The Ron Penhall Collection

The Second World War North Africa operations D.C.M., Bruneval raid M.M. group of six awarded to Sergeant G. “Mac the Knife” McKenzie, Black Watch, attached 1st Parachute Battalion, who, having played a prominent part in the capture of the enemy’s secret radar installation at Bruneval, was taken P.O.W. during his unit’s gallant ‘fighting retreat’ from Oudna, Tunisia in late 1942 - he subsequently escaped

Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.VI.R. (2748467 Sjt. G. McKenzie, Black Watch); Military Medal, G.VI.R. (2748467 A. Sjt. G. McKenzie, Black Watch); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star, clasp, 1st Army; Defence and War Medals, mounted as worn, contact marks, otherwise generally good very fine or better (6) £6,000-8,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Ron Penhall Collection.

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D.C.M. London Gazette 11 April 1946. The original recommendation states:

‘On 30 November 1942, during operations by the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, in Tunisia, this N.C.O. was a Platoon Sergeant of a company which was ordered to attack and occupy the landing ground at Oudna. When the landing ground was reached the company was attacked by five heavy German tanks. This N.C.O. pressed on in spite of all opposition with a party of ten men and made a thorough reconnaissance of the landing ground and then brought his party back. On the following day, the Platoon was in position in the hills called Dj St. Bou Hadeba when the Battalion was heavily attacked. Sergeant McKenzie, in spite of heavy fire from artillery, mortars and machine-guns, and regardless of his personal safety, moved about encouraging his men and held the position to the end. His conduct, gallantry and leadership were an example to his men and of the highest standard.’

M.M. London Gazette 15 May 1942. The original recommendation states:

‘During the raid on the French coast at Bruneval on the night of Friday 27 February and Saturday 28 February 1942, this N.C.O. was in charge of a small party whose duty was to deal with the enemy guarding the Radio Location Station. This task was done most successfully. Throughout the operation he was conspicuous in his leadership, enthusiasm and, in particular, the determination with which he carried out the task. He showed great gallantry under fire.’

Gregor “Mac the Knife” McKenzie enlisted in the Black Watch in January 1922 and served out in India for several years prior to obtaining his discharge in December 1927. Back in Scotland, he found employment as a deer stalker at Auchnafree - an experience that he found of great value in his subsequent military career in the Parachute Regiment during which he was better known as “Mac the Knife” - but by the outbreak of hostilities in September 1939, he was working as a postman at Crieff. Rejoining his old regiment in June 1940, he transferred to the 2nd Parachute Battalion at the end of 1941, and was quickly posted to the Parachute Training Squadron at R.A.F. Ringway, where he joined the strength of Major T. Teichman’s ‘C’ Company and completed seven practice descents - three men of his unit were injured in the same course and another man refused to jump at all. Duly qualified as a parachutist and advanced to Acting Sergeant, McKenzie was about to embark on one of the most famous raids of the War, namely the fledgling 1st Parachute Brigade’s assault on the enemy radar station at Bruneval on 27-28 February 1942.

The Bruneval Raid

Allocated to the party code-named “Jellicoe”, a component of a larger group named “Drake”, under the command of Lieutenant P. A. Young, McKenzie’s task was to dispatch any guards and to assist in the overall storming of the villa known as the “Lone House”, and then to move on to secure the nearby Wurzburg radar installation that was the raiders’ main priority - a qualified Sergeant in the R.A.F. was to dismantle this secret hardware for embarkation in one of the Royal Navy’s coastal craft when they arrived to pick-up the parachutists immediately after the raid. The military force was placed under the overall command of Major J. D. Frost, while the R.A.F’s troop-carrying Whitley’s of No. 51 Squadron were commanded by another wartime legend, Wing Commander P. C. “Pick” Pickard.

After one postponement owing to weather conditions, the night of 27-28 February provided excellent conditions for the raid to proceed, a bright moon offering 51’s pilot’s good visibility and therefore better definition of the DZs. Accordingly, Frost’s 120-strong force was emplaned at Thruxton, McKenzie and his “Jellicoe” team clambering aboard Whitley Z-9217, piloted by Flight Sergeant Pevelerns. A little over two hours later, at around midnight, they arrived over Bruneval, making their jump onto the snow-covered terrain below from an altitude of 500 feet. Luckily for Frost, most of his men landed on their chosen DZs, and “Jellicoe” made swift progress towards the “Lone House”, ever conscious of the fact that a local garrision of 100 enemy troops was but 400 yards from their goal. Frost went with them, and once the villa had been surrounded, he and four men - some accounts speak of McKenzie with grenades at the ready among them - burst through the front door. Moments later yells and automatic gunfire broke the silence of the night and a German, who was busy firing on some of Young’s men who had reached the radar installation to the front of the villa, was quickly despatched. The element of surprise now over, Frost and his men moved quickly to secure the secret radar equipment, the R.A.F. Sergeant being assisted by a team of airborne R.Es, and it was at this juncture that the parachutists started to take their first casualties, among them a Lance-Corporal in McKenzie’s party. But probably the most concerning aspect of the night was the late arrival of the Navy on the beaches below the villa, for, unbeknown to Frost, the flotilla of coastal craft had encountered a brace of E-Boats - it was therefore impossible for the S.N.O. to respond to Frost’s frantic signals while his flotilla “lay-low” and waited for the threat to pass. At length, however, the Navy did indeed arrive, and the parachutists were embarked for the voyage home, the advent of dawn permitting the arrival of a Spitfire escort:

‘So ended the raid on Bruneval which, at the cost of two killed, six wounded and six missing, fulfilled the exact intention of those who had planned it. Frost and Charteris were awarded the M.C.; Young was mentioned in despatches; Flight Sergeant Cox received the M.M., as did Sergeants Grieve and McKenzie. Company Sergeant-Major Strachan was awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm ... On the day after the raid a Hurricane was sent on a reconnaissance over Bruneval and La Presbytere. Its pilot saw a number of German officers round the circular hole which had housed the radar apparatus and which now gaped wide and empty. He dived and opened fire with his machine-guns. The hole was quickly occupied’ (The Red Beret, by H. St. G. Saunders, refers).

Other than the value of the captured radar apparatus to our “boffins”, the Bruneval raid achieved one other notable success, namely the acceptance by higher authority that the military could - and should - expand its airborne capability. John Frost takes up the story in his biography, A Drop Too Many:

‘One very beneficial result from our point of view was that it put our airborne forces on the map. General “Boy” Browning had been having difficulty in persuading people that airborne forces could play a really useful part in the war. Despite the successes of German airborne troops, the traditional conservatism of many Service chiefs stood in the way of experiment, very largely because our more conventional resources were already strained. Now our General was able to get some degree of priority and the Prime Minister, who had initiated the formation of our Parachute troops, was encouraged to ensure that we had the necessary support. It was also a feather in the cap for Headquarters Combined Operations.’

The 2nd Parachute Battalion’s retreat from Oudna, Tunisia

Fresh back from the success of its daring enterprise at Bruneval, the 2nd Parachute Battalion was ordered to Salisbury Plain to undergo further rigorous training, and thence to Netheravon to convert to American-piloted Dakotas for future airborne operations. That October, once again under the command of Frost, the Battalion was embarked for Algiers, where it joined the stength of 1st Army in readiness for active employment in Tunisia. What followed culminated in a protracted retreat that resulted in casualties of around 260 officers and men - Frost, who was much to the fore throughout, blowing his hunting horn to rally his men, was among the lucky few to make British lines.

Frost and his men had been allocated the task of capturing the enemy airfield at Oudna, and were dropped from a force of 44 Dakotas at Depienne, a few miles from their goal, at 1450 hours on 29 November 1943. At about midnight, the parachutists moved north towards Oudna, marching by rough tracks and over steep hills, and after covering around 12 miles they had their first brush with the enemy. The airfield, nonetheless, was taken and our positions consolidated, thanks largely to the gallant deeds cited in the recommendation for McKenzie’s D.C.M., not least the repulse of an attack made by five heavy enemy tanks. Then the Lufwaffe arrived, 109s making low-level machine-gun attacks, but fortunately the parachutists’ camouflage smocks worked well in concealing their exact positions. Casualties, however, were mounting and Frost decided to take his force west to try and link up with a planned push being made by the 1st Army - a push that was ultimately cancelled, thereby leaving the Battalion out on a limb:

‘Threatened by greatly superior forces, including German tanks and lorried infantry, only about nine miles from the German base at Tunis, and being several miles over the hills from the nearest British formation, there was no alternative except to withdraw, avoiding action if possible. From now, the morning of 1 December until 3 December, the Battalion moved generally westwards over very difficult hilly country. They were continually attacked by tanks, infantry and aircraft but maintained cohesion and made every use of cover by day and night. At 1600 hours on 3 December the leading elements of the Battalion reached the Allied lines at Medjez. Small parties, who had been isolated in the withdrawal, continued to arrive until the 5 December. The strength of the unit was now about 200 all ranks, having suffered some 260 casualties, including killed, wounded and missing’ (Airborne Forces, by Lieutenant-Colonel T. B. H. Otway, D.S.O., refers).

For his own part, McKenzie was captured on the 1 December in his gallant fight ‘to the end’ in the hills at Dj St. Bou Hadeba. Subsequently incarcerated in Campo 66 at Capua in Western Italy, he appears to have made a successful bid for freedom, or certainly according to a local wartime newspaper feature, in which his wife is reported as having received an Italian post-marked letter from him in which he said he was ‘back in circulation again.’

Having rejoined the Black Watch in August 1945, McKenzie was discharged in December of that year.