Operation Collar (commando raid)

Operation Collar
Part of Second World War, the North West Europe Campaign
Map of France the Pas-de-Calais highlighted in red
Date 24–25 June 1940 Location Neufchâtel-Hardelot Stella Plage Berck Le Touquet Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Nazi Germany
Commanders and leaders
Major Ronnie Tod	Unknown
Strength
115 officers and other ranks	Unknown
Casualties and losses
One wounded	Two dead

Operation Collar was the codeword for the first commando raid, conducted by the British forces, during the Second World War. The location selected for the raid was the Pas-de-Calais department on the French coast. The British Commandos had not long been formed and were not yet trained, so the operation was given to No. 11 Independent Company under the command of Major Ronnie Tod.

The raid's objective was the reconnaissance of four locations and the capture of prisoners. Over the night of 24/25 June 1940, 115 men of No. 11 Independent Company carried out the operation, but they failed to gather any intelligence or damage any German equipment; their only success was in killing two German sentries.

After the British Expeditionary Force had been evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill called for a force to be assembled and equipped to inflict casualties on the Germans and bolster British morale. Churchill told the joint Chiefs of Staff to propose measures for an offensive against German-occupied Europe, and stated: "they must be prepared with specially trained troops of the hunter class who can develop a reign of terror down the enemy coast."

One staff officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Dudley Clarke, had already submitted such a proposal to General Sir John Dill, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Dill, aware of Churchill's intentions, approved Clarke's proposal. The Commandos came under the operational control of the Combined Operations Headquarters. The man initially selected as the commander was Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, a veteran of the Gallipoli Campaign and the Zeebrugge Raid in the First World War.

...
Wikipedia