94 AUGUST 2011

Containing 900 years of history, the National

Archives is the United Kingdoms ofcial
government archive. In this months Dusty
Archive we discover the fascinating story
contained within the covers of just one of the many
thousands of les held at Kew.
The war had left them
behind. Instead of
attacking the Channel
Islands the Allied forces
had simply passed them
by during the D-Day
landings. The morale
of the German garrison
on the Channel Islands
was low, so when
an opportunity to
strike out at the Allies
presented itself there
was no shortage of
volunteers.
THE GRANVILLE RAID
The plan that von Schmettow devised was to put Granville harbour
out of action, to capture some of the ships, particularly one of the
coal ships which would be brought back to Jersey, and to destroy
the other vessels in the harbour.
The assault was planned for the night of 6/7 February 1945, but
the weather was too rough and the operation was cancelled. It
was reinstated for 8 March.
The assault force consisted of six minesweepers (the masts of
which had been removed to present a smaller radar target), three
artillery carriers, two converted landing craft, three motor torpedo
boats, a large tug, and a number of smaller craft.
The vessels were crewed by 600 men in addition to whom
there were seventy infantry and engineers to destroy the port
installations and, with the help of seven Luftwaffe men armed
with light anti-aircraft weapons, hold back the American battalion
which was billeted on a hill above the harbour. There were also
eight naval ratings to blow up the vessels in the port, twelve to
destroy the radar station a little way up the coast, and another
twelve to take away anything valuable they could seize. A further
J
ust before Christmas 1944, ve Germans (one naval cadet
and four paratroopers) who had been captured at Brest
escaped from their US-controlled prisoner of war camp at
Granville. They succeeded in seizing a US landing craft which
they took out on the evening tide. With only a pocket compass
and a sketch map to guide them they reached Matresse le
(where they were red upon by the German observation post
before being identied) from where they were directed to St
Helier, Jerseys capital.
The escaped prisoners were warmly received in Jersey and
when they described the situation in Granville harbour,
Generallieutenant Graf von Schmettow, the commander-in-chief
(Festungskommandant) of the Channel Islands, realised that it
might be possible to deliver a surprise attack upon Granville.
Morale amongst his troops on the islands was low and such an
enterprise would give them a chance to strike back at the enemy.
Of particular interest to von Schmettow was the escapees report
that Allied ships unloaded coal at Granville every day. Since the
start of Operation Overlord, the Channel Islands had been cut off
from the mainland and stocks of coal were running perilously low.
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The low tide also prevented
the motor torpedo boats that
were to support the attack
upon the radar station sailing
close enough inshore to engage
their target. One boat, M-412,
ran aground, forcing it to be
destroyed and abandoned by its
crew.
The US troops on the hill above
Granville were alerted, but the
Germans held them at bay for
an hour and a half. Jack Yeatman,
at sea on patrol in HMS Pearl, an
Asdic Trawler based at Plymouth
and which was operating with
the Royal Naval Patrol Service,
recalled the confused scene:
01.30. Granville called us, then
went off the air. We have no
idea what is happening, or which
side is which in the exchanges
of re ashore. Hell let loose
there heavy small-arms re.
Looks like a commando raid! All
navigation lights have been shot
out, including Pointe du Roc
lighthouse Some shells and
tracer have come uncomfortably
close, but we dont know which
side red them. Cannot close in
to the shore as there isnt enough
water for us now, and its a maze
of unlit rocks and skerries. Anyway,
we have no means of knowing
what to re at!
During the time that the Germans
held the harbour they damaged the engines of most of the ships
that were grounded in the port and demolished much of the
port installations cranes, locomotives, wagons and fuel dumps.
With the help of its crew (under duress, no doubt) the 1,200-ton
ship Eskwood was sailed out of the harbour back to Jersey. The
Americans also suffered the loss of one of its submarine chasers
(USPC 564 JY) which, having diverted to Granville to investigate
the noise of the explosions, was sunk by the three artillery carriers
covering the assault off the sle de Chausey. A small number of
Americans in Granville were also taken prisoner.
These prisoners included John Alexander, the Principal
Welfare Ofcer of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation
Administration. With his capture Alexander had the unique
distinction of being the only member of that organisation to
be taken prisoner in the war. Three American ofcers were also
captured, Captain R.H. Shirley and First Lieutenants N. Youngers
and W.W. Wendall-Heilman, who did not know the Channel
Islands existed at all, let alone that there were enemy troops
stationed there! They believed that they were hundreds of miles
away from the nearest armed Germans.
The only other nearby Germans were a party of seventy-nine
PoWs. With the harbour in German hands, these men
were released. Sixty-seven of them were taken back to
Jersey.
The Allies had been taken completely by
surprise, and no wonder, for this was a
unique operation. They had never
suspected that an enemy force would
use British soil to mount an attack
upon their own forces!
twenty-ve infantrymen were to
create a diversion by attacking the
Hotel des Bains to the north of the
harbour.
*
The German assault force, led by
Kapitnleutnant Carl-Friedrich
Mohr, left St Helier and reached
Granville at 01.00 hours on
the morning of 9 March. The
three artillery carriers and two
minesweepers had taken up
positions on the anks of the
assault force to prevent any Allied
patrol vessels from interfering
with the attack. A further two
minesweepers remained outside
the port to provide covering re.
The assault was led by the two
remaining minesweepers. As
they approached the harbour
entrance the signal station
ashed its challenge, to which
the minesweepers responded by
ashing back the same challenge.
This confused the port signallers
and before they could work out
what was happening the two
minesweepers were secured
alongside the quays. The three
motor torpedo boats rushed for
the beach by the Hotel des Bains
to land their infantry force. The
assault parties were quickly ashore
and had established themselves in
positions from which they could
dominate the approaches to the
dock area.
It seemed that everything was going well, but the Germans had
made a fundamental error. They had assumed that they would be
easily able to tow some ships out of the harbour but they had not
taken into account the different tidal conditions and they had
arrived at Granville during low tide. The consequence of this was
that of the four ships in the harbour three of them were aground
and could not be moved.
AUGUST 2011 95
FAR LEFT:
A photograph of Granville harbour taken by a member of the German forces prior to the towns liberation in July 1944. (All
images courtesy of Damien Horn/Channel Islands Military Museum)
ABOVE:
A picture of one of those involved in the Granville raid, Georg Oltmanns, which appears in his Soldbuch, or paybook. For his part in the attack, Oltmanns was subsequently awarded the Iron Cross First Class.
BELOW:
A defensive position on the hillside overlooking Granville
harbour.
THE GRANVILLE RAID

This account is based on the le

with reference WO 219/3304.
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