Operation Archway - Mission

Mission

Operation Archway was planned to support the XVIII Airborne Corps Operation Varsity parachute landings across the Rhine river. The force from the Special Air Service would be known as Frankforce. Named after the officer selected to command it, the commanding officer of 2nd Special Air Service, Lieutenant Colonel Brian Franks. Frankforce was made up of two reinforced Special Air Force squadrons, one each from the 1st and 2nd Special Air Service regiments. The force would number about 300 all ranks, mounted in 75 armed Jeeps, some also equipped with 3-inch Mortars. They were supported by a number of 15-cwt and 3-ton trucks. The 1st Special Air Service squadron was led by Major Poat and consisted of three troops, each consisting of three sections with three Jeeps. They had a 3 in. mortar section at Squadron Headquarters which also kept a reserve of 12 Jeeps. The 2nd SAS squadron under command Major Power had a similar composition but only two troops.

Their first mission in support of the XVIII Airborne Corps consisted of reconnaissance patrols in northern Germany. They crossed the Rhine in amphibious LVT Buffalos, on the 25 March at Bislich.

Frankforce was then assigned to support the British Guards Armoured Division in the area around the Dortmund–Ems Canal. After this Frankforce until the end of the war worked with the 2nd Welsh Guards, the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars and the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars, who were the armoured reconnaissance regiments of the Guards, 7th and 11th Armoured Divisions. The Special Air Service Jeeps being a faster and lighter alternative to the Cromwell tanks used by the armoured regiments. It was the 1st SAS squadron working with the 11th Armoured Division, who were among the first British troops into Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. They found between 50,000 and 60,000 inmates in the camp and for several days later SAS patrols assisted the Field Security Police in hunting down war criminals making several arrests. By the end of April 1945 they had reached the Elbe river, where they were joined by the Operation Keystone team, which was a squadron from 2nd SAS, under command of Major Hibbert.