• Operation Frankton

Date of birth:

September 16th, 1916 (Chatham/Kent, United Kingdom)

Date of death:

1979

Service number:

59057

Nationality:

British

Gerald Charles Stokes Montanaro was a British military officer of Maltese heritage. Educated at Bedford School and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, he joined the Royal Engineers in 1936 and later earned an MA from Cambridge. His career spanned both World Wars, including command of the No. 101 (Folboat) Troop of No. 6 Army Commando and submarine operations. He worked with SOE and also had an advisory role in Operation Frankton.

He held senior engineering and intelligence roles in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, eventually serving as brigadier in the British Army. After retiring in 1965, Montanaro transitioned to corporate leadership, holding executive positions in Reed Paper Group, Norton Villiers, and Dolphin Construction in Malta. He married Judith Mary Newington in 1965 and later settled in Malta.

Promotions:
1936: 2nd Lt
1939: Lt.
1940: Acting Captain
1942; Acting Major
1944; Captain
1947: Acting Lieutenant Colonel
1949: Major
1956: Lt Col
1959: Colonel
1962: Brigadier

Military career:
1939-1940: British Expeditionary Force, France
1940-1942: Commanded 101 Troop, Special Service Brigade (Commando Special Canoe Troop, later Special Boat Section of the Special Service Brigade)
1942-1945: Specially employed as Lt Cdr, R N, in command of MF Flotilla of submersible craft, 1942-1945
1946-1947: General Staff Officer Middle East Land Forces,
1947: Staff College
1948-1949: Technical Staff Course
1949-1952: Technical Staff Officer and Military Commanding Officer, Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough
1952-1954: Officer Commanding Royal Engineer Squadron and Regiment, Hong Kong and Korea
1954-1957: General Staff Officer, War Office
1957-1960: Commandant, Royal Engineers, British Army of the Rhine
1960-1961: Assistant Director of Development, War Office
1962-1963: Brig, General Staff, War Office
1963-1964: Imperial Defense College
1964-1965: Brig, Headquarters Middle East, Aden
1965: Retired

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Lieutenant

Unit:

No. 101 Troop, British Army

Awarded on:

July 7th, 1942

"On the night of 11/12 April 1942 Captain Montanaro accompanied by Trooper Preece, entered Boulogne Harbour in a canoe which had been taken by a Motor Launch to about one and a half miles from the harbour entrance. Successfully avoiding detection by the breakwater forts, and a number of vessels which were active in the harbour, they manoeuvered the canoe alongside an enemy tanker to which eight explosive charges were attached below water. They withdrew still undetected and commenced their return across channel without great expectation of being picked up until daylight some four hours later. The canoe had suffered some damage during the operation and the sea conditions were deteriorating so that it was fortunate that as planned the motor launch was able to make contact and pick them up an hour after they had left Boulogne Harbour, by which time they were 2 to 3 miles clear of the enemy coast. Subsequent air reconnaissance has established that the tanker was damaged and beached. Captain Montanaro displayed a high degree of courage, resolution, and indifference to danger, as well as skill in successfully carrying out this operation."

• - Ashown, P., A Brilliant Little Operation - The Cockleshell Heroes and The Most Courageous Raid of World War 2 (2013)
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