Killing the Enemy: Assassination Operations During World War II by Adam Leong Kok Wey

Author:Adam Leong Kok Wey [Wey, Adam Leong Kok]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, World War II, Special Forces, Europe, Great Britain, General
ISBN: 9781784530723
Google: X7vioQEACAAJ
Goodreads: 22929440
Publisher: I. B. Tauris
Published: 2015-02-19T00:00:00+00:00

The plan to ‘Get Rommel’

Michael Asher, in his book Get Rommel, claimed that in September 1941 Keyes heard from his sources in the military intelligence at General Head Quarters (GHQ), Middle East, in Cairo, that Rommel's headquarters had been discovered by Arab agents working for G(R), SOE, and located in Beda Littoria.57 Keyes's source was Lieutenant Colonel Henry J. ‘Kid’ Cator (attached to a G(R), SOE),58 a friend and officer with whom Keyes had served in the Royal Scots Grey (Keyes' original unit before joining the commandos). Keyes was excited at the prospect of conducting a Special Operation to decapitate the German military leadership and set about arranging a meeting with Cunningham, the General Officer Commanding, Western Desert Forces. Cunningham listened to Keyes' idea and was receptive to the plan. Cunningham was hard pressed to start a new offensive against the Axis lines and relieve the siege of Tobruk.59 The offer of a diversionary attack in conjunction with his intended major counter offensive was attractive, especially with some probability of success and little risk of losses.

Keyes' proposal to use a small force of commandos to strike at various objectives during his planned operation offered an appealing economy-of-force operation that may yield disproportionate results should Rommel be captured or killed. This operation, codenamed Operation Flipper, was planned to coincide with Operation Crusader, and a series of other Special Operations raids behind Axis lines conducted by the SAS, and a diversionary attack by the defenders of Tobruk. These operations were expected to cause confusion at the back of the Axis forces. Cunningham, reputedly inexperienced in armoured warfare, was receptive to any ideas on diversionary attacks that could avert some of his fears for the first major offensive that he would command.60

The official archival records, however, showed that the planning for the attack on Rommel's headquarters was devised in Eighth Army headquarters and took several weeks to deliberate.61 Keyes was reported to have attended all the meetings and was involved heavily in the planning of Operation Flipper.62 Commander of Middle East Commando, Laycock, was also involved in the planning stage. The necessity of removing Rommel from the scene can be substantiated by other contextual evidence.

The mystique of Rommel and his invincibility had bewitched the British troops since his rapid successes in Libya.63 His prowess in the battlefield had earned him a fearsome reputation among the troops of both the British and German forces. His presence on the battlefield alone was enough to raise the morale of the outnumbered German troops. Rommel's tactical acumen and ability to use combined arms warfare gave him a distinct advantage over less experienced British senior officers. O'Connor was said to be his match but was unfortunately captured by German forces early on, rendering the British forces disabled temporarily in launching armoured and combined arms warfare.64 The removal of the Rommel factor was seen at that time as a most important, albeit desperate, measure to offset the Germans' strategic advantage. Winston Churchill commented on the importance of this operation

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