Special Allied Airborne Reconnaissance Force

In late February 1945, when the defeat of Germany appeared imminent, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) was provided with a mandate for dispatching troops whose mission would be to secure the safety of Allied Prisoners Of War and to provide for their early evacuation. Early in 1945 SHAEF approached UK Director Military Operations (MO1 SP) and US OSS to assemble a force of 120 parachuteable contact and reconnaissance teams "to assist existing maesures of relief for PW and after the collapse of GERMANY" - termed "Eclipse". The aim of these teams would be to:

As a result of its mandate, SHAEF created, in March 1945, The Special Allied Airborne Reconnaissance Force, or SAARF.

A golf course and its facilities at Wentworth, which formerly served as the Headquarters of the 21st Army Group, was allocated as SAARF's Headquarters and training camp. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) (USA) and the Special Operations Executive (SOE) (UK) provided training and support personnel and, along with the First Allied Airborne Army, operational personnel. SAARF remained, however, under the control of the SHAEF.

Brigadier John Sebastian Nichols, a British Army officer, was selected to command, and Colonel Julian E. Raymond, an American, was appointed Deputy Commander.

The operational side was made up of an international group of people: 120 French, 96 British, 96 American, 30 Belgian, and 18 Polish personnel, totaling 360 people. Many of the British and French personnel were drawn from special operations units, while the Polish people came from the Polish Independent Grenadier Company.

The majority of the 96 Americans were drawn from the OSS and from elements of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. A small group, fewer than a half-dozen men, came from the 13th Airborne Division. One radio operator came to SAARF from the U.S. Navy. There were several women on staff who had served with distinction as SOE agents in Nazi-occupied Europe.

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Wikipedia