Memorial Operation Frankton Lignières-Sonneville

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

"Operation Frankton - December 1942 - In this house, on the night of 15-16 December 1942, Clodomir Pasqueraud and his wife Irène received Major Hasler and Marine Sparks, the only survivors of the Royal Marines' attack on 12 December 1942 on the German blockade runners in Bordeaux harbour. Hasler and Sparks had disembarked from the submarine HMS Tuna on 7 December and paddled 150 kilometres from Montalivet to Bordeaux, sabotaging four enemy ships on the night of 11-12 and covering 80 kilometres on foot, in the cold and icy rain. At nightfall on 15 December, they asked Madame Cadillon, the wife of a farm labourer, for help. Cadillon's son accompanied them through the forest to the Pasqueraud family farm, where you are now. After they When Mr Pasqueraud told them they were fleeing from German soldiers, they were warmly welcomed. After dinner, they spent the night in a comfortable bed, and the next morning, two of Pasqueraud's sons, Yves and Marc, accompanied them to the Vinade bridge to cross the Charente. At that time, giving assistance or even failing to report escaped soldiers was punishable by death. The two fugitives continued on foot to Ruffec, from where, with the help of the Resistance and the British Secret Service, they reached Spain. In April 1943, Clodomir Pasqueraud learned from a personal message on the BBC, in which he agreed with the two Royal Marines before they left, that his generous gesture had helped the two Englishmen to return to their country. Major Hasler and Marine Sparks never forgot the help they received in that house, at a time when they were at the limit of their strength. Clodomir Pasqueraud was invited to London by the British government in 1961 come and was decorated, along with other French resistance fighters who had helped the 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