Granville Raid

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The Granville Raid occurred on the night of 8 March–9 March 1945 when a German raiding force from the Channel Islands successfully landed and brought back supplies to their base.^[1]

[edit] History

During the Second World War, Granville, Manche, France was the site of a prisoner of war camp. In December 1944 four German paratroopers and a Naval cadet escaped from the camp, eventually stole an American LCVP landing craft and made their way to the German occupied Channel Islands. They were greeted as heroes and reported that several ships were in the harbour at Granville discharging coal that was in short supply in the beleaguered Islands. They also reported the disposition of American troops in the area. The former prisoners were shot down by a night fighter when returning to Germany in early 1945.

The new garrison commander of the Channel Islands, Vice-Admiral Friedrich Hüffmeier, a former captain of the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst, used the intelligence to plan a raid against the Allies to restore morale to his garrison and obtain needed supplies. An early raid on the night of 6 February–7 February 1945 was called off by a combination of bad weather and when an escorting E-Boat was detected by United States Navy ship PC-552.^[2]

The successful raid, led by Kapitãin-Leutnant Carl Friedrich Mohr, occurred on the night of 8 March–9 March 1945. Hüffmeier's raiding force comprised four large M class minesweepers (M412, M432, M442, M459), three armed barges (artillery lighters) carrying 88mm cannons, three fast motor launches, two small minesweepers, and a seagoing tug. Though the raid was successful in its execution, Allied resistance delayed the time table so only one collier, the S.S. Eskwood containing 112 tonnes of coal, could be taken back to the Channel Islands due to the low tide. A German minesweeper, the M412 De Schelde, ran aground and was captured. One American ship, PC 564, was grounded escaping from the Germans, with half its crew wounded or killed, the rest were taken prisoner. The Germans sunk the British freighters Kyle Castle, Nephrite, Parkwood and the Norwegian merchantman Heien. German forces also damaged the locks and harbour and started fires. Several American prisoners were taken (some soures claim 30 allied servicemen were taken, Including the crew of PC 564 mentioned above) and 55 German POW's were liberated (some sources claim 67). Two US marines were killed at the hotel, and with the help of the hotel staff rounded up the nine most senior US personnel in the town. One RN officer and his men also died during this attack.

Mohr was awarded the Knight's Cross on 13 March 1945 with Oberleutnant zur See Otto Karl in command of Artillery Lighter AF 65 was awarded the Knights Cross on 21 March 1945.^[3]

In a later operation, an eighteen-man German sabotage raid from Jersey landing from rubber boats on Cape de la Hague on 5 April 1945 with a mission to destroy installations were captured.

A further raid was planned for 7 May 1945, but Admiral Karl Dönitz ordered Hüffmeier not to carry out any more offensive operations so close to the end of the war.