Memorials Dedicated to Combined Operations (2)

Combined Operations Command, "United We Conquer"  

At the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire, U.K.

Near Alrewas, Staffordshire, England, in a very lovely, peaceful setting. GH

Introduction:

During the last few days of May and first ten days of June, 2026, I travelled to Great Britain for a historical (landmark, amazing) journey with my two adult sons, David and Paul. We planned a full itinerary that included several stops related to my father's WWII experiences - from June 1941 to September 1945 - not only as a member of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve but also a volunteer for the Combined Operations organization. We visited War museums and military archives in London, former Combined Ops training grounds on Hayling Island, pubs mentioned in dad's memoirs and much more.

One distinct highlight was a lengthy, rewarding visit to the Combined Operations WWII remembrance memorial found at the National Memorial Arboretum a few miles south of Burton on Trent (and very close to Alrewas, Staffordshire).

Park the car, ask staff to point you in the right direction, and go for a hike.

There is so much to see and appreciate along the way

Wait! Don't go any farther. You're there!

My two sons and I followed the map (top of page) to the Combined Ops

memorial. Photo Credit - 'National Memorial Arboretum', Google Maps 

For newcomers, the message/information board (above) is filled with significant details provided by the creator of the 'Combined Operations Command' website - Geoff Slee, Edinburgh - the driving force behind the creation of the memorial to the thousands who (for the most part) volunteered for Combined Ops, including 950-1,000 Canadians (including my father) who joined sometime between 1941 - 45.

Canadians in Combined Ops took part in the invasions of North Africa

(Operation Torch), Sicily (Operation Husky), Italy (Operations Baytown

and Avalanche), and France (Operation Neptune). Canadians also took

part in raids at St. Nazaire and Dieppe, France.

My father prepared for the Dieppe Raid but did not take part in it's second running, i.e., Operation Jubilee*, August 19, 1942. He did participate in 'Torch' beginning November 8, 1942, followed by 'Husky' and 'Baytown' in Sicily and Italy (on the toe of the boot) during the following year (beginning July 10 in Sicily and September 3 in Italy).

To view a short video that features a few more photographs related to the much-appreciated and admired Combined Ops memorial, please click here - Gord's YouTube channel. 

1941: Two of the first Canadian sailors to volunteer for Combined Operations

Gordon "Doug" Harrison (left) and Buryl McIntyre from Norwich, ONT

In front of Wellington (aka Nelson) Barracks, HMCS Stadacona, Halifax

*the first running of the Dieppe Raid is known as Operation Rutter and was cancelled in its very early stages (July 7, 1942). This second link connects to more in depth information at Wikipedia.

When time allows, please link to Geoff Slee's Facebook page for current updates. And please visit Mr. Slee's informative website as listed below @ www.combinedops.com 

Geoff Slee (left) and Gord Harrison meet in Geoff's home near Edinburgh.

Photo by Margaret Slee. 2012

More photographs and details related to the National Memorial Arboretum and memorials dedicated to Allied Forces will soon follow.

Astute readers may have noted that I concluded the short video with  a very familiar line, i.e., "we will remember them," the last line of 'The Ode of Remembrance.'

The following is related to that well-known poem:

The Ode of Remembrance is perhaps the most famous of the remembrance day poems.

The ode is a section of a longer poem, ‘For the fallen’ by Laurence Binyon. It was first published in The Times in 1914 shortly after the outbreak of World War One, when the first signs of the devastation of modern warfare were becoming apparent.

The Ode of Remembrance is the third and fourth stanza of ‘For the fallen’. While the opening stanza of the poem specifies England’s dead, the later stanzas have been adopted across the world as a general poem of remembrance.

The Ode of Remembrance

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.”

The famous lines are spoken at Remembrance Sunday services, at funerals for the armed forces and other memorial services, including often as part of the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate. (As found at "Famous Remembrance Day Poems for Reflection" @ Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

Questions or comments can be addressed to Editor of Gord H.  - gordh7700@gmail.com

Please click here to view Memorials Dedicated to Combined Operations (1) - found in Canada.

Unattributed Photos GH

Dieppe: Photographs Taken at Newhaven After the Raid (3)

Commando Units and Allied Troops Return From the

Dieppe Raid, Mixed Emotions Upon Their Faces

Look familiar? It is. At the end of the previous post I shared the first

two photos in official photographer Lt. Humphrey Spender's series

entitled "Arrival Back From Dieppe." Above is the first.

The reverse side of the first photograph in the series provides a few

significant details re location, date and official photographer. IWM

All photos in the series are from the Imperial War Museum (IWM)

Those who visit IWM (using above link) can also visit 'Associated

Themes', e.g., British Army in Britain 1939 - 1945, 38,378 records!

Introduction:

In this post I share one official photographer's complete series (H22618 - H22633 by Lt. H. Spender) related to British troops returning from the Dieppe Raid on August 19, 1942. It is followed by a short series (8 pictures) entitled "Back From Dieppe." The first five photos in the series were taken by Sgt. Bill Wooldridge, and the last three were by Lt. Spender.

Not only does the photographer change but the location changes to Portsmouth before returning to, and concluding at, Newhaven. I do not believe that the moving about is a glitch.

Many official photographers (for the Royal Navy and other Allied forces) were in similar and widely different locations over the course of WWII and sent home thousands upon thousands of black and whites for eventual sorting and release. That Sgt. Wooldridge and Lt. Spender had similar assignments in two ports on the south coast of England at the same time is certainly not out of the ordinary. Now that I've become a little more familiar with methods re tracking down photos that have some direct link to the 1,000 (approx.) Canadians who volunteered for Combined Operations I have seen headings change re a long series of photos, locations in a series move from one place to another, and more. 

(What discourages me at times is that I cannot spot Canadians easily, because in many exercises and operations our trained sailors were sprinkled among RN crews on RN landing craft.)

Here we are in Newhaven as landing craft return from Dieppe. Soldiers and sailors show mixed emotions, that is clear, as they safely, worriedly, cheerfully disembark, with some wounded among them.  

Spender is spent! Photographer Wooldridge in Portsmouth now takes the lead:

Object description: Destroyer ORP Ślązak (Silesian) of the Polish Navy

arriving back at Portsmouth from Dieppe, 19 August 1942.

Credit to official photographer Sgt. Bill Wooldridge IWM

There is more than one spelling mistake on the reverse side of the photo : )

Much has been written about Dieppe. I share below a few details concerning the wounded:

Tremendous sacrifice

Although extremely valuable lessons were learned in the Raid on Dieppe, a steep price was paid. Of the 4,963 Canadians who embarked for the operation, only 2,210 returned to England, and many of these were wounded. There were 3,367 casualties, including 1,946 prisoners of war; 916 Canadians lost their lives.

Devastation on the beaches of Dieppe after the raid.

Photo: Library and Archives Canada C-014160

In addition to the 4,963 Canadian troops taking part in the raid, there were 1,075 British troops (52 fatalities), 50 of the 1st U.S. Ranger Battalion (one fatality) and 20 of the No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando.

Air and sea support was provided mainly by British forces. Their casualties were: Royal Navy—75 killed or died of wounds and 269 missing or prisoners, and Royal Air Force—62 fatalities.

From The Dieppe Raid  veterans.gc.ca

Bill Wooldridge's photos continue:

The series now concludes with three photographs by Lt. H. Spender:

Of course, not all that were returned to Newhaven or Portsmouth or other ports were joyous or thankful or wounded or worried about a mate. Some, killed in action, were prepared for burial and laid to rest just off Lewes Road (north west of Newhaven's harbour) in the town's cemetery - where they rest in peace to this day.

Please click here to view Dieppe: In Memory of Joseph McKenna, RCNVR (4B)

More photographs will soon follow related to the Combined Operations memorial that can be found at the National Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas, in Staffordshire, Great Britain. Reportedly, 950 - 1,000 members of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve (perhaps more from other branches of the Canadian Armed Forces but that is unknown to me at this time) volunteered for Combined Operations beginning in November - December, 1941. Among the first fifty to step forward or sign on was my father, Doug Harrison of Norwich, Ontario, and the rest of his mates in the Effingham Division, training at the time in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the Canadian Navy base HMCS Stadacona.

Once in the U.K. (Jan, 1942) they took part in their first training experiences (e.g., completing physical exercises with and like commandos at HMS Quebec, becoming familiar with various types of landing craft at RAF Dundonald/Auchengate) to prepare for operations that lay ahead, like Operation CHARIOT (raid at St. Nazaire), Operation RUTTER (cancelled raid at Dieppe), and Operation JUBILEE (raid at Dieppe, August 19, 1942; "it should have been cancelled as well," said my father).

Combined Ops memorial at National Memorial Arboretum.

May 30, 2026. G. Harrison

Please click here to view Dieppe: Photographs Taken at Newhaven After the Raid (2)

Questions or comments can be addressed to Editor, Gord H. - gordh7700@gmail.com

Unattributed Photos GH