Augustus Newman

Before the outbreak of war in Europe, Augustus Charles Newman managed operations as an executive for W. & C. French, a civil engineering and public works firm based in Essex. Born in Buckhurst Hill on August 19, 1904, he received his education at Bancroft’s School. Alongside his civilian career, he entered military service in 1925 by taking a commission in the part-time Territorial Army with the 4th Battalion of the Essex Regiment. Over the next decade and a half, he gained administrative and tactical experience, attaining the rank of Major by 1939.

When Great Britain mobilized for war, the War Office sought officers willing to take on specialized combat assignments. Newman volunteered without knowing the precise scope of the duties. In 1940, he assumed command of No. 3 Independent Company, a unit of volunteers paired with specialists from the Royal Engineers, Royal Signals, and Royal Army Service Corps. These independent companies served as operational prototypes for amphibious raiding units. Deployed to Norway during the fighting around Narvik, his unit gained early experience in raid tactics before being evacuated back to England.

Following the campaign in Scandinavia, his unit was assigned to static coastal defence duties at Dungeness to guard against potential invasion. Dissatisfied with defensive postings, Newman considered returning to the Essex Regiment. Instead, he accepted a posting as second-in-command of the 1st Special Service Battalion. When British high command restructured these forces in April 1941 to create smaller, agile units known as Commandos, Newman received promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and assumed command of No. 2 Commando. Under his direction, the unit instituted rigorous physical and tactical standards, returning any soldier who failed to meet expectations back to their regular regiment.

In early 1942, Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Director of Combined Operations, selected No. 2 Commando for Operation Chariot. The operational goal was the destruction of the Louis Joubert Lock at St. Nazaire, the only dry dock on the French Atlantic coast capable of supporting the battleship Tirpitz. Mountbatten personally informed Newman that military planners regarded the assault force as expendable relative to the strategic necessity of eliminating the dock.

On the night of March 27, 1942, a naval force consisting of the obsolete destroyer HMS Campbeltown, loaded with hidden explosives, and sixteen wooden motor launches steamed up the Loire Estuary. Newman served as the Military Force Commander, taking his position on the open bridge of the leading motor launch. Caught in German searchlights, the small vessels faced intense heavy artillery and machine-gun crossfire from both banks. Despite severe casualties among the launch crews, Campbeltown rammed the lock gates, while Newman landed ashore to establish his tactical headquarters and supervise demolition operations.

Over the course of five hours of close-quarters combat, Newman navigated through the harbour district to direct demolition teams and engage defensive positions. When heavy weapons mounted on the roof of the U-boat pens threatened the landing craft, he brought mortar fire to bear until the gun was silenced. Exposed on open ground, he used machine-gun fire against an armed German trawler, forcing it to disengage and preventing further casualties in the demolition zone.

With most of the wooden landing craft destroyed or set on fire, withdrawal by sea became impossible. Refusing to surrender while ammunition remained, Newman rallied the surviving commandos to break out into open country. He personally led a charge across an iron bridge swept by machine-gun fire. Although thrown to the ground by a German hand grenade that detonated near his feet, he pressed forward into the streets of St. Nazaire, where his force engaged German defenders until their ammunition was exhausted. German troops overwhelmed the group, taking Newman and 123 of his men prisoner. When German officers attempted to separate him from his soldiers, he refused.

The citation for his award was published in the London Gazette on June 19, 1945:

"War Office, 19th June, 1945. The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the VICTORIA CROSS to: — Lieutenant-Colonel Augustus Charles NEWMAN (33927), The Essex Regiment (attached Commandos) (Salford, Bucks.).

On the night of 27th/28th March, 1942, Lieutenant-Colonel Newman was in command of the military force detailed to land on enemy occupied territory and destroy the dock installations of the German controlled naval base at St. Nazaire. This important base was known to be heavily defended and bomber support had to be abandoned owing to bad weather. The operation was therefore bound to be exceedingly hazardous, but Lieutenant-Colonel Newman, although empowered to call off the assault at any stage, was determined to carry to a successful conclusion the important task which had been assigned to him. Coolly and calmly he stood on the bridge of the leading craft, as the small force steamed up the estuary of the River Loire, although the ships had been caught in the enemy searchlights and a murderous crossfire opened from both banks, causing heavy casualties.

Although Lieutenant-Colonel Newman need not have landed himself, he was one of the first ashore and, during the next five hours of bitter fighting, he personally entered several houses and shot up the occupants and supervised the operations in the town, utterly regardless of his own safety, and he never wavered in his resolution to carry through the operation upon which so much depended.

An enemy gun position on the roof of a U-boat pen had been causing heavy casualties to the landing craft and Lieutenant-Colonel Newman directed the fire of a mortar against this position to such effect that the gun was silenced. Still fully exposed, he then brought machine gun fire to bear on an armed trawler in the harbour, compelling it to withdraw and thus preventing many casualties in the main demolition area. Under the brilliant leadership of this officer, the troops fought magnificently and held vastly superior enemy forces at bay, until the demolition parties had successfully completed their work of destruction. By this time, however, most of the landing craft had been sunk or set on fire and evacuation by sea was no longer possible. Although the main objective had been achieved, Lieutenant-Colonel Newman nevertheless was now determined to try and fight his way out into open country and so give all survivors a chance to escape.

The only way out of the harbour area lay across a narrow iron bridge covered by enemy machine guns and although severely shaken by a German hand grenade, which had burst at his feet, Lieutenant-Colonel Newman personally led the charge which stormed the position and under his inspiring leadership 'the small force fought its way through the streets to a point near the open country, when, all ammunition expended, he and his men were finally overpowered by the enemy.

The outstanding gallantry and devotion to duty of this fearless officer, his brilliant leadership and initiative, were largely responsible for the success of this perilous operation which resulted in heavy damage to the important naval base at St. Nazaire."

Newman spent three years as a prisoner of war, remaining interned primarily at Oflag IX-A/H in Spangenberg Castle. Held alongside hundreds of British and Allied officers, he assisted in maintaining internal discipline during harsh winter conditions and declining rations, enduring a forced march eastward in March 1945 before U.S. troops liberated the prisoners. King George VI presented him with the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace on December 11, 1945.

Following his return to civil life, Newman resumed his work at W. & C. French, eventually serving as Chairman and Managing Director. He also remained active in military organizations, commanding 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) in the Territorial Army and serving as Deputy Lieutenant for Essex from 1946 to 1948. In October 1959, he received an appointment as Major in the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps. Newman died at Sandwich, Kent, on April 26, 1972, at the age of sixty-seven.