Daring SAS mission to ‘kill or kidnap’ Nazi general Erwin Rommel in bid to break post-D Day deadlock comes to light

A daring little-known mission by the SAS to ‘kill or kidnap’ Erwin Rommel during World War Two has been revealed 80 years later.

After his French castle fortress was discovered by SAS Major Bill Fraser, a team of six commandos were assembled to target the ‘Desert Fox’ in the weeks after D-Day in June 1944.

The plan was for a sniper to hide in the woods on the opposite bank of the River Seine to the chateau and shoot him from 400 yards while the Nazi military supremo walked in the Italian gardens.

If they managed to take him alive, they would have brought in an aircraft to whisk him out of Nazi-occupied France from a prepared landing strip.

The secret plan was approved by Field Marshal General Bernard Montgomery, who hoped that by capturing or eliminating Rommel, it would break the deadlock in the weeks after the Normandy invasion amid stalemate fears.

After his French castle fortress was discovered by SAS Major Bill Fraser, a small team was assembled to target the ‘Desert Fox’ in the weeks after D-Day in June 1944. Pictured: Moore’s daggers

If they managed to take Erwin Rommel (pictured) alive, they would have brought in an aircraft to whisk him out of Nazi-occupied France from a prepared landing strip

The plan was for a sniper to hide in the woods on the opposite bank of the Seine to the chateau and shoot him from 400 yards while the Nazi military supremo walked in the Italian gardens. Pictured: Moore in Germany in 1945

The intelligence dossier on Rommel was very detailed, including the routes he used to travel to and from the chateau, in the village of La Roche-Guyon, 50 miles west of Paris.

It was recorded that he usually left the building at between 5am and 6am, returned at about 6pm, dined at about 7.30pm and, crucially, after dinner went for a stroll in the grounds, on terrain which was open to a sniper shot from the far bank of the Seine.

Of the six commandos who parachuted in for the high risk operation, only one, Corporal Tom Moore, was British.

The other elite soldiers were Frenchman Captain Raymond Lee (formerly Raymond Couraud), Second Lieutenant Robert Raillard, Sergeant Pierre Durban, Sergeant Fedossef from Russia, and defecting German Sergeant Max Mark.

But, almost immediately after landing behind enemy lines at Dourdan, south west of Paris, on July 25, they learnt that Rommel had been badly injured in an RAF airstrike while being driven in his staff car from his chateau to the frontline.

Instead of aborting the mission, they met up with French Resistance fighters to mount a series of increasingly bold operations against the enemy.

During an ‘extremely fruitful week’, they ambushed road convoys, derailed and set a train on fire, shot up another one, and then, in their most thrilling attack, stormed a German military command post in the town of Mantes-la-Jolie.

This is where Rommel’s staff were stationed and they thought: ‘If we can’t get the King, let’s go after the courtiers.’

On the night of August 7, they dashed through the darkened streets of Mantes to the command post.

One of the commandos stabbed the sentry guard at the entrance, whose screams alerted those inside.

As the door flung open they opened fire on everyone who ran outside with Bren guns.

The secret plan was approved by Field Marshal General Bernard Montgomery, who hoped that by capturing or eliminating Rommel, it would break the deadlock in the weeks after the Normandy invasion amid stalemate fears. Pictured: Moore by a plane in 1945

For Cpl Moore (pictured), the war was personal as his brother Jack was killed in the Battle of the Java Sea in February 1942

A dozen Germans were killed in the shoot-out before they ran out of ammunition.

Vastly outnumbered by the enemy, the commandos had to run for six hours before shaking off their hunters, reaching their farm headquarters completely exhausted.

The friendly farmer produced several bottles of wine to celebrate the attack, their last before they returned to the American lines.

The team’s hair-raising exploits are told in unprecedented detail in a new book by military historian Damien Lewis, SAS Daggers Drawn.

He has tracked down Cpl Moore’s grandson Stephen Evans who did not learn about his grandfather’s exploits until long after he died in 1987.

Mr Lewis has also discovered that Cpl Moore single-handedly stopped an enemy train behind enemy lines with his Bren gun by unleashing two magazines into its engine.

For Cpl Moore, the war was personal as his brother Jack was killed in the Battle of the Java Sea in February 1942.

He did not like to talk about his war exploits so his story has only emerged from the recently discovered family archives of SAS hero Paddy Mayne.

Mr Lewis learnt more about Operation Gaff by going through secret files at the National Archives in Kew and reading Couraud’s wartime memoirs.

Mr Lewis said: ‘Had they managed to kill or ideally kidnap Rommel, it would have been the most high profile, controversial and extraordinary mission of the war.

‘This plan was approved at the highest level by General Montgomery as he felt there was the risk of a stalemate by the end of July 1944 and he wanted to break the impasse.

‘Cpl Moore was the only British member of the team and he single-handedly held up a train and shot it to pieces with a light machine gun to take it out of action.

‘They also took out German military trucks, staff cars and finished off with the attack on the German headquarters.

‘It is safe to say they caused dozens of enemy casualties.

‘Operation Gaff was a sensitive mission and the files were kept closed for quite a long time.

‘It is nice that the families are finding out what their grandfathers really got up to.

Rommel committed suicide in October 1944 after he was implicated in the July 20 plot to assassinate Hitler. Pictured: Tom Moore’s grave 

‘Cpl Moore told Stephen very little about the war other than that he was in the SAS, so he was blown away and very proud to learn what the man who he remembered throwing him a rugby ball in the garden did.’

Cpl Moore, a Yorkshireman, had served in North Africa and Italy earlier in the war, where it is believed he met Couraud.

After Operation Gaff, he carried out secretive operations in Germany then disarmed enemy forces in Norway.

Then followed a three year post-war stint in India before he returned to Britain to work as a machinist with Rootes Motors in Coventry, Warks, and raise a family.

Stephen said: ‘My reaction to discovering the full story of Operation Gaff now is – simply phenomenal. It’s made me immensely proud, that he was involved in that.

‘It’s made me wonder how was he selected for such a mission and to be so closely involved – it was so exclusive.

‘When I read about Operation Gaff and realised he stopped an enemy train solo, behind enemy lines, with his Bren gun – I’m astounded that my granddad was involved in that.

‘Learning more about Op Gaff, I think they would have failed to get Rommel, because it was basically a suicide mission.

‘The defences around Rommel’s chateau, his headquarters, were basically impenetrable.

‘So, if Rommel hadn’t been got by the RAF, as he was, I would very likely not be here. It’s a sobering thought.

‘I presume my granddad was selected for the mission – there were only six of them – due to his attitude and fighting prowess.

‘All the others on the mission could speak French – he was the only Englishman – and in one case at least could speak German.

‘But as far as I know my granddad spoke no French – that must have put him in even greater danger, if he alone didn’t speak the language.

‘It’s fantastic to see the full story of my granddad and Operation Gaff being told now.

‘I don’t think people appreciated the stakes involved in the kind of operations my grandfather undertook.

‘That’s why it’s so important we keep the memory alive and remind people today.’

Rommel committed suicide in October 1944 after he was implicated in the July 20 plot to assassinate Hitler.