The German was quicker to raise his weapon as he took aim at Captain Patrick Anthony Porteous and fired. The bullet struck Porteous' left hand, passing into his arm. But the young liaison officer, serving as a temporary major with No. 4 Commando, had little time to feel the pain or worry about the blood gushing from his wound. The enemy steadied his gun, ready for another shot. Surely this was it the moment he died.
It was 19 August, 1942, and Porteous was in Dieppe, France, for Operation Jubilee. While the Canadians were about to be slaughtered on the beaches surrounding the coastal commune, his party of special forces was tasked with destroying the 'Hess' battery that overlooked Allied shipping. The plan, created by No. 4 Commando's lieutenant colonel and Scottish Fraser clan chieftain Lord Lovat, had been quite simple. There were to be two parties, the first of which numbered 88 men under Major MillsRoberts and would land on the codenamed Orange Beach 1. After navigating up one of the gullies in the cliffside, Group 1 would make its way past the edge of Varengeville to within range of the battery. There, it would provide covering fire for the second party, which, having arrived on Orange Beach 2 a mile west of Quiberville, would capitalise on an already engaged enemy and launch the actual assault from the rear 15 minutes later. The far-flanking manoeuvre of the 164-strong Group 2, involving Porteous, was intended to take the Germans by surprise. Meanwhile, on the other flank of Dieppe, No. 3 Commando would participate in similar actions against the 'Goebbels' battery at Berneval.
This story is from the Issue 111 edition of History of War.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Issue 111 edition of History of War.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
NAUMACHIA TRUTH BEHIND ROME'S GLADIATOR SEA BATTLES
In their quest for evermore novel and bloody entertainment, the Romans staged enormous naval fights on artificial lakes
OPERATION MANNA
In late April 1945, millions of Dutch civilians were starving as Nazi retribution for the failed Operation Market Garden cut off supplies. eet as In response, Allied bombers launched a risky mission to air-drop food
GASSING HITLER
Just a month before the end of WWI, the future Fuhrer was blinded by a British shell and invalided away from the frontline. Over a century later, has the artillery brigade that launched the fateful attack finally been identified?
SALAMANCA
After years of largely defensive campaigning, Lieutenant General Arthur Wellesley went on the offensive against a French invasion of Andalusia
HUMBERT 'ROCKY'VERSACE
Early in the Vietnam War, a dedicated US Special Forces officer defied his merciless Viet Cong captors and inspired his fellow POWs to survive
LEYTE 1944 SINKING THE RISING SUN
One of the more difficult island campaigns in WWII's Pacific Theatre saw a brutal months-long fight that exhausted Japan’s military strength
MAD DAWN
How technology transformed strategic thinking and military doctrine from the Cold War to the current day
BRUSHES WITH ARMAGEDDON
Humanity came close to self-annihilation with the Cuban Missile Crisis, Broken Arrows’ and other nuclear near misses
THE DEADLY RACE
How the road to peace led to an arms contest between the USA and USSR, with prototypes, proliferation and the world’s biggest bomb
THE MANHATTAN PROJECT
Einstein, Oppenheimer and the race to beat Hitler to the bomb. How a science project in the desert helped win a war
