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.....The 2nd Parachute Battalion began
to form in the autumn of 1941, with the aim of
reaching operational readiness in the summer of
1942. However, it had barely completed parachute
training when in January 1942 C Company, led by
Major John Frost, was chosen for a special
mission proposed by Admiral Lord Mountbatten,
Chief of Combined Operations. .....The
target was the Wurzburg precision radar dish, one
of a series of early-warning installations on the
north coast of France. This particular radar dish
was situated close to an isolated clifftop
chateau near the French coastal village of
Bruneval, north of Le Havre. The objective was
not to destroy the dish but to dismantle it and
return to England with as many of its vital parts
as possible. It was a task which could be
accomplished only by airborne troops, as
Bruneval's steep cliffs and a string of
machine-gun posts ruled out a direct beach
assault.
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