Military Cross

In any case, Window would not be used in combat until the Operation Gomorrah firebombing raid against Hamburg july 1943 in which this secret weapon along with unusually dry hot weather and numerous other factors allowed the british to set off a firestorm that killed an estimated 37 000 civilians for the germans operation biting was an embarrassing failure and in the wake of the raid security was significantly tightened around the reich's atlantic coast defenses thousands of french citizens were evicted from their homes access to the fortification strictly controlled and the clifftop shatter brunoval raised for being too conspicuous of a landmark the german propaganda ministry eager to minimize the impact of the raid mischaracterized it as a failed invasion of the continent stating in a radio broadcast that quote the relief offensive for which britain's gravely battered allies have been pleading for so long has confined itself to the landing of a few parachutists on the coast of northern france were soon forced to make a glorious retreat across the ocean without having achieved any useful purpose end quote but the british knew better and the men of operation biting returned home to a hero's welcome their triumph could not have come at a better time for more bad news soon came from the far east on the same day the raiders returned to britain the japanese troops landed on the island of java in the dutch east indies while the following day imperial japanese navy ships sunk the heavy cruiser hms exeter in the java sea though the exhausted major frost wanted nothing more than to get a good night's sleep he was soon summoned to a series of meetings first with general browning who proudly informed him you put airborne forces on the map from now on we should be able to get all sorts of things that have been withheld up to now Frost was then driven to London to meet with Prime Minister Churchill, Lord Mountbatten, and other top officials, who offered their hearty congratulations.

For their actions, Frost and Lieutenant Ewan Charteris were awarded the Military Cross.

Lieutenant Commander Cook, who had led the extraction flotilla, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, along with two of his officers, Radar Specialist Sergeant Charlie Cox, who had dismantled the radar, received the Military Medal, while CSM Strachan received the French Croix de Guerre with Palm.

his role in initiating the operation and analyzing the german's radar capability rv jones was recommended for the companionship of the order of the bath or cb but due to bureaucracy and departmental infighting this was downgraded to an obe jones would eventually be granted the cbe in 1946 for his many wartime contributions to scientific intelligence but while operation biting was one of the most successful special forces raids of the war and contributed immensely to the allied bombing campaign against occupied europe this success had unexpected consequences blinding advocates of airborne forces to the inherent limitations of this kind of warfare general browning predicted the success of operation biting effectively granted him carte blanche to expand the first airborne division and he soon began to conceive of even grander scale operations in which to use as paratroopers however these operations including the 1943 invasion of sicily and the 1944 invasion of normandy met with mixed results with the scattering of airborne troops over a wide area greatly limiting their effectiveness these problems reached their crescendo in september 1944 with general browning's magnum opus operation market garden in which over 60 000 british american and polish paratroopers were dropped in an airborne carpet over nazi occupied holland in order to seize key bridges and allow the allied armies to drive over the rhine and into germany Unfortunately, Browning failed to learn the lessons of the Germans' 1941 invasion of Crete, and a widely scattered and lightly armed paratroops found themselves severely outgunned by the German panzer divisions defending the area, causing the whole plan to quickly collapse.

He was a World War One veteran.

He had served with distinction in the Highland Light Infantry, earning the Military Cross for bravery in Flanders and the Distinguished Service Order for his actions at Maroeuf.

The citation had stated, "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty, when the enemy attacked and penetrated the line after intense fighting and continual bombing attacks, by his courage and personal example, he succeeded in driving them out and held his position against further heavy attacks with splendid coolness and determination." He was no desk officer.

He was a frontline commander, and a rather good one, but he faced an impossible task.

As December ended, Murray-Lyon was dismissed from command, a casualty of circumstance.

He had spent weeks preparing for the canceled Operation Matador while neglecting proper defenses at Jitra and Gurun.

At fifty-one years old, this decorated soldier, who had earned the Military Cross and Distinguished Service Order in the Great War, became a civilian during Britain’s darkest hour.

He was replaced by Brigadier Archibald Paris, equally inexperienced in jungle warfare, who paradoxically proved more effective by facilitating the retreat of Murray’s division while inflicting unexpected casualties on the overconfident Japanese units.

"An RSO is, um, uh, something you put on letters." "Is it?" inquired Patricia innocently.

"I'm so stupid at remembering such things." "He was wearing the ribbon of the Military Cross, too," bubbled Mrs.

Moscrop-Smythe.

"Was he?" Patricia was afraid of overdoing the pose of innocence she had adopted.

Tell me all about it." "Well," began Mrs.

Hamilton, "soon after you had gone out, Miss Wangel's friend telephoned in reply to her letter of inquiry.

She told her all about Lord Peter Bowen, how he'd distinguished himself in France, won the Military Cross, the DSO, how he'd been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and brought back to the War Office and given a position on the General Staff.

He's a very clever young man, my dear." Patricia laughed outright at Mrs.