Operation Frankton

On 30 November 1942 under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Dick Raikes DSO the Royal Navy submarine HMS Tuna (N94) sailed from Holy Loch in Scotland with the six kayaks and raiders on board.[7] The submarine was supposed to reach the Gironde estuary and the mission was scheduled to start on 6 December 1942. This was delayed because of bad weather en route and the need to negotiate a minefield.[11] By 7 December 1942 the submarine had reached the Gironde estuary and surfaced some 10 miles (16 km) from the mouth of the estuary. Cachalot's hull was damaged while being passed out of the submarine hatch, leaving just five kayaks to start the raid. The reserve member of the team, Colley, was not needed, so he remained aboard the submarine with the Cachalot crew Ellery and Fisher.[7]

According to Tuna's log the five remaining kayaks were disembarked at 19:30 hours on 7 December. However sources differ on the start time between 19:36 and 20:22.[12][13] The plan was for the crews to paddle, resting for five minutes in every hour.[14] The first night, 7/8 December, fighting against strong cross tides and cross winds, Coalfish had disappeared. Further on the surviving crews encountered 5 feet (1.5 m) high waves and Conger capsized and was scuttled, once it became apparent that it would not be possible to bail it out. The crew consisting of Sheard and Moffatt held on to two of the remaining kayaks, which carried them as close to the shore as possible, and they then had to try and swim ashore.[15] They met the missing Coalfish shortly afterwards and continued.

Carrying on with the raid, the remaining kayaks approached a major checkpoint in the river and came upon three German frigates. Lying flat on the kayaks and paddling silently they managed to get by without being discovered but Mackinnon and Conway in Cuttlefish became separated from the other kayaks in the group.[16] After having been set ashore, MacKinnon and Conway managed to evade capture for four days, but they were betrayed and arrested by the Gendarmerie and handed over to the Germans at La Reole hospital 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Bordeaux, attempting to make their way to the Spanish border.

On the first night the three remaining kayaks, Catfish, Crayfish and Coalfish, covered 20 miles (32 km) in five hours and landed near St Vivien du Medoc.[3][15] While they were hiding during the day and unknown to the others, Wallace and Ewart in Coalfish had been captured at daybreak near the Pointe de Grave lighthouse where they had come ashore.[3][17]

By the end of the second night, 8/9 December, the two remaining kayaks Catfish and Crayfish had paddled a further 22 miles (35 km) in six hours.[18] The third night, 9/10 December, they paddled 15 miles (24 km) and on the fourth night, 10/11 December, because of the strong ebb tide they only managed to cover 9 miles (14 km).[15] The original plan had called for the raid to be carried out on 10 December, but Hasler now changed the plan. Because of the strength of the ebb tide they still had a short distance to paddle, so Hasler ordered they hide for another day and set off to and reach Bordeaux on the night of 11/12 December.[15] After a night's rest, the men spent the day preparing their equipment and limpet mines which were set to detonate at 21:00 hours. Hasler decided that Catfish would cover the western side of the docks and Crayfish the eastern side.[19]

The two remaining kayaks, Catfish and Crayfish, reached Bordeaux on the fifth night, 11/12 December; the river was flat calm and there was a clear sky. The attack started at 21:00 hours 11 December, Hasler and Sparks in Catfish attacking shipping on the western side of the dock, placed eight limpet mines on four vessels including a Sperrbrecher patrol boat. A sentry on the deck of the Sperrbrecher, apparently spotting something, shone his torch down toward the water, but the camouflaged kayak evaded detection in the darkness. They had planted all their mines and left the harbour with the ebb tide at 00:45 hours.[15][19] At the same time Laver and Mills in Crayfish had reached the eastern side of the dock without finding any targets, so returned to deal with the ships docked at Bassens. They placed eight limpet mines on two vessels, five on a large cargo ship and three on a small liner.[19]

On their way downriver the two kayaks met by chance on the île Cazeau. They continued down river together until 06:00 hours when they beached their kayaks near St Genes de Blaye and tried to hide them by sinking them.[18] The two crews then set out separately, on foot, for the Spanish border.[19] After two days Laver and Mills were apprehended at Montlieu-la-Garde by the Gendarmerie and handed over to the Germans.[18]

On 10 December, the Germans announced that a sabotage squad had been caught on 8 December near the mouth of the Gironde and "finished off in combat". It was not until January 1943 in the absence of other information that all 10 men on the raid were posted missing, until news arrived of two of them. Later it was confirmed that five ships had been damaged in Bordeaux by mysterious explosions.[19] New research in 2010 revealed that a sixth ship had been damaged even more extensively than any of the other five reported, which were quickly repaired and put back into service.[20]

Hasler and Sparks arrived at the French town of Ruffec, 100 miles (160 km) from where they had beached their kayak, on 18 December 1942.[21] They made contact with escape line leader Mary Lindell and her son, Maurice, at the Hotel de la Toque Blanche and were then taken to a local farm. They spent the next 18 days[22] there in hiding. Lindell arranged for them to be guided on foot across the Pyrenees into Spain and safety.[18]

Monument commemorating Operation Frankton in Saint-Georges-de-Didonne, near Royan.

The words of Lord Mountbatten, the commander of Combined Operations, are carved into a Purbeck stone at Royal Marines Poole (current headquarters of the SBS): "Of the many brave and dashing raids carried out by the men of Combined Operations Command none was more courageous or imaginative than Operation Frankton".[37]

Mackinnon is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.[38]

The bravery of the 'Cockleshell Hero' Royal Marine James Conway was honoured with a permanent memorial unveiled on Sunday 10 December 2017 in his home town of Stockport.[39]

Laver,[40] Sheard,[41] Mills,[42] Conway,[43] Wallace,[44] Moffatt,[45] and Ewart are commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial.[46]

Operation Frankton was described as 'This brilliant little operation carried through with great determinism and courage..." by Louis Mountbatten[47]

In June 2002, the Frankton Trail was opened, a walking path which traces the 100 miles (160 km) route taken through occupied France, on foot, by Hasler and Sparks. The Frankton Souvenir is an Anglo-French organisation, set up to keep alive the story of the raid. It plans to develop the trail, and install explanatory plaques at key points.[3]

On 31 March 2011 a memorial to the Cockleshell Heroes and three French individuals was dedicated. Made from Portland Stone it was transported across care of Brittany Ferries. The memorial cost about £80,000 (equivalent to £103,722 in 2021).[48]

The only known surviving Cockle Mark II kayak from Operation Frankton, Cachalot, together with other original equipment, can be seen at the Combined Military Services Museum, located in Maldon, Essex.[49]

In France : The memory of the heroes of Operation Frankton is commemorated every year, notably in Bordeaux, Blanquefort, Saint-Georges-de-Didonne and Ruffec.

Commemorative plaques have been placed in the Entre-deux-Mers region in Baigneaux and Cessac. Unfortunately, the one in Cessac, located on the edge of a bicycle path, in view of the Jaubert farmhouse, has been vandalized. In 2011, as part of a project to move the monument to the dead of the 1914-1918 war, the municipality proposes to place a second plaque against the wall of the town hall, at the new location of the commemorations. A monument is also present on the town of Montalivet-les-Bains, facing the sea.

A tramway station on line C of the TBM network, located in the town of Blanquefort, is named Frankton.

In 1955 a heavily fictionalised version of the story was depicted in the film The Cockleshell Heroes made by Warwick Films, and starring Anthony Newley, Trevor Howard, Christopher Lee, Victor Maddern, David Lodge and Jose Ferrer who was also the director. The film was a box office hit in 1956 and was quickly followed by the publication of Brigadier C. E. Lucas Phillips' book of the same name. 'Blondie' Hasler had connections with both the film and the book. He hated the title of both and walked away from his role as technical adviser for the former to try and set the matter right in the latter.[50][51]

On 1 November 2011, a BBC Timewatch television documentary called "The Most Courageous Raid of WWII" was narrated by Paddy Ashdown, a former SBS officer.[52] Ashdown describes Frankton as "a Whitehall cock-up of major proportions" due to a simultaneous mission to sink the ships in Bordeaux, led by Claude de Baissac of the Special Operations Executive, which Hasler's team and Combined Operations knew nothing about because of the secrecy and lack of co-operation among British government agencies. De Baissac was preparing to take explosives onto the ships when he heard the explosions of Hasler's limpet mines. The loss of the opportunity for Hasler and de Baissac to work together to strike a harder blow against the Germans in a combined operation led to the setting up of a Controlling Officer at Whitehall, responsible for avoiding inter-departmental rivalry, duplication or even conflict.[53]

In December 2022 ten former Royal Marines recreated the route of Operation Frankton in the Cockleshell 22 project, to support charities Royal British Legion, the Royal Marines Charity, and Help for Heroes. They paddled over 70 miles in folding kayaks along the Gironde estuary to Bordeaux, where they took part in joint French-British commemoration events. They then made a 100-mile speed march from Blaye to Ruffec, the escape route followed by Major Hasler and Corporal Sparks.[54]