George Arthur Frank Frost
(His
Commando days)
Picture of G A F Frost (right) with Chung at Dunoon before being ordered into Glasgow on behalf of Chief Constable Percy Sillitoe, later head of MI5
As I state in ‘Reflections at 2. My family, my father and mother’ my father had a distinguished war career.
Elsewhere on this website at (BJ) ‘On Naivety at ‘Osnabruck’ I note some happening following the Lofoten raid; at ‘(BM) On Why Judges’ I example one of my father’s more clandestine operations – in this article I précis the Lofoten commando raid and provide my father’s subsequent lecture notes for his talk at a dinner hosted by Louis Mountbatten with Churchill in attendance.
My father proved to be an excellent family man but I have no illusions as to his wartime career – my father and some of his colleagues were trained as killers or terrorists but for the name. I briefly recount two of the raids -- Lofoten and Sark – both of which became prominent – Lofoten for its success and Sark in turn for Hitler’s Commando Order printed below.
Apart from operating in German controlled territory my father conducted missions in the Irish Free State; Sweden and Scotland. In addition to being an excellent shot he developed skills in unarmed combat and quick dispatch – he was a ‘worker bee’. He drafted papers on the use of plastic explosives and assisted in the guerrilla training of the French and Norwegian underground. Indeed it was his skills in sabotage and association with Mountbatten that provided his modus operandi in India. In my father’s opinion Hitler was correct to issue the Commando Order – he neither had regrets or emotion as to his job – in fact he relished the hunt and the kill -- and Hitler’s Order was the obvious symptom of the Commando’s success. As time permits I will publish further notes from my father’s wartime career – not just from his commando days but his subsequent exploits in the Far East.
Following the fall of France and the evacuation from Dunkirk, Britain stood alone with the enemy occupying most of Europe (and poised to complete their conquests with the invasion of the British Isles).
With the cards seemingly stacked against him, Winston Churchill took the bold and imaginative step to raise a force of special raiding troops to strike back at the enemy on his newly acquired home ground. Taking their names from the mobile guerrilla units of the Boer War, these new units were called Commandos. Their ranks were open to all serving soldiers and volunteers came from all the different regiments and service units in the British Army to join them. However, from the beginning Commando training was tough and demanding and anyone failing to attain the required standards was returned to his unit.
The Commando War Memorial
Picture of G.A.F.Frost (far right) smoking pipe outward bound on raid.
The Lofoten Raid
In March 1941, Operation Claymore was executed against the Lofoten Islands, (Norwegian Territories within the Arctic Circle occupied by the Nazis). They arrived at the Lofoten Island in the early hours of 4th March. The Germans were totally unaware of the attack, and the troops were taken by surprise. The Fish Oil factories and military installations were destroyed and they then re-embarked and headed for home. They returned home with over 300 volunteers for the Norwegian forces, sixty Quislings and 200 German prisoners, all for the cost of one casualty; an officer who had accidentally shot himself in the thigh!
Four pages of G.A.F.Frost’s hand
written notes for his after dinner
talk to Mountbatten and Churchill, as Dad put it, ‘the virtuous common
soldier’s report to his betters’.
An MTB similar to the one
used by G.A.F.Frost at Sark and Lofoten
Because of her relatively small size an MTB was difficult to detect by radar. Her armaments comprised two Vickers machine guns either side of the bridge and Lewis guns aft of the crew's quarters. Normally she had a crew of eight.
My father was superbly fit – he enjoyed bicycle racing—he was a marksman – he was a bachelor with no recognised family – thus he was not only an early entrant into the Commandos but within this august body he was singled out for special duties. Often he was co-opted into the Small Scale Raiding force (SSRF) who specialised in "pinprick" raids on the coast of Northern France and the Channel Islands which were designed to have a demoralising effect on the German troops as well as more generally tying up enemy resources that would otherwise be used on other fronts. Raids were made usually by six to eight men, most often from a MTB though canoes were sometimes used to make landing. During a raid on Sark, outside a hotel, my father knifed a German sentry and captured a number of Germans within the hotel with the intention of removing them for interrogation – a young German became hysterical and started to shout out – my father executed them which prompted Hitler to issue his infamous Commando Order.
The Commando Order
Hitler's infamous Commando Order and the covering minute from German Army HQ. The order was a death sentence for any Commando participating in a raid who fell into the hands of German forces. There were strict controls over copying and retaining the order on file and above all order the was under "no circumstances to fall into enemy hands."
The Fuhrer SECRET
No. 003830/42g.Kdos.OWK/Wst F.H. Qu 18.10.1942
12 copies
Copy No.12.
1. For a long time now our opponents have been employing in their conduct of the war, methods which contravene the International Convention of Geneva. The members of the so-called Commandos behave in a particularly brutal and underhand manner; and it has been established that those units recruit criminals not only from their own country but even former convicts set free in enemy territories. From captured orders it emerges that they are instructed not only to tie up prisoners, but also to kill out-of-hand unarmed captives who they think might prove an encumbrance to them, or hinder them in successfully carrying out their aims. Orders have indeed been found in which the killing of prisoners has positively been demanded of them.
2. In this connection it has already been notified in an Appendix to Army Orders of 7.10.1942. that in future, Germany will adopt the same methods against these Sabotage units of the British and their Allies; i.e. that, whenever they appear, they shall be ruthlessly destroyed by the German troops.
3. I order, therefore:-
From now on all men operating against German troops in so-called Commando raids in Europe or in Africa, are to be annihilated to the last man. This is to be carried out whether they be soldiers in uniform, or saboteurs, with or without arms; and whether fighting or seeking to escape; and it is equally immaterial whether they come into action from Ships and Aircraft, or whether they land by parachute. Even if these individuals on discovery make obvious their intention of giving themselves up as prisoners, no pardon is on any account to be given. On this matter a report is to be made on each case to Headquarters for the information of Higher Command.
4. Should individual members of these Commandos, such as agents, saboteurs etc., fall into the hands of the Armed Forces through any means - as, for example, through the Police in one of the Occupied Territories - they are to be instantly handed over to the S.D.
To hold them in military custody - for example in P.O.W. Camps, etc., - even if only as a temporary measure, is strictly forbidden.
5. This order does not apply to the treatment of those enemy soldiers who are taken prisoner or give themselves up in open battle, in the course of normal operations, large scale attacks; or in major assault landings or airborne operations. Neither does it apply to those who fall into our hands after a sea fight, nor to those enemy soldiers who, after air battle, seek to save their lives by parachute.
6. I will hold all Commanders and Officers responsible under Military Law for any omission to carry out this order, whether by failure in their duty to instruct their units accordingly, or if they themselves act contrary to it.
(Sgd) A Hitler
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY SECRET
No. 551781/42G.K. Chefs W.F.St/Qu. F.H. Qu. 19/10/42
22 Copies
Copy No.21.
The enclosed Order from the Fuhrer is forwarded in connection with destruction of enemy Terror and Sabotage-troops.
This order is intended for Commanders only and is in no circumstances to fall into Enemy hands.
Further distribution by receiving Headquarters is to be most strictly limited.
The Headquarters mentioned in the Distribution list are responsible that all parts of the Order, or extracts taken from it, which are issued are again withdrawn and, together with this copy, destroyed.
Chief of Staff of the Army
(Sgd) JODL