Photography: The Paddle Group, Royal Marines and the Royal Navy
Paddling the Channel for D-Day
In June 1944, over 17,500 Royal Marines took part in Operation Neptune, more commonly known as the D-Day landings. They formed a crucial element of the largest amphibious invasion force in history.
For the Royal Marines – who remain the UK’s specialist in amphibious operations – 6 June 1944 and the subsequent campaign in Normandy remain one of the proudest chapters in the Corps’ 360-year history. More than 17,600 Royal Marines were assigned to D-Day, and one in 40 Marines – more than 430 men – made the ultimate sacrifice as the Allies sought to liberate north-western Europe from Nazi tyranny. Eighty years later, a smaller force of 19 serving and veteran Marines from the RMA Paddle Group embarked on an 87.5-nautical mile paddle across the English Channel to mark the anniversary and raise awareness of the vital work with veterans carried out by the RMA – The Royal Marines Charity.
The RMA Paddle Group is formed of veteran and serving Commandos from across the Royal Navy, the Army, and the Royal Air Force, including veterans rehabilitated by the Hasler Naval Service Recovery Centre, and on this expedition was joined by civilian Keith Breslauer, who is Vice Patron of the RMA – The Royal Marines charity. The group was founded by veteran Marines and brothers Chris and Joe Maynard, along with Lee Waters, a former colour sergeant who is now ISKGA Advanced Guide and BC (PUK) Advanced Sea Leader.
This is not the first feat of endurance undertaken by the Paddle Group, however, which was first formed 10 years ago to participate in The Royal Marines 1664 Challenge (marking the 350th anniversary of the corps) through a 120 nautical mile cross-Channel kayaking challenge – this time from France to England. Multiple expeditions and training sessions have followed – while in 2017, they recreated Operation Frankton – the heroic ‘Cockleshell Heroes’ raid – on its 75th anniversary, involving an 85-mile paddle up the Gironde estuary in France followed by a 100-mile yomp (slow run) to Ruffec.
Hasler Naval Service Recovery Centre
Lee, who was medically discharged from the Royal Marines having been badly wounded in Afghanistan and subsequently developed depression and combat-related PTSD, joined these expeditions as part of his rehabilitation through the Hasler Naval Service Recovery Centre, which serves as a dedicated facility for the rehabilitation and recovery of serving Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel who have been injured or become ill as a result of their service. Through this rehabilitation, Lee retrained to become an advanced sea kayaking guide, which the RMA funded.
So when the 80th anniversary of D-Day came around, and potentially the last opportunity to commemorate a major anniversary of the landings with living veterans from WWII, Lee and Joe were certain that they wanted to mark the occasion. Lee comments, “We’d done a small expedition for the 75th anniversary and were blown away by the amount of interest people were showing in us, and so we thought, why don’t we get a group together and paddle across the Channel for the 80th? Our first expedition highlighted the small tasks that were actually mammoth that people were doing behind the scenes, and so we wanted to do this to draw attention to the unsung heroes and people who made it possible – both today and 80 years ago.”
Bootnecks
Lee continued, “We couldn’t have organised it without the Royal Marines network – as something we were organising off our own backs, we had to call in a lot of favours! But this isn’t new to us – we all come from humble origins and have had to provide everything ourselves, so we made it work like Bootnecks (the traditional nickname for Royal Marines) make operations work. This old Bootneck network was crucial, whether that was in sourcing the military-spec suits for the paddle or our contacts at the Port of London Authority, who allowed us to paddle through London beforehand and under Tower Bridge.
“We really leant on this network and were helped out by old friends we’d worked with for many years – all of whom helped us without hesitation and made it work, no questions asked. This even extended to getting us a dedicated LCU (landing craft utility) from 47 Commando, which we later joined for their re-enactment of the D-Day landings on Gold Beach. This was key in our successful completion of the paddle – without this LCU, we wouldn’t have been able to put seven kayaks in the water.”
Having cobbled together the men, materials, and kayaks for the crossing, the group departed the Royal Marines Yomper at Eastney, Portsmouth, in two-man Klepper folding kayaks on 3 June. They aimed to cross the English Channel through the night and arrive in Port-en-Bessin on 4 June 2024. As the crow flies, there is 160km between those two points; in the end, the group paddled a route of over 200km due to winds and currents.
These weren’t the only obstacles either. The group had to share their landing craft with a group of tourists in WWII paraphernalia and their amphibious ‘DUKW’, which had the unintended consequence of blocking the back of the craft, while the front couldn’t be lowered as it hasn’t been used in over a year. Nonetheless, the group managed to get their kayaks back in the water and keep the boat rotation going, even when they also had to tie a broken-down support boat to the back of the LCU!
The expedition certainly embodied the oft-quoted maxim that no plan survives contact with the enemy, but every single time there was a problem, the veterans came up with a solution.
As Joe said, “While in no way comparable, meeting unexpected challenges was exactly as it happened on D-Day, where there were numerous problems on the beaches, some of which weren’t cleared as the Marines thought they’d be. But if anything, this was more important from a mental health and rehabilitation point of view for the guys involved. It was great to see some things go wrong and for them to push through it, and the impact on individuals who’ve been out of it for so long was huge.”
Lee added, “You can plan as much as you want, but if there’s anything above a force 5, it’s game over – and this was looking very marginal when we set up. Force 5 in a Klepper is manageable as long as it’s not wind over tide, and luckily we had the tide with us. But we were constantly thinking about the ‘what ifs’ and how we would get back on the LCU if needed. We’re lucky with the blokes we’ve got, who are the sort of people who would take a wave in the face, keep that sense of purpose, and focus on the task at hand. For example, the bladder in one of our boats broke down, meaning they were paddling sideways, but the next morning, we fixed it and kept going. I always say that the sea is a really good healing environment. Placed back in that team environment where you’re trusted and relied upon, these guys can adapt, overcome and carry on.”
The Royal Marines’ values of courage, determination, unselfishness, and cheerfulness in the face of adversity were still being practised 80 years after D-Day. This explains why, even though so much time has passed, the Normandy landings are still relevant today.
Allied landing beaches
Following this crossing, the Paddle Group conducted a littoral paddle of the Allied landing beaches, beginning with the US sectors (Utah and Omaha) on the 5 June and culminating with the British and Canadian sectors (Gold, Juno and Sword) on the 6 June, where the Paddle Group joined the re-enactment of the landings at Gold Beach with 47 Commando on the D-Day anniversary itself.
The expedition aimed to increase awareness of both the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the RMA’s vital work with veterans, as well as raise over £40,000 for the charity. With all funds raised through the expedition matched by Patron Capital, it is the latest in the long-running charitable partnership between the two organisations, which has seen Patron and Keith Breslauer raise approximately £5.3 million for the charity since 2010, helping more than 460 serving and retired service personnel directly.
Keith Breslauer, who joined the veterans on the expedition, said, “This re-enactment was not only a way to remember and honour the heroes of June 1944 who turned the tide on the Nazi occupation of Europe, but by including veterans rehabilitated by Hasler Naval Service Recovery Centre, provided the opportunity for wounded, injured or sick servicemen on their rehabilitation journey to overcome an immense challenge. Having paddled alongside them for hour after hour, I was also honoured to share this experience with them as we pay tribute to past heroes and those who have served or continue to serve in our armed services. As Vice Patron of the RMA, I am immensely proud to continue to support the ex-servicemen and women who give so much for us.”
Hasler Naval Service Recovery Centre
The RMA, Keith and Patron have worked extensively with the Hasler Naval Service Recovery Centre to help war veterans preparing to re-enter civilian life through donations to fund specialist equipment, respite breaks for them and their families at Patron-owned hotels, and introductions to source relevant internship and career opportunities.
Thanks to various sponsors, charitable donations and Patron’s support, the RMA Paddle Group can now deliver six boats with the correct PPE to individuals for an expedition with zero cost. But it’s not been a straightforward route to get to this position. Joe explains, “We got all these boats from begging, borrowing and stealing – it’s taken five years to get here, but now we’re doing two expeditions a year with the correct kit and at no cost to the guys involved, which is so important. What we found on the first expedition that we ever did as the RMA Paddle Group, was the golden ingredient we’d been looking for. When people leave the Marines or any branch of the armed forces, often after 20-plus years, you’re thrown into civilian life with people who don’t understand you.
“On our first expedition we took serving Marines with veterans and they were in tears by the end of the week because he’d rediscovered what it meant to be a Marine and those values of resilience and cheerfulness in the face of adversity that he’d forgotten. So now we’re helping people deal with PTSD or just fitting into society, and we’re calling it ‘the green reset’ after our green berets. Whether someone has served two years or 20 years, no matter their rank, one common denominator links us all, and that’s why we’ve got to help out as many as we can.”
Lee added, “We were taken aback by the impact we’ve had, and it means we can’t stop now. We’ve had the wives of blokes on the expeditions ringing us up afterwards to say, ‘Thank you for getting me my husband back’, and that sort of reward is why we’ve ended up spending a lot of our own money fixing these hand-me-down boats that we started with, and why we ended up nicknaming what we’re doing, ‘Fixing broken blokes in broken boats’.”
So, what’s next for the Paddle Group?
“Eventually, we want to fill the diary,” says Joe. “With an annual paddle to the Commando memorial in Scotland every October and then a D-Day beach paddle every year too. But it’s the historians who have got all the ideas! We’re in touch with plenty of them, so we are looking at other folding boat operations worldwide from WW2. If anyone wants to sponsor us or any equipment providers, etc, want to get involved and make a huge difference to veterans, then we are all ears!”
Lee concluded, “We never thought we would be at the stage of having to turn people down, but here we are! We just want to raise as much awareness as we can, meaning someone struggling might read about us and get involved. If we save one more life, then we’ll achieve our aim.”
