- 1 day ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:03the 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
00:39tale
00:40of ingenuity and endurance
01:05after 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 ally japan
01:32seized valuable sources of raw materials oil wells in the dutch east indies rubber plantations in british
01:44malaya the port of bordeaux 70 miles up the gironde river in southwest france was at the center of this
01:50trade in just 12 months over 25 000 tons of rubber landed in france rubber was one of the few
02:00items german
02:01that the german industry had been unable to substitute
02:06it was essential for their vehicles on the eastern front if the allies could stop this trade
02:11it would have a significant impact on the conduct of the war
02:20lord selborne the british minister of economic warfare wrote to prime minister winston churchill saying
02:26the flow had to be stopped one option was for the royal air force to bomb these ports
02:33but any raid would result in high french civilian casualties
02:41bombardment of the atlantic ports from the bay of biscay by the royal navy was another option
02:51the war ships would be totally exposed to air attack another option was to use the commandos
02:59the 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
03:19within his organization there was a section under the command of royal marine major
03:23herbert george hasler
03:26a tall imposing figure with golden red hair and a luxuriant mustache he was nicknamed blondie
03:34he was in the army in the army in the army in the army in the army in the army
03:34in the army
03:38hasler's task was to develop stealthy methods of attacking enemy shipping in harbors
03:45he took his inspiration from the greatest practitioners of the art the decima mass assault
03:50unit of the italian navy with its human torpedoes on the 18th of december 1941 three two-man teams had
03:59penetrated alexandria harbor in egypt and crippled the battleship's queen elizabeth and valiant
04:10hasler and his team studied captured italian human torpedoes to produce a similar weapon
04:16but the british version the chariot was not ready for production
04:25he then considered another italian idea a motorboat packed with explosives
04:30this would use speed to avoid the defenses surrounding its target its pilot would bail out
04:36once the boat was on its final course hasler planned that the exploding speedboat would
04:42be accompanied by a backup team of canoeists to rescue the pilot
04:49while developing these projects hasler formed a small unit of specialized raiders
05:00it was given the code name of the royal marines harbor patrol detachment
05:08this was divided into two sections one was to man the canoes that would accompany the motorboats
05:16the other was to use breathing apparatus designed for escape from sunken submarines for underwater sabotage
05:27the detachment was drawn from the royal marines and training began at south sea
05:36faced with the need to find a way of attacking bordeaux hasler came up with the radical idea that the
05:42canoes should go in by themselves using stealth to navigate up the river
05:48but they needed a proper boat which would carry sufficient equipment for the mission
05:54the fall boat used by the special boat squadron was too fragile for this kind of operation
06:01but a collapsible light assault boat developed by marine designer fred goatly was on the right lines
06:08so hasler asked him to develop a suitable craft for his raiders
06:17it had to fit through a submarine's torpedo reloading hatch
06:23known as the cockle mark ii it was capable of carrying 600 pounds
06:31with its low profile and fabric construction the cockle was undetectable by radar
06:36it was propelled by using double-bladed paddles
06:44hasler tested the prototype himself and was happy with it
06:52the new boat would use a weapon specifically designed for destroying enemy shipping the limpet mine
07:01the limpet mines were stuck by magnets to target vessels as far below the water line as possible to
07:07maximize the explosive effect
07:12the process involved the cockle crew holding themselves close to a ship with a magnetic device
07:17known as a hold fast
07:22they then used a long-handled tool to attach the limpet mine carefully avoiding a loud clunk
07:28that might alert the ship's crew
07:34the timing device allowed the raiders to escape to a safe distance before the limpet mine exploded
07:44during the autumn of 1942 hasler selected six two-man teams these began intensive training
07:55and the commandos would have to hide up on the banks during the day
08:09the 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
08:32it 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
08:48much 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 with the royal marine's shoulder title
09:04and the combined operations patch on the upper arm the jacket had an elastic skirting which fitted over
09:11the top of the canoe's cockpit cover to form a watertight seal the thigh length waders had the same
09:17camouflage pattern as the jacket in addition to the limpet mines two of the crews had silenced stend
09:25submachine guns each man carried a 45 caliber automatic pistol and a commando knife
09:32on the 1st of december 1942 the mission was given the go ahead
09:40hassler and his team sailed aboard the submarine hms tuner
09:47their training was over this was the real thing
09:55once at sea the marines were given precise details of their target
10:01six days later the raiders disembarked using a special crane and sling designed by hassler
10:07and 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 the five surviving canoes and their crews began their
10:24secret approach towards the french coastline 12 miles away
10:29all the cockles were named after fish catfish coal fish conger crayfish and cuttlefish
10:40there was no going back now they had a mission to complete but how high the human cost would be
10:46no one could guess
10:53as the cockle shelled raiders approached the mouth of the gironde blondie hassler and his crewman marine william sparks were
11:01leading the team in the canoe catfish
11:05they now had to face their first challenge a vicious tidal race at the mouth of the river
11:13the canoes were violently battered 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 it was a
11:38serious blow for the germans were now alerted to the likelihood of an attack
11:45the rest of the team were also unaware that german radar had spotted the submarine as it surfaced at the
11:50mouth of the river patrol craft began to search the waters
11:56further bad luck swiftly followed
12:00conger also got overwhelmed in the raging tidal water and capsized the crew corporal george sheared
12:07and marine david moffat hung on to the other canoes but then tried to swim to shore tragically both drowned
12:21it was looking like a disaster after only two hours the raiders who made it into the river
12:27were down to just three canoes
12:34as the remaining cockles paddled on they encountered a line of three german destroyers
12:43by bending flat over the tops of their canoes they slipped by
12:48then one of the surviving three cuttlefish crewed by lieutenant john mckinnon and marine james conway
12:55became separated from the main party
13:00at 0630 the crews of the two leading boats catfish and crayfish came ashore at point oiseau
13:08they had paddled 20 miles and needed to take cover as day broke
13:15the four men managed to summon up enough energy to brew a cup of tea before they fell asleep
13:19beneath the camouflage netting covering their boats hasler took the first watch
13:29that night catfish and crayfish continued on up the river making good progress and avoiding any german patrols
13:43that night cuttlefish they hid up again that evening unaware that mckinnon and conway
13:47and cuttlefish were not far away
13:52but the next night cuttlefish suffered a disaster it struck a rock and had to be abandoned
13:58all the time german patrol boats scoured the river
14:03only catfish and crayfish were left to carry on with the mission
14:07the two little boats eluded the germans until they reached their final shelter in the reeds opposite the
14:12docks of bordeaux
14:21here within sight and sound of their targets they rested and prepared their equipment for the raid
14:27that night
14:29on the night of the 11th the weather suited the raiders
14:33a moderate breeze with steady drizzle to conceal their approach
14:42the 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
14:55the river to the bridge
14:55hassler and sparks went towards the blockade runners moored at the quayside
15:03albert laver and william mills made for the harbour basin the other side of the river
15:13laver and mills placed five of their eight limpet mines on a large cargo ship and three on a liner
15:26on a seven thousand eight hundred ton 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
15:41the raiders silently slipped away and paddled unseen to the village of blay back down the gironde
15:51there the cockles were scuttled and the two crews parted
16:00their main concern now was to get away from the bordeaux area as fast as possible
16:08as they made their escape their delayed action charges exploded on the hulls of the ships
16:15ripping through the night four ships were sunk and two more were seriously damaged it was a brilliant
16:22audacious success
16:26the nazis denied that the cockleshell raid caused any serious destruction
16:31but it was rumored 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 their battle for survival only just beginning
16:50german search parties scoured the area
16:55on the third day after the raid the searchers closed in on one of the pair that planted the bombs
17:05laver and mills spoke no french and were picked up by local police
17:10they were handed over to the germans and summerally shot
17:15the two marines whose cockle had capsized while still offshore
17:18samuel wallace and robert hewitt had also been captured they too were quickly executed
17:28mckinnon 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 the soldiers on a mission they should have been treated
17:50like prisoners of war but hitler had just issued his notorious order that any captured commandos must
17:56be killed immediately
17:59only hassler the leader of the mission and his teammate sparks were left alive
18:06fortunately hassler spoke fluent french they were given civilian clothes by local farmers
18:12and survived off raw turnips and potatoes
18:18the pair made their way to ruffek 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
18:38there they waited for several weeks to make contact with agent mary lindell
18:44code-named mary clare she ran an escape line south to spain
18:51mary lindell seen here with fellow agents after the war was born into an upper-class english family
19:01she married a frenchman and joined the resistance in 1940 becoming a key figure in helping allied
19:07soldiers evade capture in nazi-occupied france
19:13while hassler and sparks hid in their safe house mary lindell was knocked off her bicycle
19:19but she passed on instructions from her hospital bed that they should be moved to lyon
19:27agents put hassler and sparks on the night train
19:32they were told to speak to no one and if questioned they were to simply say breton
19:38as there were still people living in brittany who did not understand french
19:48in lyon hassler and sparks met mary lindell in hospital
19:53she was furious that her agents had allowed hassler to keep his classic english mustache he shaved it off immediately
20:05mary clare told the men she had strict escape rules
20:09that included drinking no more than two glasses of wine a day
20:16mary clare's escape plan hit a snack the route to spain was temporarily closed
20:22instead she decided to smuggle them into switzerland
20:25but she became ill again and had to hand the commandos over to another agent
20:32they headed south once more and in the mediterranean port of marseille
20:36the 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
20:52from there they traveled through spain to gibraltar
20:55and were finally sent back to london
21:02they were lucky to get away the only survivors of the team whose exploits were celebrated after the war
21:08in a book and film as the cockleshell heroes
21:16but blondie hassler wasn't finished yet he went back to his old job at combined operations
21:21where he developed a variety of other ideas for covert operations
21:27flying boats were tested as a way of transporting raiders and their canoes on long-range missions
21:34hassler used this technique to insert reconnaissance patrols deep behind enemy lines in the far east
21:42he also became closely involved in the development of the motorized submersible canoe
21:48or sleeping beauty as it was codenamed
21:53this was extensively tested but proved difficult to navigate when submerged
22:01sleeping beauty never did get to the war but hassler's idea for canoe-borne raiding was used again
22:11in operation jaywick major ivan lyon took a team of three cockles aboard a fishing boat the crate to attack
22:20singapore harbor
22:24on the 26th of september 1943 the raiders slipped in destroyed six ships and got away safely
22:36sadly a year later the second raid went badly wrong and lyon and all his team were killed
22:47for the cockle shell raid blondie hassler was awarded the distinguished service order and his comrade
22:53william sparks received the distinguished service medal albert laver and william mills were mentioned in
23:01dispatches 40 years later hassler and sparks returned to the royal marine base in pool dorset they laid a
23:08wreath at the memorial commemorating their valiant action and the sacrifice of those brave men who did
23:14not make it back
Comments