SWEEPING TO VICTORY

Amphibious invasions were tricky operations, and danger lurked for the Allied forces before they could even reach the shore

Victory against Germany hinged on the ability to liberate the European continent. Unlike Russia on the Eastern Front, the Western Allies were faced with the challenge of a hostile shore; Germany could not be defeated until Allied armies were back on the mainland. This would entail massive amphibious assaults and – given the enormous threat posed by the sea mine – a huge minesweeping effort.

Operations Neptune and Overlord in June 1944 would be the biggest test of the minesweepers’ ability to ensure an invasion force could go ashore without having been decimated by the mine threat. But before an undertaking of this scale could even be considered, the sweepers would need to develop the doctrine, tactics and technologies vital for such a complex operation. That process began in May 1942 with Operation Ironclad and the capture of Diego Suarez.

Ironclad was launched to pre-empt the possibility of Japan seizing the massive natural harbour of Diego Suarez in Madagascar from Vichy France and using the base to interdict vital supply lines to India and – via the Red Sea route – the Mediterranean. It was the first significant amphibious assault of the war and, inevitably, minesweepers were to the fore; a mixed flotilla cleared the way for the successful seizure of the beaches to the west of the harbour and, later, ensured safe passage into the harbour itself.