Mind you, that you are a serving Royal Marine doesn't, I think, add much to your valid argument.
Sisyphus, another valid point
Daniel, I'm afraid most of that is above my level of knowledge to answer; I simply threw up my immediate thoughts given what little I know of capabilities during WW2 and what I like to think of as a reasonable grasp of realistic operational capabilities/goals.
Forgive me for the cutting and pasting, I'm also knackered and slightly shiters.
Where did the HUMINT for the Operation come from ? Who was on the ground in Bordeaux at the time?
I would hazard a guess that you've to a certain extent answered your own question - links between the Resistance and British forces. Of course if the place was used as a regular port by the Germans following the occupation, this would be a hard fact to hide. There may well have been no need for HUMINT at all - although I'll reiterate that my knowledge is sketchy, so if you are aware that HUMINT was indeed received by the British I retract the above.
How did INT know the ships would still be there when the RM's arrived and not set sail before ?
Again my knowledge lets me down; was it not used regularly by the German fleet? Did the operation target specific vessels?
Who took photos of the damaged ships after the raid?
I don't really see the pertinence of the question. I assume phots exist, else you wouldn't have asked. It could have been the Germans, the Resistance, or in fact anyone with a camera and a view.
How did the RM's know exactly which ships to target? Where there other ships nearby at the time? Where they given aerial photo's of the ships or did the INT come from somewhere else?
Again I find myself apologising for lack of knowledge. Were specific ships targetted? Or did they just pick the best/most accessible targets once in the area? I don't know how good aerial photography was in WW2, but if that's a viable option you have also potentially explained the above two questions.
I think maybe betrayal by the Resistance was more or less out of the question. It would have jeopardised future relations with the MOD who were trying to help France and so was not in their own interest.
So there was no infiltration of the Resistance at all? No successful 'pressure' on certain members to reveal plans? I'm sorry, but I fail to believe that; with members of the government and military on both sides defecting to the other, I think it impossible that the same was not true of the Resistance.
On an individual level, however, I am beginning to wonder about Lord Mountbatten. Forgive me if I do not have my facts right.
Apparently he had something to do with the planning of the mission, yet had his doubts whether any would return; then after said that of all the missions in WW2 none were more daring and imaginative than OP Frankton.
Was he blowing his own trumpet after planning the mission, sending guys off and not believing they would come back?
Daring tends to mean risky. Imaginative it certainly was, being an untried tactic. You imply an oxymoron, but there does not appear to be one. A daring and imaginative mission could well result in the loss of all involved.
Perhaps they could have packed the kayaks and gear in metal tubes with a lot of padding,as they did when dropping weapons for the Resistance. They could have done a couple of test or dummy drops to see if all arrived safely and to test the trustworthyness of the Resistance on the ground. The gear could have been stashed by the Resistance in various places, making detection of everything all at once more difficult. It could have been arranged for the gear to be taken to a RDV point beside the Garronne river at a set time.
All of this increases the risk of compromise. A single kayak dropped in the wrong place or discovered by the Germans before it is collected would alert them to a waterborne attack, tightening their watch on the waterways. As few were used or suitable for shipping, this would not have been a particularly difficult task.
The men could have been dropped in just a few hours before the mission,gone to the RDV point and completed the mission in the same way using their Kayaks. I know what you mean abut DZ's, but with the kit already there it would not have been a problem.
Even assuming the kit arrived safely and was successfully moved to the correct locations, you still have the problem of putting a small force onto the ground accurately.
I fear Daniel that you suffer from the common misconception that the term 'military precision' is in any way accurate. Even in ideal conditions, the logistics of an operation as you suggest are at best difficult, let alone in enemy territory. Too many factors are outside the control of the team.
You've perked my interest in this, sadly I don't have the time for in depth reading on the subject, but I look forward to further comments. My feeling at the moment is that, whilst I can see why you hold your opinions, you lack the experience of how things tend to play out and require too many moving parts - remember the motto, 'no plan survives the first contact.' Therefore the first contact must be put off as long as possible to give any plan a greater chance of success.[/quote]
