Memorial Frankton Braud-et-Saint-Louis

This memorial commemorates Operation Frankton. The text reads:

"Operation Frankton - Before daybreak on Wednesday, December 9, 1942, after a frigid and dangerous crossing of the Gironde from Pointe aux Oiseaux, four commandos from the British Royal Marines Corps: Major Blondie Hasler (RM) and Mne Bill Sparks aboard "Catfish," Cpl Laver (RM) and Mne Mills aboard "Crayfish," approach the east bank of the river. Their top-secret mission has them paddling at night and hiding during the day. They are the only two crews remaining operational out of the five kayaks launched on December 7 by the submarine HMS TUNA off Montalivet. They will achieve their objective alone by attacking German blockade-running cargo ships docked at Bassens and Bordeaux. - After paddling all night, they seek cover in the reeds near the Port des Callonges. The area appears deserted. The sun rises. The barking of a sheepdog preceding his master alerts Hasler, who gets up from his hiding place and finds himself facing a Frenchman, Albert Decombe, a sharecropper at the "La Présidente" farm, now razed by the nuclear power plant construction site. A conversation begins, and he warmly invites Hasler to have a drink at the farm. The commando leader is forced to decline the invitation and promises to return after the war, which he does. - The French will remain silent: they are not part of Resistance networks but will act repeatedly as patriots, risking their lives and those of their families."

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