victoria Cross is still Britain's premier award for gallantry in face of the enemy and is worn before all other orders, decorations and medals. Subsequently it has been awarded to persons of any rank in any service including the Royal Air Force, Commonwealth Forces, and Civilians operating under military command. Simple in design, the cross is made from the bronze cannon captured during the Crimean War 1854 - 1856.
The Victoria Cross was instituted by Royal Warrant on 29 January 1856 for award to both officers and non-commissioned ranks of the Royal Navy and the Army who in the presence of the enemy “shall have performed some single act of valour”. Eight Commandos were awarded the Victoria Cross.
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