Operation Biting - British Airborne Troops Steal Top Secret German Radar
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- Опубліковано 5 тра 2021
- The first successful parachute raid by British Combined Operations troops was to capture a top secret radar installation in February 1942.
By the end of 1941, RAF Bomber Command had a problem. Their losses were mounting and yet despite missions being flown at night and using unpredictable flightpaths, the Germans always seemed to know they were coming, making them easy prey for their fighters and anti-aircraft batteries.
The British had long suspected that they had a basic radar capability but what they did not know was that they had developed a new, more advanced radar.
If the British failed to find out the secrets of this new German radar, then it could have disastrous consequences for RAF Bomber Command.
It would take the combination of air, land and sea forces to carry out this most daring of missions.
This was the first, successful operation using airborne troops from the newly formed 1st Airborne Division, 2nd Parachute Battalion in World War Two.
Germany had developed a new radar system that was seriously hampering RAF Bomber Command and their bombing missions over Germany and it's occupied territories.
Capturing and returning to England the German technology secrets was essential to understanding how to create radar countermeasures.
They must not fail.
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Flight Sergeant Cox was a brave man, the airborne soldiers were under orders to kill him rather than let him be captured by the Germans, he was sent because he had a very good knowledge of British Radar systems and so knew which parts of the German Radar were important, however this would have made him of immense value as a prisoner to the Germans. Cox learned in two weeks the skills required to parachute into enemy territory, something the airborne troops had taken 6 months to master.
Following the award of the Military Medal he went to a tailors shop to purchase the required ribbon for his uniform, the tailor knowing that the MM was an Army decoration not an RAF one asked him, "so what have you been up to ?" Cox simply replied "Not much"
I'm happy to say that Cox survived the war reaching the rank of Warrant Officer and passed away in 1997. His MM was donated to the Airborne Forces Museum and is on display at Duxford.
Duxford is an amazing place.
Thanks for providing this extra info. Much appreciated.
Dear Northern Historian
I like to correct one minor thing.
Lt Thomas Sneum didn’t fly over and photographed the Freya radar from the air.
He was visiting Fanø, when he discovered the radar. He returned at night bringing both a camera and a film camera and managed to film the radar relatively close up. He later then got hold of the airplane a friend had as a private plane stored in a garage. It didn’t have the range to fly to Britain so they cut a hole in the fuselage into the passenger’s seat put a hose into the fuel tank and a funnel connected to the hose. His friend then topped up the fuel tank from within the cabin from jerrycans. They managed to make it all the way in that flimsy moth.
Wow. Ingenuity and determination.
Dear Northern Historian - This is an exemplary presentation! Straightforward, no overblown rhetoric, grammatical, and hence easily understood. Your delivery is also excellent - well-paced and expressive without being melodramatic. I am really looking forward to hearing more from you!
Thank you so much!
Northern historian, have you considered telling the story of HMS Victorious alias USS Robin ?
Thanks for the tip Nigel. I'll look into it.
When I was a kid at primary/junior school in the 1960's I found a paperback book which had belonged to my uncle who was a marine during ww2. The book told the story of these classic raids, Bruneval, St. Nazaire and the Norwegian Fish oil raid. It seems strange, therefore, when I read comments such as "I've never heard of this" when most of my pals knew about these events before we were 10 years old.
@Noel Coward This is the hill upon which you've chosen to die?
My Grandfather, a young electronics engineer, was part of this raid. He spoke German very well (and several other languages - he was a polyglot), and understood the tech they were after. He told me the story of when he hopped on the rotating platform that a/the operator was on, looked over his shoulder at everything, and said in German "Hmmm, only a fifty-mile range?" and the operator stiffened and said "Englander..."
my
neat chunk of history
What a shame that isn't true.
@@JammyDodger45 Regarding my Grandfather? It's absolutely true - If I misremember the exact wording he used (or distance), I was seven when he told me - I'm in my fifties now and sometimes memories ,along the edges, get a little fuzzy.
@@catfishkempster - oh I absolutely believe that you think it's true.
I just suspect your grandfather employed some 'poetic licence' with the details.
Another excellent video, keep up the great work. I love learning about these forgotten events 👍
Glad you like them!
So many stories of incredible bravery. Never ceases to amaze me.
ww1 and ww2, it's like, how are you guys still so bad arse this far in to the war....
Great video! I never heard about this fantastic raid before. Very brave men.
Speaking of brave people I can add that Thomas Sneum was at his family on Fanø, when he discovered and took photos of the Freya radar there. He and one of his friends escaped from occupied Denmark to England in a Hornet Moth they refuelled from jerry cans over the North Sea, bringing the photos to the British military.
Excellent.. never heard of this raid.... well done
By CT CT in by
Excellent video. R.V.Jones wrote a book called 'Most Secret War' which is an autobiographical account of his time in military intelligence. He worked on 'the battle of the beams' as well as Radar and the V1 and V2 flying bombs. Worth looking up.
Quite a well known story but your graphics were excellent and added to my knowledge of this raid.
(Professor) RV Jones was my Natural Philosophy (aka physics) lecturer at Aberdeen University in 1976. He told some good war era stories. I remember his optical lever demonstration in particular. He did not always seem the most effective educator, but he was quite entertaining at times. He was department Chair from 1946 till he retired in 1981.
Oh wow. I'm an ex RAF radar engineer and I'd love to have spent an hour chatting with him.
@@TheNorthernHistorian I'm sure he would have loved that too!
So physics was termed as natural philosophy. That may hark back to the ancient Greeks greeks .
@@TheNorthernHistorian did you ever use the magnetrons to build your own microwave oven . It's got to be right dimensions to obtain optimal frequency , I know .
@@michaelcorbidge7914 No, I never did that, in fact I hardly remember anything about physics practicals at Uni, I found physics dry & boring (especially statics) and I dropped the subject as fast as I could!
The old One Mile Radio Telescopes at Lords Bridge, Barton, Cambridgeshire are captured Wurtzberg Radar.
Give the British credit for having the wherewithal and guts to mount these kind of operations throughout the war. But one caveat: the communications problems that surfaced during this raid were apparently overlooked or ignored and surfaced again at Arnhem (Operation Market-Garden) with disastrous consequences . . . as Churchill stated (paraphrasing Spanish philosopher George Santayana), "Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it." Thanks for the upload!
The award for daring raids still goes to the Israelis. Entebbe raid and Iraq nuclear reactor raid most prominent. Their assassinations here and there may be politically sensitive but are more gutsy than Putin's poisonings .
@@michaelcorbidge7914 nah the SAS raids top the Israelis hands down. From WW2 right up today.
The classic SAS raid on the Iranian Embassy in 1980 and Pebble Island 1982 in the Falklands
War being classic's. You only have look at the list of SAS operations on Wikipedia, it's a huge
list and in most of these SAS raids someone was shooting back at them ! Israel's
penchant seems assassination !
@@michaelcorbidge7914
The Synagogue of Satan always wins.✡️👿✡️
Very good video. Two further points of interest: the two French agents sent to recce the beach, were escorted there by the Grrman sentry, who also informed them that the minefield was safe to cross because no mines had been laid in it! Also, prior to take-off from RAF Thruxton, the Commandos had been supplied with a large amount of tea. The first thing they had to do upon landing in France was to relieve themselves of the tea!
I remember reading a book in the seventies by the RAF Flt Sgt who was the catalyst in this operation. He understood radar and knew what he was looking for.
Visited here last week. Went up the hill from the beach. That’s no joke! Just a ditch and the ruins of the villa left.
Great job. Love your presentation. Your voice and lack of annoying music are refreshing. From a Yank, are there really a lot of people who don’t know how long a foot is? Maybe we should have gone metric like the rest of the world.
Thanks for your kind comment. Being British and born in the 1970s, I am stuck in a half way way house of imperial and metric.
Great Vid Thanks, What's a worry is the Comm's problems, something that seems to of been overlooked as it was carried over into the Arnhem operation.
for more detailed background to the raid "MRATH" Malvern Radar and technical history society. The German Sgt who was captured and brought back to the U.K. was happy to assist in the rebuilding of the radar system. This was because he had asked for leave to attend the birth of his first child, this was denied. Following the raid the allies were concerned that the Telecomminications Research Establishment which was based near the Solent would become a target. A rapid search for alternative accommodation resulted in the establishment being moved to Malvern, Worcestershire where it was housed in The Malvern Boys College for a number of years.
I remember well into the sixties that the best car radio was a wurzburg. Well researched narrative. Very accurate accompanying photos. WELL DONE!
Thank you
I've been there, as the maps show, the villa was subsequently destroyed by the Germans. I think that it was originally a holiday home owned by a champagne magnate. Parts of the perimeter wire can still be found.
The recon photos from this time period are simply amazing. Such impeccable detail
We do like holiday snaps when on a raid!
They were not commandoes,, they were Paratroopers!
Great video!
Suffice to say I'm absolute chuffed that ive found your page. These videos are like nothing I've seen and I can't wait to see your subs absolutely take off!
Such a kind comment, thank you.
A truly remarkable and daring raid that embodies the saying ‘fortune favours the bold.’
Amazing job, I had never even heard of this epic operation!
Excellent research and top presentation - as usual ! Thanks.
Brave, brave men............
Brilliant post, great narrative and excellent visuals, many thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it
Flt Sgt Cox went on to run a TV and radio. repair shop here in Wisbech and his son went on to Marry my mother's great niece. The shop is trading today
Oh wow, how interesting. I bet he had some stories to tell his customers.
I'm very pleased to hear Charlie Cox's shop is still trading. I used to visit the shop in the late seventies as a spotty schoolboy to buy resistors and capacitors from him, and occasionally Charlie would give me a component panel from an old radio to use for spares. I've still got some of them! Last time I visited Wisbech the shutters were down on Little Church St, and I thought it had closed.
Excellent video. Thank you
Glad you liked it!
I’ve seen this operation biting on TV, good film, well done,👍👍👍
Interesting. Thanks for this information.
Great story well-presented.
foot note two dentists wanted to do something to strike at Germany own their own did an unauthorized channel crossing and wound up at same place by chance and sneaked into compound and threw a bag of hand grenades and explosives into a basement which unknown to them held the Germans kitchen and blew up the Germans dinner ! the Germans troops had just found out they were to go hungry and responding when the main raid struck causing complete confusion in German ranks officers and nco's had a hard time controlling their troops. the two dentists in the confusion got away and rowed back to England puzzled as to what was happening as they hadn't fired a shot as I understand they thought the Germans were fighting amongst themselves they got court marshalled but right at last minute Mountbatten's staff spoke up and confirmed the action see the movie of two dentists go to war . very good I can fully understand the Germans if they had just found dinner was shall we say burnt.Being discouraged and preoccupied.
Just found the film, "Two Men Went to War". It's got Derek Jacobi, too. Watching it tonight. Thanks for the tip!
Thankyou, but dentists you say ? And you paint a comedy of errors too. I'd almost expect a ' carry on production ' with Sydney James and maybe Peter Ustinov and others but i don't recall all the names .
Imagine that added to a New War movie . Would be hilarious
They were badasses, each and every one. We stand on the shoulders of giants.
Wow, the saying "no plan survives contact with the enemy" really played out.
Well put together!
Very watchable and informative. Very pleasant voice too.
Glad you liked it!
Another good one 👍
Thank you! Cheers!
Great piece of research 👍👍👍
Love these success stories.! :-)
Excellent very good.....Thanks...From Kentucky
Thank you
Top quality content
The book on this raid was called Green Beach
Incredible bravery!
Excellent presentation of an action I had never heard of.
Never heard that Germans have better Radars than brits. Whose technology won battle for britain?
@@bobns509 The type of radar available at the time was a purely defensive tool against bombers. Doesn't help when you are attacking the enemy over their territory
First time I hear of this even I study wwii history thanks.
Nicely done. Minor input, the map panning was distracting. Maps = good, Maps zooming in and out while rotating = distracting. But as I say, minor. It was concise, informative and well chosen graphics. And God Bless Sgt Cox! Beeps and Squeaks with a tommy gun!
Thanks very much for your comment. To be honest I'm experimenting with my latest software with these maps to see how it works and what looks best. In hindsight, I think I put a bit too much motion into them but you have to experiment I guess. Thanks for your comment!
Couldn’t disagree more. The “animated” maps were absolutely brilliant. Brilliant!!
Quite an incredibly courageous & successful raid. Interesting that they also captured so many GERMANS.
Brilliant very informative
Glad you liked it
Well done.
Thanks
oddly, there seems to be a common them throughout WWII (among all armies): unreliable field radios. so while these guys are risking their lives for the radio boffins to get a look at this radar, construction of more robust and reliable field radios would have probably had a bigger impact on the war.
Yep. The transistor hadn't quite yet been invented and implemented.
Check out the BBC drama " Two men who went to war." It goes hand in hand with this excellent video.
Never seen his name as anything but R V Jones ... perhaps why it's spelled out. Britain's best weapon.
??
Excellent video
Thank you very much!
If a jobs worth doing...... And this job was done properly
The flight Sargent looked like a hard man, i would not have liked to meet him in hand to hand combat
It's a pity that a movie hasn't been made about this raid, Brendan Gleeson would have been an absolute shoo-in for that role thirty years ago.
7.50 Ronan Atkinson makes a brief appearance far left 1st Para. Man of many skills.
This was their first battle honour . Pegasus bridge was an Infantry battle honour they landed by glider.But technically they were "Airborne".so the para's grabbed that.They had to wait till goose green for a battle honour by para's.
This is a very high quality upload. However, I think you have been more than generous to Mountbatten and the role he played. What should be borne in mind is that episodes of his military career were fairly disastrous and incompetent. I think his service life was much like the life he would later live; a puppet figurehead with the real decisions being made by competent people whose names we will be unaware of.
Fascinating.
Been there. Nice place to visit and spend some time
Excellent presentation. For all their prowess in military intelligence it escapes me how uncoordinated the British were with radio operations. They didn't learn to well as the same dysfunctions afflicted them at Arnhem ("Market Garden") as in this early raid. Ironically Major John Frost had the pleasure of challenged communication in both events. The Major did however have his handy hunting horn to signal with. He became a POW in the latter Market Garden operation.
I hope the Lads today check their speed dial numbers before jumping.
Another daring British raid . Those inoperative radio sets ultimately cost them the Battle of Crete , I do opine .
Also the same problem plagued Operation Market Garden. You'd think after so many radio set failures the powers that be would have sorted out the issues for future operations.
I'd put it down to poor deployments to begin with and then the timidity bordering on cowardice at 2 critical points in time of 2 British and 1 New Zealand battalion commanders allowed the Germans to establish themselves on Crete. Once the Germans were established onshore the result was a foregone conclusion. Freyberg handled the retreat and withdrawal reasonably well, even though his real skills lay in training and set-piece battles of attack.
Operation Jubilee in August 42, true goal was an enigma machine.
This would be a good movie!
Shame the British film industry hasn't the money to make it, Hollywood wouldn't make it coz it wouldn't show Americans as the heroes
What the heck is with British airborne radios? And you would have figured Market-Garden’s would have been better prepared.
some guy in comms supply stated without a doubt that they work perfectly,,they took him at his word
I can remember( Ft Bragg, N Carolina) my jeep radio, FM, not being heard by another jeep that I could see a mile away, but I could talk to Cuban fishing boat captains 700 miles away just fine.
They're weird.
Its the battery.
Its the handset.
Its the antenna.
Its the atmospherics.
Nice lil gig boys
Only now do we learn that Jerry was watching satellite TV (ARD Das Erste) while best of BBC Home Service provided us with "Music while you Work".
Excellent video. Sorry about you pissing-off the Para's - they hate being mistaken for the Green Beret mob! Love the Geordie accent - why Northern and not North-Eastern Historian? (I was born in Hartlepool.)
Nothing changes I was in the army in the 1970s and 50 % of our radios 📻 didn't work
Inisightful and informative, well done. Keep up the great work.
Much appreciated!
Lima site 85, an attack directing radar site is a tragic event in Laos 1968. And the US knew it was a matter of time before they had to abandon the mountain top.
What happened to the 6 British prisoners, did they survive to go home at wars end?
No. Hitler ordered them shot.
You can just imagine the conversation the next day. Hans: where is our radar? Dieter: dunno, it was there earlier, but there was a bit of a fracas, maybe some French bloke took it for scrap 😆
After this raid the British realised their own radar research centre at Worth Matravers on the Dorset coast was just as vulnerable to a German tit for tat raid.....so they shifted it way up to Malvern, but maintained a radar presence at Worth as it was needed and used until the 1970s.
Really looking forward to the Hollywood adaption of this story.
For the love of God, no.
@@numberstation With American troops and commanders? lol
I can see Tom Cruise getting ready now.
Too late, Approx 1954, staring Alan Ladd, “The red Beret”
@@paulsimmons9308 there's a big Hollywood blockbuster coming up of how the US 9th cavalry beat Napoleon 😏
The road bridge over the Neder-Rhine at Arnhem is named after John Frost.
Fantastic channel! Remember us og's (been here since 40 subs) when you've got 100k subs
Haha, how could I ever forget you! Those early subs are what motivated me to carry on building and creating videos. Thanks very much!
Hello and thanks for a great clip. Interesting stuff and if you wanted to see some of the original documents & photos from the National Archives, then please let me know (inc the PM's briefing)? We are not historians as a family, but are in the midst of a couple of projects of similar nature (FEPOWs, Arctic convoys & a lost submarine). I am an engineer & am going back to Kew tomorrow (rare day off) to carry on this stuff. If you like, we can help with research as we live not far away. Our families are RN, Marines & RAF (former two me, latter her) so this is a quiet way to remember some of our relatives and honestly true heroes... Look up HMS Fidelity; true story and an Allied surface raider - some story. Count (and Dr) Albert Guerisse, Costa (aka Langlais, the Commander) and Madeleine "Barclay" (his girl and commissioned First Officer). Sadly lost in 1943 off West Africa. A floating fortress with two landing craft, an MTB, 120 Royal Marines & all sorts of stuff that "Q" Branch would love to get their hands on. As far as we know, she has not been found but still remains a war grave with all hands lost. Comte (Count) Guerisse was awarded the GM or GC for his later work as leader of a Belgian & French Resistance organisation, who helped many downed Allied airmen and escaped POWs return safely. "Bateau Mystere" (Mystery Ship, his account) is still available now. Some read and all true. Sorry for talking as you are doing some great things with your channel on here. Best wishes from us.
Sorry, meant to add. Damien Lewis (the historian, not the great actor) wrote "Shadow Raiders" about Bruneval. Published in 2019 and a great read. Brave men all. John Frost, legend and the PRU Spitfire pilot too - talk about low altitude !
It's a shame you did not mention that they found they could not dismantle the radar into the parts they wanted so the took the whole thing back to England
Was there really a lunatic drummer banging away whilst the real raid took place?
Brits are the innovators of spec ops
i have seen elsewere that Cox was to be shot in the event of his capture as he knew a lot about british radar and it was vital that information never fell into german hands.
Yes, I read something similar
@@TheNorthernHistorian
That's correct. He had a couple of Para sergeants to act as "bodyguards" during the raid. It was only when they returned home that they revealed the full extent of their orders to him. He was not, under any circumstances, to be allowed to fall into enemy hands alive!
Can't believe I'm shocked to read this, but hey: I'm an old chick.
@@sirderam1 He was obviously a very smart guy - the odds are he figured this out and didn't object to it. Agreed with the reasoning and preferred it to the alternative, severe interrogation /torture. The bodyguards may even have guessed he knew, but in typical British fashion none of the 3 spoke about it between themselves. Well, to me this all seems likely.
@@donjones4719
I agree, I think you may well be right. It is certainly possible to the point of being likely. It is indeed, the British Way!
If I'd have been the Germans I'd have put a realistic looking but dummy radar unit in the most easily accessible location. When the British at the great cost of extensive preparations and effort captured it all they would have had would have been some useless chunks of metal.
That's called smoke n mirrors. It was more of a British tactic .
The Germans, for all their technical know-how and fighting ability never seemed to be very adept at that sort of thing.
Yeah, but you're a fucken genius
Do you know of Pine gap ? Well its actually not there its under Ayers Rock
presumably the troops took metric tools with them!
Radios didn't work, wasn't it the same at Arnhem
@MichaelKingsfordGray Of course it was. 22 yrs ex 2 Para.
YEAH--that's right ! I'm beginning to think , old Goering's praise ,for British Radios, 'for ALWAYS 'working, was a piss -take
What a terrific movie this could have been. No need for ""extra scenes for dramatic purposes"" commonly found in war movies. Still waiting for the dambusters raid remake by peter jackson.
Radar
Lamp.
12:26 Second hand helmet?
In my view the Brits liked handing out medals to their C.O's and hardly none to the ranks who supported them on these missions. Also would like to to see one day how the radar info was viewed on the equipment and interpreted for both sides.
well, the brits had some trouble getting over the idea that officers should be somehow vaguely related to the royal family, rather than be promoted (or fired) based on ability (e.g. Montgomery).
Not just the Brits by any stretch of the imagination. Awards to the Commanders are seen as recognition of the WHOLE force. And recognition of the responsibility those men held. In any case TWELVE of the NINETEEN awards for Biting went to "Other ranks" so I'm not sure where you get the idea that "hardly none" went to the "ranks".
@@cenccenc946 Seriously? So how then do you explain the numerous men who went from Private to Colonel and higher in the British Army, even in Victorian times? How on earth did Field Marshal Sir William Robertson get to that rank, and to be Chief of the Imperial General Staff... the son of a tailor who joined as a trooper? IF your claim is true?
Is it know what became of the 6 allied men that were captured, did they make it home?
Shitler ordered all captured British commandos to be shot, not considering them legitimate combatants. Churchill begged to differ and hunted down every last German that had killed a British prisoner.
@@NemoBlank That order wasn't issued until October 1942, Operation Biting took place in February 1942, so they probably would have been safe.
I can't find any additional information on the six captured men to confirm it however.
Didn't 2 AWOL personal (1 a barber and 1 a store man) inadvertently take part?
two dentists as I understand they blew up German kitchen just before main raid Germans really upset as no dinner then main raid struck causing two conflicting sets of orders :-)
That's what "Two Men Went to War" covers.
The germans named the friar raidat after a norsk god who could see a hundred miles day or night
Appropriate name.
Indeed , very cool story
Just to clarify, Freya was the code name chosen, she was actually a pagan goddess.The original suggestion of Heimdall, a male god who could see for 100 miles, was rejected as too obvious a name. Freya in Norse myhology was the goddess of sex, fertility, love, beauty, war and magic,sadly she could not see for 100 miles.
All fair in love and war
The ten commandments obviously dont apply!
Good video but Lieutenant is pronounced Lef’ten’ant not Loo’ten’ant.
Thanks for the comment. I served in the RAF and I pronounced it as I have always have during my service. It may be just a regional thing as it is pronounced differently depending on your region.
@@TheNorthernHistorian The Americans say ‘Loo’, the British ‘Lef’. No known UK dialect says ‘Loo’. It’s often picked up through ignorance and watching American films. As the saying goes:
The Navy has Traditions
The Army has Customs, and
The RAF just have bad habits. 😉
I was renowned for my bad habits, it must be said.
@@TheNorthernHistorian I've heard this--
Why couldnt they just tune around and see what their frequency was and exactly
the location of the signal source. Such a raid would appear pointless, the British rader tech was more advanced at that point.
Also if you seize or destroy the radar base, so? The Gerries will simply put another radar set on the site from thier parts.
Was this inspiration for the movie where British raided Norway to capture RADAR technology? Or was there more than one such raid?
Are you confusing this with the raids to destroy the Norsk Hydro heavy water plant in Rjukan, Norway?
@@bennylofgren3208 that's a different movie(s), this was about RADAR. The start of the movie there is a unit trying to escape to Dunkirk. Guy gets arrested for disobeying orders and punching and officer. And then forces himself into a Commando unit, which ultimately goes on that RADAR mission.
@@UserNameMandatorythis is a film based on the raid, but dont remember anyone getting drunk/arrested though en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Beret
@@hotmechanic222 the film I'm referring to is very recent. Main character was sober when he committed his insubordination.
A decent large helicopter would have been so useful then..
They were not available at that time . Although the Germans used them quite successfully in Norway in 1940 . Strange but true the first crossing of the English channel made by helicopter in 1945 or 6 . Was of two , they were German machines from France to Britain . One flown , by Willkie Brown a very famous British test pilot . Who flew more different types of aircraft than any other person living or dead . He taught himself to fly helicopters in 1945 with either , German or early American helicopters .
@@welshpete12 Eric “Winkle” Brown.
@@dongorrie1828 A marvelous fellow, small of stature, huge in bravery, skill, and knowledge.