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Auction: 17001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 433

"You'll be taking your company over to France before February is out. Now it's up to you to see that everything works properly and that your Jocks are so fit they're jumping right out of their skins, or you won't have a hope of bringing them out alive."

Major P. E. Bromley-Martin to Major John Frost upon breaking the news of the Bruneval Raid; The Bruneval Raid, by George Millar refers.

A rare and important set of operational orders for the Operation "Biting", the daring Combined Operations raid on Bruneval on 27-28 February 1942

The set of operational orders, marked 'SECRET', belonging to Major P. E. Bromley-Martin, for Operation "Biting", 10 typed pp. with 2 additional inserts, annotated in ink dated '21 Feb' 1942' and the copy number '7', attributed in pencil, housed in a modern margin hole-punched folder, generally in good condition

Peter Edward Bromley-Martin was born in 1903, the son of Major Eliot George Bromley-Martin, a descendant of the Rouse-Boughton Baronets. Described as being a bright and cheerful staff Officer with a bushy moustache, Peter was heavily involved in the preparation for Operation "Biting"; see George Millar's The Bruneval Raid, Flashpoint of the Radar War for further details.

The Raid on Bruneval

Operation "Biting" was the codename given to the Combined Operations raid on the German radar position based in Northern France on 27-28 February 1942. With the assistance of the Royal Navy by way of a pick-up and withdrawal, the plan for a daring airborne raid was hatched, command of the force falling to Major John Frost of the Parachute Regiment, and later Arnhem fame. Such was the secrecy surrounding the operation that Frost was kept in the dark as to his final destination. Indeed his men were told they would be completing a training exercise on the Isle of Wight, with view to being inspected by Churchill and the Cabinet. Bromley-Martin, however, was clearly aware of the target, and it was only following some heated exchanges with Frost that he revealed the basics. He told him:

"You'll be taking your company over to France before February is out. Now it's up to you to see that everything works properly and that your Jocks are so fit they're jumping right out of their skins, or you won't have a hope of bringing them out alive."

With this he went on to describe how a special objective, which he was not yet at liberty to reveal even to Frost, was awaiting him. "Let's have a gin" replied Frost.

The final objective was infact to bring away components of a top secret Würzburg radar set. Following a number of cancellations due to poor weather, the raid took place on the evening of 27-28 February 1942 and was a complete success. Frost and his men were extracted by Motor Gun Boats, together with pieces of the dismantled radar and a German radar scientist. Our losses amounted to 2 killed, 6 wounded and 6 captured.

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£550