French SAS raids between Saone and Loire July-September 1944
At the time when the Allies landed in Normandy, the Special Air Service had significant numbers:
Two British regiments.
A Belgian regiment,
Two French regiments:the 2nd and 3rd SAS.
The 2nd SAS (or 2nd RCP in French terminology) was engaged in Brittany, its first elements jumped to the sair on June 5. Its history is relatively well known. That of the 3rd is much less so. Yet it abounds in eccentric exploits, in strokes of courage and audacity. Its results will be of paramount importance.
The mission that Commander Chateaujobert, known as Conan, receives at the beginning of July, is as follows:"Acting on the Nantes-Lyon direction, interdict , in connection
with the central maquis, any action by the Wehrmacht forces, estimated at 100,000 men, flowing back from the Aquitaine basin.
This is to cover the southern flank of Patton's 3rd US Army, which will debouch from Normandy to surround the German forces located north of the Loire.
The first sticks are put down on July 16, with jeeps, weapons and luggage. Sometimes in conjunction with the maquis, most often alone, the SAS blew up trains, ammunition and fuel depots right in the middle of troop concentrations. They ambushed trucks, attacked staff cars. Openly cruising in jeeps by day, while Allied bombing impeded traffic, they reserved the night for ambushes.
The enemy will often mistake the SAS commandos for advanced detachments of the Patton army. The Beaulieu radar station is destroyed by a German garrison which retreats under the fire of an SAS group, convinced that the tanks are following closely. The commandos maintain doubt and fear in the enemy ranks by circulating rumors of imminent attack on all points at the same time.
The 3rd squadron with half of the command squadron and the reinforcement squadron, under the orders of Captain Simon, operates from July 16 in Poitou and Limousin, then regroups around Châteauroux before joining the pockets of the Atlantic . The 2nd squadron of captain Sicaud intervenes on August 5 in the north of Finistère to preserve intact the works of art that the Germans threaten to destroy
in front of American armor. Recovered in England, he was again parachuted into the Jura, near which the 1st squadron and the other half of the command squadron had been operating since August 12 under the orders of Commander Conan.
De For its part, the squadron of jeeps landed in Normandy, then split into 5 platoons which worked independently, either in liaison with the various SAS groups, or with the reconnaissance units of the 3rd US Army. A fantastic cross-country ensued through the lines, amid columns of Panzers and German convoys flowing back east and north.
Thus, in the Yonne, at a level crossing, the jeep of the candidate Aubert-Stribi rushes at breakneck speed, followed by the crew of the Djian brothers. At the very moment when the first jeep is about to fall into an ambush, Lucien Djian, who sees the scene at a glance, turns at full speed, crosses the embankment of the railway line which he crosses and takes the enemy. from the flank, at close range.
Aubert-Stribi passes without difficulty while his two machine guns mow down the FM and his servants. Without even stopping, the two jeeps disappear, leaving about twenty corpses on the way. On September 1, he joined the command post of the regiment.
On September 4, the peloton, which had received the order to act on National 6, approached Sennecy-leGrand around four o'clock in the morning. A German convoy of nearly 3,000 men en route to the Belfort Gap was stationed there.
Captain Combaud de Roquebrune decides to attack; the four jeeps rush at 80 km/h in the main street. Panic seizes the Germans, surprised by the violence of the fire, the audacity and the speed of the attack. Unfortunately, at the exit of the village, the jeeps are face to face with another enemy convoy which arrives. The first trucks, set on fire, block the road. There is only one way out:go back through Sennecy.
So, under fire, the jeeps turn around on the spot, but their momentum is broken by the corpses that litter the main street. Except for the first who will reach the exit of the village, the other three stop one by one, blocking the passage.
The crews break free and lead a desperate hand-to-hand fight, from which they cannot escape alive. Alone, Warrant Officer Tramoni, Beaude and Bailleux, all three wounded, drag themselves across the fields and escape from this hell whose last sight for them will be Midshipman Aubert-Stribi, defending himself with a Colt, and the jeep in flames from the platoon leader continuing to spit fire from all his weapons.
If the German losses could not be counted exactly, it was however necessary to requisition more than 30 civilian doctors to treat their wounded.
On September 6, the 25 SAS of Captains Rouan and Poro, helped of 125 FFI, seized Montceau-les-Mines, then settled in a traffic jam on the road and the railway. At noon, a train arrives and derails on the prepared cut.
The fight begins against 300 Germans. For his part, Captain Rouan sees another unit of an auto convoy disembark.
The situation is not brilliant when Staff Sergeant Le Carré and a maquisard, with a coolness that borders on recklessness, save the situation. Jumping on the embankment, they advance and ask authority for the unit commander to whom they declare bluntly:“You are surrounded by an airborne division, surrender! After some hesitation, the German complies.
Just as a few guerrillas are recovering the weapons and rounding up the prisoners, an armored train arrives. A few shots are exchanged. Le Carré intervenes. Renewing his gesture, he opened the doors, made the Germans get out and ordered them to throw down their arms. In the meantime, the men of the car-convoy arrive. They watch the spectacle, and in turn, throw down their arms and surrender.
In a few moments, at the cost of two killed, the paratroopers found themselves at the head of 500 prisoners, two trains, two tanks, several guns and 500 various weapons while the enemy left 20 killed and 32 wounded on the ground.
The general assessment of the 3e RCP is sufficiently eloquent:5,476 Germans hors de combat, 1,390 prisoners, 11 trains and 382 vehicles destroyed, for the loss of 41 paratroopers, killed or missing.
The brother regiment, whose glory acquired in Brittany has somewhat made us forget the magnificent work carried out by the 3rd RCP, is then in the process of regrouping its elements scattered throughout Brittany and reorganizing. Reinforced by the FFI who fought in its ranks and mounted on SAS-type jeeps, the 2nd RCP will soon lend a hand to the 3rd RCP in its flank-guard mission.
On August 26, 65 jeeps arrived in Vannes, bringing the amaranth berets that the King of England, in a gesture of deep gratitude, granted to the French SAS. As soon as they were equipped, the jeeps of the 2nd RCP set off towards the Loire and the Briare region from where the four squadrons will operate in the direction of Nevers, Châteauroux and Bourges.
From a balance sheet as prestigious as that of his counterpart, we will retain only a few indisputable figures which are certainly below reality:326 Germans hors de combat, 2,520 prisoners and 320 various vehicles for 2 killed, 12 wounded and a destroyed jeep at the SAS. This, it seems, needs no comment!
The most extraordinary episode takes place on September 11. That day, Second Lieutenant Le Bobinnec, commanding a platoon of the 2nd squadron, took by surprise an outpost on the road to St-Pierre-le-Moutier. The prisoners are seated with a white flag on the hood of the jeeps. He then entered the village encumbered by a convoy of the vanguard detachment of the Elster column. After discussion with the commander of the convoy, he convinces him that he is in the vanguard of an American armored division and that any resistance is useless.
Impressed by the assurance of the second lieutenant and depressed by the incessant attacks on the column, the detachment commander finally gave in.
The capitulation includes 2,500 Germans, 300 vehicles, 8 guns and all the corresponding individual armament. The 2nd and 3rd squadrons, arrived as reinforcements, send prisoners, provided with a request for surrender in good and due form to the commander of the bulk of the Wehrmacht forces.
The latter refuses to surrender to the paratroopers or the FFI, but asks to be put in contact with the commander of the American forces. The contact made by the SAS, the prisoners move towards Orleans under the guard of the paratroopers.
With this exploit ends, on September 14, the campaign of the Loire. The Squadrons regroup at Briare.
Since September 12, near Dijon, the junction between the Allied armies of the west and the south has been made.