- 7 weeks ago
Operation Frankton was a Royal Marines raid so daring that only two of the ten men who launched it would return home. In December 1942, Major Herbert “Blondie” Hasler and the Royal Marines Boom Patrol Detachment paddled folding Cockle canoes from HMS Tuna up the Gironde estuary toward Bordeaux, aiming to sabotage German-controlled shipping with limpet mines.
The mission unfolded in freezing water, strong tides, darkness, and constant risk of German patrols. After days of silent movement through occupied France, Hasler and Marine Bill Sparks reached Bordeaux Harbor, attached their charges beneath enemy vessels, and escaped before the explosions shattered the night. The film traces the planning, the attack, the escape, and the tragic fate of the captured commandos.
Created for viewers interested in World War II history, military documentary storytelling, commando raids, and special operations. It also fits searches for Royal Marines history, Operation Frankton, Bordeaux Harbor sabotage, and wartime escape stories.
The mission unfolded in freezing water, strong tides, darkness, and constant risk of German patrols. After days of silent movement through occupied France, Hasler and Marine Bill Sparks reached Bordeaux Harbor, attached their charges beneath enemy vessels, and escaped before the explosions shattered the night. The film traces the planning, the attack, the escape, and the tragic fate of the captured commandos.
Created for viewers interested in World War II history, military documentary storytelling, commando raids, and special operations. It also fits searches for Royal Marines history, Operation Frankton, Bordeaux Harbor sabotage, and wartime escape stories.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00The hardest part of the mission was never reaching Bordeaux. Long before the first
00:04explosive charge was attached to a German ship, long before the first alarm echoed across the
00:09harbor, ten Royal Marines were already fighting a battle they could not win with rifles or machine
00:14guns. Their enemies were darkness, freezing water, powerful tides, exhaustion, and the knowledge that
00:21success offered almost no guarantee of survival. On a cold December night in 1942, small folding
00:28canoes slipped quietly into the waters of the Gironde estuary on France's Atlantic coast.
00:33Their launch point was not a beach or a hidden harbor, but the British submarine HMS Tuna,
00:39which had carried them hundreds of miles through waters patrolled by German aircraft and naval
00:44forces. The submarine had brought them as close as it safely could. From that moment onward,
00:50they were completely alone. Each canoe carried two men, supplies for several days,
00:55limpid mines, and just enough food to keep moving. Everything depended on silence. A single careless
01:02sound, a misplaced paddle stroke, or the beam of a German searchlight sweeping across the river
01:08could bring the mission to an immediate end. The commandos understood something even more unsettling.
01:15Reaching Bordeaux was only half of their assignment. Once the explosives had been planted beneath enemy
01:21ships, they would still have to escape through hundreds of miles of occupied France, avoiding
01:26soldiers, checkpoints, collaborators, and patrols before somehow reaching neutral Spain. There would
01:32be no submarine waiting to collect them. No rescue force would arrive if things went wrong. Every mile beyond
01:39the harbor would be another step through enemy territory. Even before the first paddle touched the water,
01:45most of the men suspected they might never return home. Yet they launched anyway. Their objective lay
01:51nearly 70 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean, deep inside one of the most heavily defended ports in
01:57occupied France. German merchant ships and blockade runners used Bordeaux to transport valuable cargo that
02:04helped sustain the Axis war effort. The port was protected by coastal defenses, patrol vessels, searchlights,
02:11harbor security, and thousands of occupying troops. On paper, it seemed almost impossible for a handful of
02:18men carrying explosives in canvas canoes to threaten such a place. History would prove otherwise. The raid
02:25became known as Operation Frankton. It remains one of the boldest commando operations of the Second World War,
02:32remembered not simply because of the damage it inflicted, but because of the extraordinary determination
02:37demanded from the men who attempted it. Of the ten Royal Marines who left HMS Tuna that December night,
02:44only two would eventually make it back to Britain. Understanding how that happened means beginning long before
02:50the canoes entered the Gironde. By late 1942, the Second World War had reached a turning point.
02:57Allied armies had landed in North Africa during Operation Torch, opening a new front against Axis forces.
03:03While the campaign reshaped the strategic balance in the Mediterranean, another struggle continued along
03:10the Atlantic coast of occupied Europe. Every week, ships carried raw materials, industrial equipment,
03:16fuel, and military supplies through ports controlled by Germany. Keeping those routes open remained
03:22essential for sustaining the German war machine. Among those ports, Bordeaux held particular importance.
03:29Located far inland along the Garonne River, the city offered German shipping a degree of protection
03:34that coastal harbors could not easily match. Merchant vessels anchored there beyond the reach of quick
03:41naval raids, while river approaches and defensive positions complicated any direct attack.
03:47Valuable cargoes passed through the port, and blockade runners sought refuge there before attempting
03:52dangerous voyages across oceans patrolled by Allied forces. Destroying ships inside Bordeaux
03:59promised results far greater than sinking them at sea. Every damaged vessel represented cargo delayed,
04:05repairs required, and additional pressure on Germany's already strained logistics. The obvious solution
04:12would have been an air raid. But obvious did not always mean practical. Royal Air Force bombers faced
04:19enormous challenges striking Bordeaux effectively. The distance stretched aircraft endurance, reducing
04:25payloads and limiting operational flexibility. Strong anti-aircraft defenses protected the harbor,
04:32while the city's civilian population increased the danger. Of unintended casualties, even successful
04:39bombing missions risked damaging docks without necessarily destroying the vessels that mattered most.
04:44British planners wanted something far more precise. Instead of leveling warehouses or bombarding the
04:51waterfront, they wanted explosives attached directly beneath carefully selected ships. They wanted maximum
04:57disruption with the smallest possible force. It was an idea that sounded less like conventional warfare,
05:03and more like sabotage carried out by ghosts. Finding the men capable of such a mission led them to an
05:10unusual Royal Marines formation. The Royal Marines Boom Patrol Detachment had been created to solve
05:16problems that ordinary military units could not. Rather than storming beaches or holding defensive positions,
05:24its members trained to move silently through water, infiltrate defended coastlines, gather intelligence,
05:30and attack targets from unexpected directions. Their greatest advantage was not firepower but invisibility.
05:38Leading them was Major Herbert Blondie Hasler, an officer known for combining determination with careful planning.
05:45Hasler believed that small, disciplined teams could achieve results entirely disproportionate to their numbers
05:51if they struck where the enemy felt secure. His unit trained relentlessly in endurance, navigation, canoe handling,
05:59and covert operations, preparing for missions that demanded physical resilience as much as courage.
06:05Their most unusual piece of equipment was the cockle canoe. Lightweight, collapsible, and built to be carried
06:12inside a submarine, the canoe could transport two commandos quietly through rivers and coastal waters
06:18where larger boats could never operate unnoticed. It offered almost no protection from cold, rough water or enemy fire.
06:26The men sat exposed to the elements for hours, sometimes days, relying entirely on skill,
06:33stamina, and darkness to keep them alive. To deliver both the commandos and their fragile craft,
06:39the Royal Navy assigned HMS Tuna. The submarine's role was straightforward in theory, but dangerous in
06:46practice. She would carry the raiding party across the Bay of Biscay, approach the French coast under cover of
06:53darkness, and release the canoes as close to the Gironde as safety allowed. Everything beyond that point belonged to
07:00Hasler and his men. The submarine could bring them within reach of Bordeaux. The rest of the journey would have
07:07to be earned
07:07one silent paddle stroke at a time. Shortly after nightfall, on the 7th of December, 1942, HMS Tuna surfaced off
07:17the
07:17French coast. The submarine had crossed the Bay of Biscay without exposing the mission, but the most
07:23dangerous phase was only beginning. The sea offered little shelter. Winter weather rolled across the
07:29Atlantic, the swell lifted the submarine heavily, and every minute spent on the surface increased the
07:35chance of being spotted by German aircraft or patrol vessels. There was no time to waste. The folded
07:41cockle canoes were hauled onto the deck one by one. In the darkness, the Royal Marines worked quickly, fastening
07:48wooden frames, stretching waterproof canvas over them, checking paddles, equipment, weapons, food, and the limpet
07:55mines that represented the entire purpose of the mission. Every man had rehearsed these movements countless times in Britain, yet
08:03practicing in calm water and assembling fragile craft on the deck of a rolling submarine in the middle of winter
08:08were two very different things.
08:11The sea refused to cooperate. Waves crashed across the deck as the commandos struggled to launch their canoes without damaging
08:18them before the mission had truly begun. Every movement demanded balance. Every loose piece of equipment
08:25threatened to disappear into the water forever. Even speaking had to be kept to an absolute minimum.
08:30Their greatest protection remained the darkness surrounding them. One after another, the small canoes
08:36slipped away from HMS tuna. Within moments, the submarine disappeared beneath the surface. The men watched
08:43the familiar shape vanish into the night, fully aware they would probably never see it again.
08:49Ahead of them stretched the broad mouth of the Gironde estuary, where the Dordogne and Garonne rivers met the
08:55Atlantic before winding inland toward Bordeaux. The distance looked manageable on a map. In reality,
09:02it became a maze of shifting currents, exposed mud flats, hidden sandbanks, and unpredictable tides
09:09capable of exhausting even experienced canoeists. The mission began to unravel almost immediately.
09:16Strong. Currents pushed several canoes away from their intended course before the teams could properly
09:22organize themselves. Darkness made it nearly impossible to maintain visual contact. The only sounds were paddles
09:30entering the water and the distant crash of waves behind them. Within a short time, crews that had
09:36launched only minutes apart were struggling to find one another. Then came the first disaster. One of the
09:43cockle canoes was overwhelmed by the conditions and had to be abandoned. Its crew could not continue the
09:48mission. Before the raiders had traveled any meaningful distance toward Bordeaux, the carefully planned force had
09:55already been reduced. It was an ominous beginning. Every canoe lost meant fewer explosives reaching the
10:01harbor. Every missing crew increased the burden on those who remained. Success had always depended upon
10:07several teams arriving together. Now that possibility was beginning to fade. Yet the surviving crews continued
10:14inland. They paddled through the darkness with almost no visible landmarks, relying on maps, compasses,
10:20tidal calculations, and careful judgment. Progress was painfully slow. Sometimes the current worked with
10:27them, carrying them silently upstream. More often it fought against them, forcing the exhausted marines to
10:33battle for every mile. This was not the kind of fighting most soldiers imagined. There were no trenches, no
10:40artillery, no exchanges of gunfire. Instead, the enemy was the river itself. December brought bitter cold to
10:48southwestern France. The commandos remained exposed hour after hour, their clothing soaked by spray and
10:54rain. Hands stiffened around the paddles. Muscles gradually lost strength. Sleep became a luxury they
11:01could rarely afford. Every movement burned precious energy, yet stopping for long risked losing ground to
11:07the tide. Navigation demanded constant concentration. The Gironde was wide enough in places to feel almost like
11:14open sea, yet narrow enough elsewhere for German patrols to observe movement if anyone became careless.
11:21The commandos could not simply paddle whenever they wished. They had to balance tidal conditions
11:27against the risk of being seen. A mistake in timing could leave them stranded on exposed mud banks
11:33or carried far away from their intended route. As dawn approached each morning, another routine began.
11:40The canoes disappeared. The Royal Marines pulled them ashore in isolated stretches of riverbank,
11:47dragging the lightweight craft into reeds, undergrowth, or wooded areas where they would be
11:52difficult to spot from passing boats. Nets, branches, and natural cover concealed both the canoes and the men.
11:59Fires were out of the question. Smoke would betray them immediately. Cooking was impossible. Even
12:05unnecessary movement had to be avoided. The daylight hours passed in tense silence. Sometimes they could
12:12hear engines on the river, sometimes footsteps. Occasionally voices drifted through the trees as
12:17German patrols searched nearby roads or local fishermen moved along the banks. Every sound forced the
12:24commandos to remain perfectly still. Discovery would almost certainly mean capture before a single mine had
12:30been placed. Food was rationed carefully. Each man carried only what he could transport inside a canoe
12:36already crowded with explosives and equipment. Every mouthful had to last. Drinking water required equal
12:43care. The physical demands of continuous paddling steadily consumed their strength while opportunities to
12:49recover remained almost non-existent. Silence became more than a precaution. It became a weapon. The fewer
12:57traces they left behind, the longer they remained invisible. They fought not by overpowering the
13:03enemy, but by convincing him they were never there at all. Beyond the concealed camps, occupied France
13:10continued its daily routine. Barges traveled the rivers carrying supplies for the German occupation.
13:17Local civilians worked fields and villages under constant supervision. Roadblocks controlled movement
13:22between towns. German sentries guarded bridges, docks, warehouses, and fuel depots. Patrol boats monitored
13:29important stretches of water, searching less for commandos than for smugglers, escaped prisoners, or members
13:36of the growing French resistance. Few people living along the Gironde had any reason to imagine that British
13:42marines were slowly advancing toward Bordeaux in collapsible canoes. For the civilians, discovery carried
13:50terrible risks as well. Anyone accused of helping allied personnel could face imprisonment, deportation,
13:56or execution. Fear shaped everyday life as much as military occupation itself. It meant that even if the
14:03commandos eventually needed assistance, trusting the wrong person could destroy both themselves and
14:09innocent families. Meanwhile, the river continued claiming victims. Separated crews struggled to find one
14:16another after each night's movement. Darkness that protected them from German eyes also isolated them from
14:22their own comrades. Small navigation errors multiplied into dangerous distances. The original plan relied on
14:30coordination. The river steadily erased it. Another canoe disappeared from the operation. Elsewhere, accidents
14:38forced difficult decisions as damaged equipment and worsening conditions made progress increasingly uncertain.
14:45Some men became isolated with little hope of rejoining the remaining force. Others pressed ahead believing
14:51their companions might already be farther upstream. Every disappearance tightened the pressure on those
14:58still moving. The mission's success no longer depended upon ten men, then eight, then six. With every reduction,
15:08the surviving crews understood that failure for any one of them carried greater consequences for everyone else.
15:14Some commandos eventually fell into German hands after becoming separated or reaching shore under
15:20desperate circumstances. Others simply vanished from contact altogether. The surviving teams rarely knew
15:27exactly what had happened. There was no radio communication between canoes, no headquarters receiving updates,
15:34no way to distinguish between men delayed by the tide and men already lost forever. Each evening,
15:41those still advancing launched once more into the darkness without knowing how many companions remained
15:46alive. The mission became smaller with every passing day. Yet, its objective never changed. Among those
15:54continuing upstream were Major Herbert Hasler and Marine Bill Sparks. Unlike many of the others, their canoe
16:01remained intact. Experience, discipline, and careful navigation gradually carried them closer to Bordeaux.
16:09By now, exhaustion had become constant. Days without proper rest blurred together. Their hands were raw from
16:16endless paddling. Every muscle protested with each stroke. But turning back would mean accepting that the
16:22sacrifices already made had achieved nothing. As the river narrowed and signs of heavier German activity
16:30increased, caution became even more important. Industrial buildings appeared along the waterfront. More
16:37vessels occupied the river. Guard posts became more frequent. Searchlights occasionally swept across stretches
16:43of water after dark before moving away again. Hasler and Sparks reduced every unnecessary sound. Often,
16:50they allowed the current to carry them while using only the lightest paddle strokes needed to maintain direction.
16:55They observed patrol patterns, noted anchored vessels, identified possible approaches, and waited
17:02patiently for opportunities rather than forcing their way forward. Everything they had endured over the
17:08previous days had been leading to this moment. Ahead lay Bordeaux. Somewhere beyond the darkness rested the
17:15ships they had crossed an ocean to destroy. They had reached the target. The most dangerous part of the mission
17:21had finally begun. By the evening of the 11th of December, Hasler and Bill Sparks had done what few
17:27believed possible. After days of paddling through occupied France, surviving freezing temperatures,
17:34powerful tides, and the gradual collapse of their own raiding force, they had reached the outskirts of Bordeaux.
17:40Now, every decision carried even greater weight. The city around them continued almost as normal. Workers
17:47moved along the docks. Guards watched the waterfront. Ships rested quietly at their berths, their crews
17:53largely unaware that two exhausted Royal Marines were preparing to attack from the water beneath them.
17:59Darkness slowly settled over the harbor. Hasler waited. Patience had become as important as courage.
18:06Launching too early risked being seen while activity remained high. Waiting too long meant daylight could
18:12arrive before they escaped. The mission depended on finding the narrow window when the harbor grew
18:18quiet enough to move, but still left enough time to withdraw before dawn. Eventually, they pushed forward.
18:25The cockle canoe drifted through the harbor with only the lightest paddle strokes disturbing the surface.
18:30Every splash seemed impossibly loud. Every reflection on the water looked capable of exposing them.
18:37Searchlights. Occasionally swept across parts of the docks before moving away again,
18:41forcing the two men to freeze until darkness returned. Their targets gradually emerged from
18:47the night. Large German-controlled merchant ships stood motionless alongside the keys, valuable cargo
18:54vessels supporting the Axis war effort through occupied France. These were not warships engaged in battle.
19:01They were logistical lifelines carrying supplies that allowed Germany to continue fighting across multiple
19:07fronts. Hasler guided the canoe alongside the first vessel. Working quickly but carefully, the two
19:14commandos secured themselves against the towering hull. The scale of the ship became immediately apparent.
19:20Above them rose steel plates disappearing into the darkness, while somewhere overhead German sailors and dock
19:26personnel carried on with their routines, unaware that enemies were only a few feet below. The limpet mines had
19:33been designed precisely for this kind of mission. Each charge used powerful magnets to cling directly to
19:39the steel hull beneath the waterline. Delayed action fuses allowed the commandos time to leave the harbor
19:45before the explosions occurred. But attaching them demanded calm hands and absolute precision. A dropped mine,
19:52an unexpected noise, or a sentry looking over the side at the wrong moment could end everything instantly.
19:59One mine was secured, then another. Without celebration, they eased the canoe away and slipped toward the next
20:06target. Time became their greatest enemy. Every minute spent inside the harbor increased the chance that
20:13a patrol boat might appear or a watchman might notice movement below. The men had no way of knowing whether
20:19another guard had already spotted something unusual. They could only continue, trusting that darkness and
20:25discipline remained on their side. Again they moved alongside another vessel. Again the careful routine
20:31repeated itself. Hold the canoe steady. Work in silence. Attach the charge. Check the timer. Push away.
20:38The harbor itself seemed almost unnaturally still. That silence magnified every small sound the commandos made.
20:46The scrape of canvas against steel. The quiet movement of water beneath the hull. Even controlled breathing
20:53seemed louder than it should have been. The mission offered no opportunity to rush.
20:57Speed invited mistakes. Mistakes invited discovery.
21:01So Hasler and Sparks maintained the same measured rhythm from one target to the next,
21:06accepting that precision offered their best chance of survival.
21:10One by one, the limpet mines found their places beneath German shipping.
21:15When the last charge had been secured, neither man paused to admire what they had accomplished.
21:20There was nothing left to do in Bordeaux, except leave.
21:24The canoe slipped quietly back into the darkness, retracing a route away from the harbor before the
21:29delayed fuses reached the end of their countdown. Behind them, the waterfront remained calm.
21:35Dock workers continued their routines. Guards watched empty stretches of river. The ships lay peacefully at
21:41their moorings. Nothing suggested that several of them were already carrying hidden explosives beneath the
21:47water line. Hours later, that silence ended. Powerful explosions shattered the stillness across
21:54Bordeaux's harbor. Columns of water and debris erupted alongside multiple vessels as the limpet mines
22:01detonated almost exactly as intended. Ships that had appeared perfectly secure only moments earlier were
22:07suddenly damaged, flooding or burning. Emergency crews rushed toward the docks while alarm sirens echoed through
22:14the port. German authorities reacted immediately. Security forces searched the waterfront, questioned
22:21personnel, inspected nearby vessels, and attempted to determine how such an attack had been carried out
22:26inside one of their supposedly secure ports. At first, the scale and method of the raid were unclear.
22:34Had aircraft slipped through the defenses? Had saboteurs infiltrated the docks? Had the resistance struck from
22:41within. The truth seemed almost unbelievable. The attackers had arrived in folding canoes launched
22:48from a submarine days earlier. The physical damage was limited to a small number of ships,
22:53and Operation Frankton did not cripple Germany's Atlantic logistics on its own. But its impact reached
23:00beyond the immediate destruction. The raid demonstrated that even heavily defended ports could be penetrated by
23:07small, determined commando teams using unconventional tactics. German authorities were forced to devote.
23:14Additional men, resources, and attention to protecting installations they had previously considered
23:20relatively secure. For Britain, it was proof that a tiny force operating far behind enemy lines
23:27could achieve results completely out of proportion to its size. The raid had succeeded. But success did not
23:34mean survival. The explosions behind them marked the end of the raid. For Herbert Hasler and Marine
23:41Bill Sparks, they also marked the beginning of an entirely different battle. Their canoe had carried them
23:47as far as it could. Continuing along the rivers was no longer practical. German security forces would soon
23:55be searching every stretch of water leading away from Bordeaux, and any hope of escaping by the same route
24:01had disappeared with the first explosion in the harbor. The two commandos left the canoe behind and began
24:07their journey on foot. Ahead of them lay hundreds of miles of occupied France. Unlike the carefully planned
24:15approach to Bordeaux, this part of the mission depended on circumstances that could never be fully controlled.
24:21There were no detailed operational maps showing friendly positions, no scheduled rendezvous, and no military
24:28support waiting beyond the next hill. Every decision now rested on trust, instinct, and the
24:34willingness of ordinary civilians to risk everything for complete strangers. Moving mostly by night, Hassler and
24:42Sparks avoided major roads, villages, and German checkpoints. During the day, they remained hidden wherever they
24:49could, conserving what little strength they had left after days of relentless paddling. Food was scarce, clothing was worn,
24:57and exhaustion had become a constant companion. Yet, stopping for too long invited another danger.
25:03Every passing day gave German authorities more time to tighten searches across the region.
25:08Their survival increasingly depended on the French resistance and on civilians willing to oppose the
25:14occupation despite the terrible consequences if they were discovered. Across occupied France, countless men and
25:22women quietly built escape routes, hid Allied airmen, carried messages, forged documents, and guided fugitives
25:30toward safety. Most never sought recognition, and many paid for their courage with imprisonment or execution.
25:37For Hassler and Sparks, those hidden networks became the difference between capture and survival.
25:44With their help, the two Royal Marines slowly traveled south, crossing one dangerous obstacle after another,
25:51until they eventually reached neutral Spain. From there, they made their way back to Britain, becoming the only
25:58members of the original raiding force to complete the entire mission and return home. The fate of the
26:04others was far more tragic. The dangers that had threatened the mission from the very beginning ultimately
26:09caught up with almost every member of the raiding party. Some commandos were lost during the difficult
26:15journey through the Gironde estuary. Others became separated from their comrades and were eventually
26:21captured while attempting to escape across occupied France. Several of those captured did not receive the
26:28treatment normally expected for prisoners of war. In October 1942, only weeks before Operation Frankton,
26:35Adolf Hitler had issued what became known as the Commando Order. It directed that Allied commandos
26:42captured during raids behind German lines were to be executed, even if they were in uniform and
26:47attempted to surrender. The order violated established laws of war, yet it was carried out in numerous
26:53cases throughout the conflict. The captured members of Operation Frankton became victims of that policy. Their
27:00deaths were not the result of the raid itself, but of a deliberate decision made far from Bordeaux.
27:07Today, they are remembered not only for the mission they undertook, but for the price they ultimately
27:13paid. Operation Frankton inflicted measurable damage on German-controlled shipping in Bordeaux and forced the
27:20occupation authorities to reconsider the security of ports that had previously seemed beyond the reach of
27:25small commando units. Additional guards, patrols, and defensive measures demanded men and resources that
27:32could no longer be used elsewhere. Its greatest impact, however, reached beyond the immediate results.
27:39The operation became one of the defining stories in the history of British Special Operations,
27:45demonstrating that careful planning, endurance, and surprise could sometimes achieve what overwhelming
27:50force could not. The raid also reinforced the value of small maritime infiltration units,
27:57influencing the continuing development of Britain's special boat capabilities during the remainder of
28:02the war. Herbert Hasler himself continued serving after Operation Frankton, and later became widely
28:09respected for his contributions to small boat operations and offshore sailing. His experiences helped
28:16shape ideas that influenced future generations of Special Operations forces, where stealth, initiative,
28:22and independence remained essential qualities. Operation Frankton did not alter the outcome of the Second
28:29World War on its own. The ships damaged at Bordeaux did not bring Germany to defeat, nor did ten men
28:36in
28:36folding canoes decide the course of the conflict. What they proved was something different. They proved that
28:43determination could carry a tiny force deep into enemy territory when conventional attacks seemed impossible.
28:50They proved that preparation and deception could overcome defenses built to stop much larger formations.
28:58And they proved that some of history's most remarkable military operations are remembered not because they
29:03were the largest, but because they demanded extraordinary courage from the few who volunteered to undertake them.