• Aquatint (1942)
• Postmaster (1942)

Date of birth:

July 9th, 1914 (Yorkshire, United Kingdom)

Date of death:

July 13th, 1943 (Fresnes Prison, France)

Buried on:

Commonwealth War Graves Viroflay
Row: B. Grave: 1.

Service number:

129354

Nationality:

British

Graham Hayes was a British Army officer and founding member of the elite Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF) during the Second World War. Born in Yorkshire and educated at Clayesmore School, Hayes gained early maritime experience sailing around the world aboard the windjammer Pommern. This seafaring background proved invaluable in covert operations.

He played a key role in Operation Postmaster (1942), a daring mission to seize Axis ships off the coast of West Africa, for which he was awarded the Military Cross. Later that year, during Operation Aquatint—a reconnaissance raid on the Normandy coast—Hayes was one of only four survivors from an 11-man team. After evading capture for weeks with the help of the French Resistance, he was ultimately betrayed, arrested in Spain, and handed over to the Germans. Hayes endured nine months in solitary confinement at Fresnes Prison before being executed by firing squad on 13 July 1943. He is buried in Viroflay, France, and commemorated alongside his brother Malcolm, who also died in the war.

Do you have more information about this person? Inform us!

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Captain

Unit:

Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF), Combined Operations Headquarters, War Office, British Government

Awarded on:

July 28th, 1942

Awarded for:

Operation Postmaster

"For the operation of cutting out the Italian and German ships at Fernando Po on the night of 14/15 January 1942, Lieutenant Graham Hayes was in command of the tug and boarding party to deal with the German vessels Likomba and Bibundi. Lieutenant Hayes led a boarding party of four men in two Folbot canoes across the harbour in the dark and was the first to swarm up the steamer's sides, carrying explosive for the blowing of the cables and armed with an automatic pistol. On being challenged, Lieutenant Hayes made a non-committal answer which gave him time to gain the steamer's deck when the watchmen and crew took flight by diving over the side. With the help of his sergeant, Sergeant Winter, Lieutenant Hayes then laid his charges and blew the forward and after cables, searched and secured the ship and conned her out of the harbour behind the tug to open sea.

Throughout the voyage to Lagos the small tug was constantly breaking down and Lieutenant Hayes on many occasions performed feats of great physical endurance, swimming between the tug and the captured ships and working with heavy five inch hawsers in waters where sharks are very numerous.

Throughout the voyage home, he displayed complete disregard for his personal safety and bodily fatigue."

• Photo 1: (Public Domain)
• - https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35645/supplement/3293/data.pdf
  - CWGC
  

Helaas geen map gevonden.

Freetown Harbour

Freetown - Western Area

Funchal Harbour

Funchal - Madeira

Dartmouth Harbour

Dartmouth - Devon

Poole Harbour

Poole - Dorset

Postmaster (1942)

Aquatint (1942)