Bunker Château Magnol (Execution Site Marines 1942)

This German Kriegsmarine bunker behind the Château Magnol was the place where two marines were executed by the Germans on 11 December 1942. The bullet holes can still be seen on the wall and there is a plaque with the following text:

"If I should die think only this of me that there is some corner of a foreign field that is forever England - December 1942 - Sergent Samuel Wallace, Marine Robert Ewart Royal Marines."

Operation Frankton
The Cockleshell Heroes carried out Operation Frankton in December 1942, targeting German ships in Bordeaux. Trained at Lumps Fort in Portsmouth, they paddled 60 miles in collapsible kayaks to lay limpet mines.

Of the ten commandos, two were drowned, six were captured and executed, and only Major Hasler and Marine Sparks escaped. Despite heavy losses, the raid sank two ships and damaged four, disrupting enemy supply lines. Winston Churchill later credited it with shortening the Second World War by six months.

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Source

• Text: TracesofWar
• Photos: TracesofWar
• - Chemins de mémoire de l’opération Frankton