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00:00the commandos were some of Britain's toughest special forces troops in World War two experts
00:09in marine raiding they knew everything about attacking the enemy by sea but even they wondered
00:19if a canoe-borne raid on German supply ships in the heart of Nazi occupied France might not be a
00:24mission too far if the cockle-shell heroes as they have been immortalized got lucky they might avoid
00:34the German patrols going in but then they would have to get out it was a beginning of an epic
00:40tale of ingenuity and endurance
00:54after the fall of France in June 1940 German merchant shipping brought vital war supplies
01:12from around the world to France's Atlantic ports from there they went on to Nazi Germany powering
01:23Hitler's war machine these ports became even more vital after December 1941 Germany's axis
01:31ally Japan seized valuable sources of raw materials oil wells in the Dutch East Indies rubber plantations
01:38in British Malaya the port of Bordeaux 70 miles up the Gironde River in southwest France was at the
01:49center of this trade in just 12 months over 25,000 tons of rubber landed in France rubber was one of the
02:00few items German industry had been unable to substitute it was essential for their vehicles on the Eastern Front if
02:10the Allies could stop this trade it would have a significant impact on the conduct of the war
02:19Lord Selborne the British Minister of Economic Warfare wrote to Prime Minister Winston Churchill saying the flow had
02:27to be stopped one option was for the Royal Air Force to bomb these ports but any raid would result in high
02:34French civilian casualties bombardment of the Atlantic ports from the Bay of Biscay by the Royal Navy was
02:44another option but this was also too risky the warships would be totally exposed to air attack another option was to use the
02:58commandos the new elite force set up by Winston Churchill to raid Nazi-occupied Europe
03:09Lord Louis Mountbatten chief of combined operations was tasked with coming up with a plan
03:18within his organization there was a section under the command of Royal Marine major Herbert George
03:24Hassler a tall imposing figure with golden red hair and a luxuriant moustache he was nicknamed Blondie
03:37Hassler's task was to develop stealthy methods of attacking enemy shipping in harbors
03:43he took his inspiration from the greatest practitioners of the art the Decima Massa assault unit of the Italian Navy
03:52with its human torpedoes with its human torpedoes on the 18th of December 1941 three two-man teams had
03:59penetrated Alexandria harbour in Egypt and crippled the battleship's Queen Elizabeth and Valiant
04:10Hassler and his team studied captured Italian human torpedoes to produce a similar weapon but the British version the
04:18chariot the chariot was not ready for production
04:25he then considered another Italian idea a motorboat packed with explosives this would use speed to avoid the
04:32defenses surrounding its target its pilot would bail out once the boat was on its final course
04:37Hassler planned that the exploding speedboat would be accompanied by a backup team of canoeists to rescue the pilot
04:45while developing these projects
04:51Hassler formed a small unit of specialized raiders
05:00it was given the code name of the Royal Marines harbour patrol detachment
05:05this was divided into two sections one was to man the canoes that would accompany the motorboats
05:12the other was to use breathing apparatus designed for escape from sunken submarines for underwater sabotage
05:22the detachment was drawn from the Royal Marines and training began at Southsea
05:30faced with the need to find a way of attacking Bordeaux
05:37Hassler came up with the radical idea that the canoes should go in by themselves using stealth navigate up the river
05:45but they needed a proper boat which would carry sufficient equipment for the mission
05:51the fall boat used by the special boat squadron was too fragile for this kind of operation
05:58but a collapsible light assault boat developed by marine designer Fred goatly was on the right lines
06:06so Hassler asked him to develop a suitable craft for his raiders
06:10it had to fit through a submarines torpedo reloading hatch
06:17known as the cockle mark 2 it was capable of carrying 600 pounds
06:25with its low profile and fabric construction
06:29the cockle was undetectable by radar
06:32it was propelled by using double-bladed paddles
06:39Hassler tested the prototype himself and was happy with it
06:47the new boat would use a weapon specifically designed for destroying enemy shipping
06:53the limpet mine
07:01limpet mines were stuck by magnets to target vessels
07:04as far below the water line as possible to maximize the explosive effect
07:12the process involved the cockle crew holding themselves close to a ship with a magnetic device known as a holdfast
07:18they then used a long-handled tool to attach the limpet mine carefully
07:25avoiding a loud clunk that might alert the ship's crew
07:34the timing device allowed the raiders to escape to a safe distance before the limpet mine exploded
07:39during the autumn of 1942
07:46Hassler selected six two-man teams
07:49these began intensive training
07:51not only in handling their fragile craft
07:53but in concealing them
07:55for the Gironde was constantly patrolled by German boats and aircraft
07:59and the commandos would have to hide up on the banks during the day
08:02the raid on the blockade runners in the heavily guarded port was given the code name operation frankton
08:23the six cockle canoes and their crews would be taken by submarine to the mouth of the river
08:27and launched well out to sea
08:33it was reckoned that the commandos would be able to travel about 20 miles a night
08:36and need to hide up at least three times before attacking their target
08:40much of the equipment and clothing was designed specially for the mission and tested by blondie Hassler
08:58the outer garment was a camouflaged waterproof cockle suit
09:01with the Royal Marines shoulder title
09:04and the combined operations patch on the upper arm
09:07the jacket had an elastic skirting which fitted over the top of the canoes cockpit cover
09:12to form a watertight seal
09:15the thigh length waders had the same camouflage pattern as the jacket
09:20in addition to the limpid mines
09:22two of the crews had silenced stend submachine guns
09:25each man carried a 45 caliber automatic pistol and a commando knife
09:31on the 1st of December 1942 the mission was given the go-ahead
09:37Hassler and his team sailed aboard the submarine HMS Tuner
09:43their training was over this was the real thing
09:55once at sea the Marines were given precise details of their target
10:00six days later the raiders disembarked using a special crane and sling designed by Hassler
10:06and sketched here by him
10:12despite calm seas one of the six cockles was damaged as it was launched
10:17its crew had to abandon the mission
10:20the five surviving canoes and their crews began their secret approach towards the French coastline 12 miles away
10:26all the cockles were named after fish catfish coal fish conger crayfish and cuttlefish
10:39there was no going back now they had a mission to complete
10:44but how high the human cost would be no one could guess
10:47as the cockleshell raiders approached the mouth of the Gironde
10:57Blondie Hassler and his crewman Marine William Sparks were leading the team in the canoe catfish
11:03they now had to face their first challenge a vicious tidal race at the mouth of the river
11:09the canoes were violently batted coal fish became separated in the confusion and its crew disorientated
11:24as they struggled on the canoe capsized
11:33the two Marines managed to swim ashore but were immediately captured by the Germans
11:37it was a serious blow for the Germans were now alerted to the likelihood of an attack
11:42the rest of the team were also unaware that German radar had spotted the submarine as it surfaced at the mouth of the river
11:51patrol craft began to search the waters
11:54further bad luck swiftly followed
11:58conger also got overwhelmed in the raging tidal water and capsized
12:03the crew corporal George Sheard and Marine David Moffat hung on to the other canoes but then tried to swim to shore
12:10tragically both drowned
12:15it was looking like a disaster after only two hours the raiders who made it into the river were down to just three canoes
12:29as the remaining cockles paddled on they encountered a line of three German destroyers
12:42by bending flat over the tops of their canoes they slipped by
12:46then one of the surviving three cuttlefish crewed by Lieutenant John McKinnon and Marine James Conway became separated from the main party
12:57at 0630 the crews of the two leading boats catfish and crayfish came ashore at Point Oiseau
13:04they had paddled 20 miles and needed to take cover as day broke
13:11the four men managed to summon up enough energy to brew a cup of tea before they fell asleep beneath the camouflage netting covering their boats
13:18Hassler took the first watch
13:25that night catfish and crayfish continued on up the river making good progress and avoiding any German patrols
13:35they hid up again that evening unaware that McKinnon and Conway and cuttlefish were not far away
13:49but the next night cuttlefish suffered a disaster
13:55it struck a rock and had to be abandoned
13:57all the time German patrol boats scoured the river
14:03only catfish and crayfish were left to carry on with the mission
14:06the two little boats eluded the Germans until they reached their final shelter in the reeds opposite the docks of Bordeaux
14:12here with insight and sound of their targets they rested and prepared their equipment for the raid that night
14:29on the night of the 11th the weather suited the raiders a moderate breeze with steady drizzle to conceal their approach
14:36the four men set off in their flimsy cockles for the docks of Bordeaux
14:46they had divided their paddles and now used them singly to reduce the sound of their approach
14:52Hassler and Sparks went towards the blockade runners moored at the quayside
14:58Albert Laver and William Mills made for the harbour basin the other side of the river
15:08Laver and Mills placed five of their eight limpet mines on a large cargo ship and three on a liner
15:18Hassler and Sparks placed their first charges on a 7,800 tonne blockade runner which had just arrived from Japan
15:31and then moved on to three more ships including a tanker
15:35at one moment the German sentries shone his torch on the men below but he saw nothing
15:40the raiders silently slipped away and paddled unseen to the village of Blais back down the Gironde
15:51there the cockles were scuffled and the two crews parted
15:59their main concern now was to get away from the Bordeaux area as fast as possible
16:06as they made their escape their delayed action charges exploded on the hulls of the ships
16:13ripping through the night
16:17four ships were sunk and two more were seriously damaged
16:21it was a brilliant audacious success
16:26the Nazis denied that the cockleshell raid caused any serious destruction
16:31but it was rumoured that an advanced radar system destined for the Japanese was on one of their victims
16:41in the meantime the raiders were on the run
16:44their battle for survival only just beginning
16:47German search parties scoured the area
16:51on the third day after the raid the searchers closed in on one of the pair that planted the bombs
17:04Laver and Mills spoke no French and were picked up by local police
17:09they were handed over to the Germans and summarily shot
17:12the two Marines whose cockle had capsized while still offshore
17:18Samuel Wallace and Robert Hewitt had also been captured
17:22they too were quickly executed
17:24McKinnon and Conway who had carried on alone until their boat hit a rock were tracked down and arrested
17:39they were taken to Gestapo headquarters in Paris
17:43there they were interrogated tortured and shot
17:47the soldiers on a mission they should have been treated like prisoners of war
17:50but Hitler had just issued his notorious order that any captured commandos must be killed immediately
17:57only Hassler the leader of the mission and his teammate Sparks were left alive
18:05fortunately Hassler spoke fluent French
18:09they were given civilian clothes by local farmers and survived off raw turnips and potatoes
18:14the pair made their way to Ruffec 80 miles northeast of Bordeaux where they made contact with French resistance agents
18:31then they were taken in a baker's van to a safe house at a farm
18:34there they waited for several weeks to make contact with agent Mary Lindell
18:42codenamed Mary Claire she ran an escape line south to Spain
18:49Mary Lindell seen here with fellow agents after the war was born into an upper-class English family
18:56she married a Frenchman and joined the resistance in 1940 becoming a key figure in helping allied soldiers evade capture in Nazi occupied France
19:10while Hassler and Sparks hid in their safe house Mary Lindell was knocked off her bicycle
19:17but she passed on instructions from her hospital bed that they should be moved to Lyon
19:26agents put Hassler and Sparks on the night train
19:30they were told to speak to no one and if questioned they were to simply say Breton
19:36as there were still people living in Brittany who did not understand French
19:41In Lyon, Hassler and Sparks met Mary Lindell in hospital
19:52she was furious that her agents had allowed Hassler to keep his classic English moustache
19:58he shaved it off immediately
19:59Mary Claire told the men she had strict escape rules that included drinking no more than two glasses of wine a day
20:16but Mary Claire's escape plan hit a snack
20:19the route to Spain was temporarily closed
20:22instead she decided to smuggle them into Switzerland
20:24but she became ill again and had to hand the commandos over to another agent
20:32they headed south once more
20:35and in the Mediterranean port of Marseille
20:37the men were passed on to Basque guides to attempt the escape route to Spain
20:44Hassler and Sparks survived the perilous trek through the Pyrenees to reach Barcelona
20:49from there they traveled through Spain to Gibraltar
20:55and were finally sent back to London
21:00they were lucky to get away
21:04the only survivors of the team whose exploits were celebrated after the war
21:09in a book and film as the cockleshell heroes
21:11but Blondie Hassler wasn't finished yet
21:18he went back to his old job at combined operations
21:22where he developed a variety of other ideas for covert operations
21:28flying boats were tested as a way of transporting raiders and their canoes on long range missions
21:33Hassler used this technique to insert reconnaissance patrols deep behind enemy lines in the Far East
21:39he also became closely involved in the development of the motorized submersible canoe
21:46or Sleeping Beauty as it was codenamed
21:50this was extensively tested but proved difficult to navigate when submerged
21:57Sleeping Beauty never did get to the war but Hassler's idea for canoe-borne raiding was used again
22:07in operation Jaywick major Ivan Lyon took a team of three cockles aboard a fishing boat the crate to attack Singapore harbour
22:18On the 26th of September 1943 the raiders slipped in destroyed six ships and got away safely
22:37Sadly a year later a second raid went badly wrong and Lyon and all his team were killed
22:42For the cockleshell raid Blondie Hassler was awarded the distinguished service order
22:51and his comrade William Sparks received the distinguished service medal
22:56Albert Laver and William Mills were mentioned in dispatches
22:59Forty years later Hassler and Sparks returned to the Royal Marine Base in Poole, Dorset
23:06They laid a wreath at the memorial commemorating their valiant action
23:11and the sacrifice of those brave men who did not make it back
23:15and the sought no peace Clearly they did not wear them
23:16How to escape against the logging
23:17And I'd be very happy to got them
23:18And that is the
23:36And that they don't have time to take my way
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