How the Cockleshell Heroes found death and glory in daring kayak raid on Nazi shipping in France

THEY had set off believing they were on a training exercise. But when they got out to sea they learned it was in fact a top-secret Allied mission to cripple the Nazi war machine - one which they knew they had little chance of surviving.

- CLAIRE O'BOYLE

In November 1942, a team of 12 commandos - including two Irishmen - plus a back-up left Scotland aboard the submarine HMS Tuna, heading for France, penetrating deep into enemy territory as part of Operation Frankton.

The strategy was to target German ships at the Port of Bordeaux, carrying precious commodities between Nazi-occupied Europe and Japan.

First they needed to penetrate the Atlantic Wall, a surveillance system along the coast that comprised mines, warships, and reconnaissance aircraft.

If successful, a major blow would be struck to the Reich's supply chains and to Adolf Hitler's pride, showing that the Allies could attack him at his heart.

"It was all run out of Bordeaux," says former Royal Marine Commando Steve Martindale. "So if they cut off this head of the snake, they would in effect cripple the war machine or the war effort throughout Europe."

So extraordinary was the operation that the men involved - recruited, trained and led by Dublin-born Major Herbert "Blondie" Hasler - were not told about the plan until at sea.

"Germany already had spies all over England," says Martindale. "So to keep it absolutely tight and under wraps, they had to ensure that these guys were locked down in a tin can under the ocean before the cat was out of the bag."

ESTUARY

Soon nicknamed the Cockleshell Heroes, in a nod to the name given to the kayaks they used, the daring and resourceful men got behind Hasler's plan.

It was 5pm on December 7 when the commandos were given permission to disembark from HMS Tuna, 95 miles from the Port of Bordeaux.

One of the six canoes on board was damaged as it was taken off the sub, so Operation Frankton had to proceed with just 10 personnel instead of 12.

Marines William Ellery and Eric Fisher remained on HMS Tuna and, undeterred, the 10-man team proceeded towards the Gironde estuary and the imposing Atlantic Wall.