Geoffrey Appleyard

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John Geoffrey Appleyard
Second World War
AwardsDistinguished Service Order
Military Cross & Bar

John Geoffrey Appleyard,

Commandos and Special Air Service
during the Second World War.

Early life and education

Appleyard was born in

first in Engineering and a skiing blue, while he was also his college's Captain of Boats, and competed as a highly successful international skier.[5]

Military service

Appleyard was commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps (Supplementary Reserve) on 1 April 1939 with the rank of second lieutenant.[6] Mobilised for active service on 24 August 1939,[1] he commanded an RASC mobile motor repair workshop as part of the British Expeditionary Force in northern France. During the Battle of France he was ordered to destroy all his vehicles, and then was evacuated from Dunkirk.[3]

Appleyard volunteered to join the Commandos in late 1940,[1] and was posted to B Troop, No. 7 Commando.[3] He was promoted to the war substantive rank of lieutenant on 1 January 1941[1] and, in May, now an acting captain, was awarded the Military Cross for his "gallant and distinguished services in the field",[7] after taking part in an operation by boat and submarine to pick up two Operation Savanna agents on the coast of France and bring them back to England.[5]

Appleyard then served aboard the 62-foot (19 m)

Duchessa d'Aosta and the German tug Likomba were boarded and towed from the neutral Spanish island of Fernando Po and taken to Nigeria.[8] On his return he was awarded a Bar to his Military Cross.[9]

After the success of "Postmaster", the "Maid Honor Force" was expanded (though it never numbered more than 55 men at any time) and renamed the "Small Scale Raiding Force", though its official designation was No. 62 Commando, under the operational control of Combined Operations Headquarters.[10] Appleyard took part in many SSRF raids on the coast of occupied France, landing in small boats from motor launches, compelling the Germans to reinforce their defences along hundreds of miles of coastline, and diverting significant numbers of troops from combat duties elsewhere.[3] However, an injury prevented him from going ashore in the disastrous Operation Aquatint, on 12 September 1942, when an attack at Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes, Normandy, went badly wrong and half the 10-man force were captured, and the other half killed, including the SSRF's commanding officer Major Gustavus March-Phillipps.[5] Its failure stemmed in part from Appleyard mistaking the landing beach, though he never knew that.[11]

Appleyard took command of the SSRF,[10] and led 10 men of the SSRF and No. 12 Commando,[12] on Operation Basalt, landing on the Channel island of Sark on the night of 3/4 October 1942. Five Germans were taken prisoner, but when one shouted a warning he was shot dead. With the enemy now alerted, the raiders returned to the beach with the remaining four prisoners. En route, three of them attempted to escape and were killed.[13] As a result, an enraged Hitler issued the infamous Kommandobefehl ("Commando Order"), stating that all captured Commandos were to be shot without exception.[12]

Further operations followed, and on 15 December 1942 Appleyard was awarded the

King George VI was both amused and impressed, greeting him with: "What, you again?"[5]

Death

The SSRF was disbanded in April 1943,

Cassino Memorial.[1]

Describing him, Vladimir "Popski" Peniakoff said, "He was one of the few officers who had developed the technique of the small scale raid: the care he took of his men made him stand out among brother officers who were too excited by the prospect of adventure to think of anybody, but their own selves."[16]

Cultural depictions

In the 2024 movie The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Geoffrey is portrayed by British actor Alex Pettyfer. The movie portrays a heavily fictionalized version of Operation Postmaster.[17]

See also

References

Notes
  1. ^ a b c d e Hans Houterman; Jeroen Koppes. "Officers of the British Army 1939–1945 (Anderson to Appleyard)". unithistories.com. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  2. ^ Lean, Mary (16 June 1998). "Obituary: Ian Appleyard". The Independent. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7475-9607-3
    .
  4. ^ Woodland, Jenny (2011). Bootham School Register. York, England: BOSA.
  5. ^ a b c d e "He who dared..." Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds. 22 September 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  6. ^ "No. 34612". The London Gazette. 31 March 1939. p. 2173.
  7. ^ "No. 35170". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 May 1941. p. 2937.
  8. ^ Turk, John (2011). "The Story of 'Maid Honour'". brixhamnews.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  9. ^ "No. 35821". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 December 1942. p. 5437.
  10. ^ a b c Trueman, Chris (2011). "Small Scale Raiding Force". historylearningsite.co.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  11. ^ Owen, James (2012). Commando. Little, Brown.
  12. ^ a b "No 12 Commando". commandoveterans.org. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  13. ^ Lippman, David H. "World War 2 Plus 55". usswashington.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  14. ^ "No. 35645". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 July 1942. p. 3293.
  15. ^ Wulfsohn, Ryan. "Cockleshell Heroes : British small boat operations in World War 2". specialoperations.com. Archived from the original on 22 October 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  16. ISBN 0-304-36143-7
    .
  17. ^ Vaux, Robert (5 February 2024). "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Trailer, Cast, Plot, Release Date & News". CBR.

Sources

  • Appleyard, John Ernest (1946). Geoffrey, Major John Geoffrey Appleyard, Being the Story of Apple of the Commandos and Special Air Service Regiment. London: Blandford.
  • Owen, James (2012). Commando. Little, Brown.
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