Operation Frankton

SBS in Bordeaux Raid

The previous page was: "Anders Lassen"

Operation Frankton; By the end of 1942 Commandos were beginning to go into battle side by side with Brigades and Divisions of the Regular Army.

Their original function had not been forgotten. Small raids were carried out by a detachment of Commandos or subsidiary formations, like the Small Scale Raiding Force (army) or the Special Boats Section under the Royal Marines Commando Control.

Major E. J. Hasler O.B.E. was invited to take command of the raid 'Operation Frankton'.

He commanded a section of the Royal Marines Boom Patrol, it operated in a similar manner to the Special Boats Section.

Both of these sections went to war in Cockle Boats; two man canoes of the Rob Roy type, and their weapons of offence were limpet mines.

Anders Lassen

7th October 1942 five cockle boats

At night on 7th October 1942 five cockle boats with Major Hasler in command were launched from the submarine, H.M.S. Tuna outside the River Gironde.

An unexpected tidal race took out two of the cockle boats, they then lost another near Le Verdon.

Cockle boat 'Catfish' with Hasler and Marine W. E. Sparks and cockle boat 'Crayfish' with Corporal H. E. Laver and Marine W. H. Mills both survived and made it to a small sandy promontory on the edge of the River Gironde.

They were discovered by fishermen; when they explained that they were British, the fishermen did not betray them.

They spent the day covered by their camouflage nets hiding until it was dark or reasonably safe to move about. Then they stowed away their gear and set off keeping close together. They repeated this process for several days and nights until they reached bordeaux.

They set their limpet mines

They spent the day setting their limpet mines with a nine hour delayed fuse after it had been attached to the ship. It was estimated they could get far enough away from the scene to be able to survive until night fall.

That night they shook hands and separated cockle boat 'Crayfish' went marauding up the east side of the river and 'catfish' went along the west bank.

Hasler and Sparks attached three limpet mines to a German Merchantman; they attached two more limpets to a German fast patrol boat. A little later they were able to attach two more limpets to another cargo ship and their last limpet was attached to a smaller tanker.

Corporal Laver and Marine Mills placed five limpets on a large cargo ship and three on a smaller one, their last two were placed on another cargo ship.

Captured by the Germans

Much of the aftermath of the raid on Bordeaux is shrouded in mystery and, given the absence of marked graves, it is difficult to conclude with any certainty what were the actual fates of all of those who did not return. The received wisdom is:

To their astonishment and delight both cockle boats met up in the darkness. They set off together heading down river away from Bordeaux. Then the two canoes stayed close together until the tide began to run against them. Where they were separated by rough water they landed near Blaye about a quarter of a mile apart.

Corporal Laver and Marine Mills, set out on their escape route from Blaye, where they scuttled their canoes and made it inland to a place called Montlieu-la-Garde, a distance of about 20 miles.

At this point they were apprehended by the French Police. According to German records, they were still wearing uniforms. They were handed over to the Bordeaux SD (the intelligence agency of the German SS) but records do not relate to what happened thereafter.

However, given the existence if Hitler's 'Commando Order' decreeing that saboteurs should be shot as spies, the likelihood does seem to be that they were, very sadly, executed.

Rumor inferrs that they had been betrayed, and the betrayer (s) were accorded suitable rough justice.

It is also assumed that the other Royal Marines that had been rounded up, were all taken to Paris and Shot by a German firing squad.

Hasler and Sparks took a different route through France and they returned home.

Major E. G. Hasler O.B.E

Between them they sank or badly damaged all of the ships they had attached limpets to, including the German fast patrol boat.

Major E. G. Hasler O.B.E was admitted to the Distinguished Service Order.

The 'Cockleshell Heroes' Memorial Stone

Operation Frankton better known as the 'Cockleshell Heroes' Raid of 1942, was an outstanding achievement but, sadly, only two of the ten Royal Marines that went on this raid survived to return home! No gravestones exist for them anywhere.

Just before dawn on 12th December, as the only two surviving crews were about to separate, Bill Sparks leant down in farewell and said to Mills, "See you in the Granada... I'll have a couple of pints on the bar waiting." They were never to meet again.

There is an Appeal Target of £60,000 to build an enduring memorial in France that will commemorate the courage, skill and determination of all those who participated in this important operation.

If we all give what would be the cost of 'two pints of beer' to the Memorial Fund, collectively we could buy the Memorial Stone.

What finer tribute could there be to those 'Cockleshell Heroes.'

Donations can be made by post to: Royal Marines Association, Building 32, Whale Island, Portsmouth, PO2 8ER, UK.

Checks/Orders made payable to: "RMA Frankton". And why not put a little note in mentioning www.modern-day-commando.com

Operation Jaywick

Sinking Japanese Ships

Another "Folboat Operation" which I think is worth a mention is:

Operation Jaywick

It was a special operation undertaken in World War II. Taking place in September 1943, in Japanese held Singapore, 14 commandos and sailors from the Z Special Unit raided Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour, sinking seven ships.

The "Krait", was the vessel which carried the men of Z Special Unit on Operation Jaywick, the successful raid on Singapore Harbour on the night of 26th September 1943.

The Special Operations Australia (SOA), a joint Allied military intelligence organisation, was established in March 1942. The Special Operations Australia operated under the cover name Inter-Allied Services Department (IASD).

It contained several British SOE officers who had escaped from Japanese occupied Singapore, and they formed the nucleus of the IASD, which was based in Melbourne.

In June 1942, a commando arm was organised as Z Special Unit (which was later commonly known as Z Force). It drew its personnel primarily from the Australian Army and Royal Australian Navy.

In 1943, a 28-year-old British officer, Captain Ivan Lyon (of the Allied Intelligence Bureau and Gordon Highlanders), and a 61-year-old Australian civilian, Bill Reynolds, devised a plan to attack Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour.

Commandos would travel to the harbour in a vessel disguised as an Asian fishing boat. They would then use Folboat type collapsible canoes to attach limpet mines to Japanese ships.

Reynolds was in possession of a 21.3 metres (70 ft) Japanese coastal fishing boat, the "Kofuku Maru", which he had used to evacuate refugees out of Singapore.

Lyon ordered that the boat be shipped from India to Australia. Upon its arrival, he renamed the vessel "MV Krait", after the small but deadly Asian snake.

The Attack

The Japanese ship "Sinkoku Maru", was mined by Major Ivan Lyon and Able Seaman Huston on 26th September 1943.

The crew of the "Krait" during Operation Jaywick formed in mid-1943, the "Krait" travelled from a training camp at Broken Bay, New South Wales to Thursday Island.

Aboard was a complement from Z Special Unit of three British and eleven Australian personnel, comprising: Major Ivan Lyon (Mission Commander), Lieutenant Hubert Edward Carse (Krait's Captain) and Lieutenant Donald Montague Noel Davidson, Lieutenant Robert Charles Page, Corporal Andrew Anthony Crilley, Corporal R.G. Morris, Leading Seaman Kevin Patrick Cain Leading Stoker James Patrick McDowell, Leading Telegraphist Horace Stewart Young, Able Seaman Walter Gordon Falls, Able Seaman Mostyn Berryman, Able Seaman Frederick Walter Lota Marsh, Able Seaman Arthur Walter Jones, and Able Seaman Andrew William George Huston

On 13th August 1943, the "Krait" left Thursday Island for the U.S. Naval Base at Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia where it was refuelled and repairs were undertaken.

On 2nd September 1943, the "Krait" left Exmouth Gulf and departed for Singapore. The team's safety depended on maintaining the disguise of a local fishing boat. The men stained their skin brown with dye to appear more Asiatic and were meticulous in what sort of rubbish they threw overboard, lest a trail of European garbage lead arouse suspicion.

After a relatively uneventful voyage the "Krait" arrived off Singapore on September 24th. That night six men left the boat and paddled 50 kilometres (31 miles) to establish a forward base in a cave on a small island near the harbour.

On the night of 26th September 1943, they paddled into the harbour and placed limpet mines on several Japanese ships before returning to their hiding spot.

In the resulting explosions, the limpet mines sank or seriously damaged seven Japanese ships, comprising over 39,000 tons between them. The commandos waited until the commotion over the attack had subsided and then returned to the "Krait", which they reached on 2nd October.

Their return to Australia was mostly uneventful, except for a tense incident in the Lombok Strait when the ship was closely approached by a Japanese patrol boat; however the "Krait" was not challenged.

On October 19th, the ship and crew arrived safely back at Exmouth Gulf.

Raid Repercussions

On ANZAC Day 1964 the "MV Krait" was dedicated a War Memorial; this plaque was affixed to its wheelhouse.The Japanese authorities in Singapore were completely surprised by the raid.

Never suspecting such an attack could be mounted from Australia, they assumed it had been carried out by local saboteurs, most probably pro-Communist Chinese guerillas.

In their efforts to uncover the perpetrators, a wave of arrests, torture and executions began. Local Chinese and Malays, as well as interned POWs and European civilians were targeted in this program. The incident became known as the Double Tenth, for 10th October, the day that Japanese secret police began the mass arrests.

Given the misery visited upon the local population by the Japanese, criticism has arisen as to whether Operation Jaywick was justified, especially with its relatively limited strategic results.

In the aftermath of the raid, the Allies never claimed responsibility for the attack on shipping, most likely because they wanted to preserve the secret of the "Krait" for future similar missions.

Therefore the Japanese did not divert significant military resources to defending against such attacks, instead just using their secret police to enact reprisals against civilians.

Operation Jaywick was followed by Operation Rimau.

Operation Rimau

Was another attack on Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour, carried out by an Allied commando unit Z Special Unit, during World War II using Australian built MKIII folboats.

It was a follow-up to the successful Operation Jaywick, which had taken place in 1943, and Rimau, a shortened version of the word Harimau which is (Malay for tiger).

It was again led by Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Lyon of the Gordon Highlanders. Originally named 'Operation Hornbill' the aim of Rimau was to sink Japanese shipping by paddling the folboats in the dark and placing limpet mines on ships.

It was originally intended that Motorised semi-submersible canoes, known as Sleeping Beauties, would be used to gain access to the harbour, however, they resorted to folboats.

Thirteen men, including Lyon, were killed. The ten captured commandos were tried with 'perfidy and espionage' in a court and executed on 7th July 1945.

Modern-day Pages Fast Boats Pages Joe Wezley Pages

Operation Lyon

Led a Z Special Unit contingent of twenty-one men. They left their base in Australia aboard the British submarine "H.M.S. Porpoise" on 11th September 1944.

When they reached the island of Merapas, which was to be their forward base, it was discovered to be inhabited. To ensure that their stores would remain undiscovered by the natives, one of the officers from the Porpoise, Lt Walter Carey, remained on Merapas as a guard.

The force commandeered a Malay junk named the "Mustika". Taking the Malay crew aboard the submarine, Z Special Unit transferred their equipment to the junk and the Porpoise departed.

Lyon decided to drop four more men with Carey off: Warrant Officer Alf Warren, Corporal Colin Craft and either Sergeant Colin Cameron or Lance Corporal Hugo Pace (accounts differ on the identity of the fourth man).

Meanwhile, the "Mustika" neared its target on the day of the planned attack, 10th October 1944, disaster struck. A patrol boat challenged the "Mustika" and someone on board opened fire.

Their cover blown, Lyon had no option but to abort the mission. After blowing up the junk and the Sleeping Beauties, he ordered his men to paddle back to Merapas by use of the folboats that they had stored on Mustika.

However, Lyon led a small force of six other men — Lt Commander Donald "Davo" Davidson, Lt Bobby Ross, Able Seaman Andrew "Happy" Huston, Corporal Clair Stewart, Corporal Archie Campbell and Private Douglas Warne — into Singapore Harbour by folboat, where they are believed to have sunk three ships with limpet mines.

While the main party returned safely to Merapas, the raiding party did not fare so well. The Japanese caught up with Lyon and his party on Soreh Island. A gun battle ensued and Davidson and Campbell were severely wounded.

Lyon, Ross and Stewart stayed on Soreh to hold off the Japanese in order for the wounded duo to escape. After an epic battle, Lyon and Ross were killed by a hand-grenade on 16th October 1944, Stewart was captured.

Davidson and Campbell made it by folboat to Tapai Island where they died on 18th October, either from their wounds or by swallowing their suicide pills. The two remaining members of the raiding party, Huston and Warne, reached Merapas.

In all, ten members of the contingent were captured. They were brought to Singapore and held at Outram Road Prison. On 3rd July 1945, they were put on trial for espionage, found guilty and executed. The ten men were beheaded on 7th July 1945—barely a month before the war came to an end.

These ten men, Lyon and four others are buried at Kranji War Memorial.

The next Link below will be: "Rhodes 1942"

Operation Frankton Rhodes 1942

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