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The Royal Marines have been forced to cancel their biggest amphibious landing for more than a decade after their French allies pulled out.
The Navy had spent £1 million in fuel getting to the Red Sea when the operation was called off - and it cost another £1 million to reach the Gulf of Oman, where a new exercise was hastily arranged for the Marines.
More than 1,500 commandos had been in training to storm the shoreline of Djibouti - with 500 French Troupes de Marine ready to back them up.
Navy sources said the decision to cancel was taken by the French after a breakdown in relations over administrational issues.
The Royal Marines are said to have responded furiously as Exercise Djibouti Lion had taken a year to set up.
The landing was due to take place later this month with 42 Commando Royal Marines, led by Lieutenant Colonel Neil Sutherland, poised to provide the spearhead of the amphibious force.
Around 600 of Lieut-Col Sutherlands Marines had sailed to the Red Sea aboard a fleet of 12 Royal Navy ships belonging to the UKs newly-formed Response Force Task Group.
The fleet was led by the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, and also included the amphibious landing ship HMS Bulwark, the frigates HMS Montrose and Westminster, and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary support vessels Lyme Bay and Mounts Bay.
Navy sources last night confirmed that the ships had burned up to £1 million in fuel while cruising into position - with another £1 million in fuel to take the ships on to the Gulf of Oman for the new exercise
The cancellation is a major blow for the head of the Royal Navy, First Sea Lord Sir George Zambellas. He is committed to establishing a Combined Joint Expeditionary Force - of British and French personnel and ships - by 2016.
A Navy source told The Mail on Sunday: Djibouti Lion had been planned for at least a year in advance and was supposed to be the set-piece event of 2013 for the Marines with the amphibious assault being bigger than anything weve done since 2000.
Everyone is gutted. Djibouti had been chosen to stage the amphibious landing because there was nowhere in Britain big enough for so many Marines to come ashore.
There was no point us conducting the exercise on our own after the French pulled out. The whole point of Djibouti Lion was to test how we can operate together, with British and French marines fighting shoulder to shoulder. So when the French left it was game over. So much for entente cordiale!
The Ministry of Defence confirmed the exercise had been scrapped. The French Defence Ministry declined to comment.
Read more: Navy landed with £2million bill as 'war games' in Red Sea are torpedoed by the French | Mail Online
The Navy had spent £1 million in fuel getting to the Red Sea when the operation was called off - and it cost another £1 million to reach the Gulf of Oman, where a new exercise was hastily arranged for the Marines.
More than 1,500 commandos had been in training to storm the shoreline of Djibouti - with 500 French Troupes de Marine ready to back them up.
Navy sources said the decision to cancel was taken by the French after a breakdown in relations over administrational issues.
The Royal Marines are said to have responded furiously as Exercise Djibouti Lion had taken a year to set up.
The landing was due to take place later this month with 42 Commando Royal Marines, led by Lieutenant Colonel Neil Sutherland, poised to provide the spearhead of the amphibious force.
Around 600 of Lieut-Col Sutherlands Marines had sailed to the Red Sea aboard a fleet of 12 Royal Navy ships belonging to the UKs newly-formed Response Force Task Group.
The fleet was led by the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, and also included the amphibious landing ship HMS Bulwark, the frigates HMS Montrose and Westminster, and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary support vessels Lyme Bay and Mounts Bay.
Navy sources last night confirmed that the ships had burned up to £1 million in fuel while cruising into position - with another £1 million in fuel to take the ships on to the Gulf of Oman for the new exercise
The cancellation is a major blow for the head of the Royal Navy, First Sea Lord Sir George Zambellas. He is committed to establishing a Combined Joint Expeditionary Force - of British and French personnel and ships - by 2016.
A Navy source told The Mail on Sunday: Djibouti Lion had been planned for at least a year in advance and was supposed to be the set-piece event of 2013 for the Marines with the amphibious assault being bigger than anything weve done since 2000.
Everyone is gutted. Djibouti had been chosen to stage the amphibious landing because there was nowhere in Britain big enough for so many Marines to come ashore.
There was no point us conducting the exercise on our own after the French pulled out. The whole point of Djibouti Lion was to test how we can operate together, with British and French marines fighting shoulder to shoulder. So when the French left it was game over. So much for entente cordiale!
The Ministry of Defence confirmed the exercise had been scrapped. The French Defence Ministry declined to comment.
Read more: Navy landed with £2million bill as 'war games' in Red Sea are torpedoed by the French | Mail Online
