Memorial Operation Frankton Saint-Genès-de-Blaye

This plaque commemorates Operation Frankton. The text on the plaque reads:

"Operation Frankton - December 1942. The Château de Segonzac, in front of you, dominates the stretch of the Gironde riverbank where the British heroes of one of the most daring commando raids of World War II landed before dawn on the night of December 12, 1942. They were part of the RMBPD, a secret unit of Marine Commandos (now SBS) formed within the Royal Marines. Launched off Montalivet on the Landes coast by the submarine HMS TUNA, the four men had traveled 160 km on the river, paddling by night and hiding by day, to Bordeaux. They were the only ones of the ten Royal Marines engaged in Operation Frankton to have achieved their objectives. They had just accomplished an extraordinary feat by laying limpets, time-delayed magnetic mines, on the hulls of German blockade runners docked in the Port of Bordeaux-Bassens. On board the 'Catfish' were Major 'Blondie'; Hasler RM, leader of the commando and Marine Bill Sparks. They had attacked the Tannenfels and the Dresden on the Carnot quay, the name of the Chartrons quay on the river side in Bordeaux, as well as an enemy Sperrbrecher. Corporal Laver RM and Marine Mills on board the 'Crayfish'; had attacked two large cargo ships, the 'Portland'; and the 'Alabama'; at the dock in Bassens. - Carried by the ebb, their mission accomplished, paddling with all their might, the two crews miraculously found themselves in the darkness in the middle of the Gironde. They sailed together towards Blaye. After congratulating each other on the success of their mission, they had to separate a second time for safety reasons a few cables from the shore and landed about 400m from each other. They immediately scuttled their kayaks. No gathering could be organized and they set out on foot in the night by two separate paths to try to reach Ruffec 160 km away where they could find help. They were never to see each other again. Captured at Montlieu-La-Garde, Laver and Mills were shot in Paris on March 23, 1943. Only Major Hasler and his teammate Bill Sparks returned to their country on April 3, 1943, after a three-month odyssey. The Château de Segonzac symbolically marks the starting point of their retreat on foot, which has now become a Trail of Remembrance."

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Source

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