Dudley & George General Store

5. Animals at War

Half of the window features an Animals at War theme—it is a doggie shop, after all—while the other half will showcase a large and beautiful Post Box Topper dedicated to Operation Gambit. Proudly created by the exceptionally talented Suzzie Belcher, herself a Longest Yarn maker and a submariner’s wife, this piece holds special significance. Suzzie shared that the topper is an exact replica of the image below, meticulously crafted to include even the same type of waves surrounding the submarine.

Operation Gambit

In 1944, Jim served with a small, elite unit of Submariners sent to clear a path for invading forces ahead of amphibious landings.

In the early months of 1944, Jim was a RN diver on board one (X-23 ) of two RN midget X-Class submarines, clandestinely landing on Normandy Sword and Juno beaches under cover of darkness to assess Nazi gun emplacements, and plot for the D-Day landings.

On June 6 1944, tiny HMS X-23 lay just one mile off Sword Beach on the eastern flank of the invasion front.

A couple of hours before the landings began; the craft surfaced and started ‘flashing’, acting as a beacon for the invasion force to aim for. They had secured lights the main one, a green light, and also some red and white lights. They were lit up like a Christmas tree!

Fearing they would be a target, they flew the white ensign, the largest they found in the stores before leaving.

After some time, a submarine surfaced nearby, slowly the British armada approached, never had they seen so many ships.

The X-Class midget submarines were usually crewed by three: the commander, pilot and engineer. Some also carried a specialist diver/frogman as a fourth member of the crew. “The X-craft were 52 feet long and 5 feet in diameter,” they could remain at sea for to 10 days. The facilities were very cramped, a bunk, cooking facilities, a gluepot for a hot meal, and you could just about stand.”