On 7 December 1942, ten Royal Marines slipped into the darkness from the submarine HMS Tuna and began paddling towards occupied France. Ahead of them lay nearly 70 miles of freezing water, enemy patrols and the heavily defended port of Bordeaux.
Their mission was Operation Frankton.
Of the ten men who set out in five canoes that night, only two would return home.
Today, some of the deeply personal objects they carried, wore and left behind survive in the Royal Navy Museums collection. Now, visitors to the new Royal Marines Experience at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard can come face to face with objects that bring us closer to the people behind one of the most daring raids of the Second World War.
A mission born in Portsmouth
Operation Frankton was led by Major Herbert ‘Blondie’ Hasler of the Royal Marines Boom Patrol Detachment, with Marine Bill Sparks alongside him.
A keen canoeist, Hasler had been exploring how small boats could be used to strike enemy shipping in heavily defended ports. His idea was to send a tiny force in two-man canoes, allowing them to approach quietly from the water and reach ships that would be difficult to attack through a conventional assault.
The men chosen for the mission were volunteers, hand-picked for the physical demands of what lay ahead. In the autumn of 1942, they trained in secrecy off Lumps Fort in Southsea, preparing for a mission unlike anything most of them had attempted before.
The plan was audacious. A submarine would carry them towards the French coast before they continued in two-man collapsible canoes, paddling up the Gironde towards Bordeaux. Once there, they would attach limpet mines to enemy shipping before attempting to escape overland through occupied France.
On 30 November 1942, HMS Tuna left Holy Loch in Scotland carrying the raiding party and six canoes. By the evening of 7 December, they had reached the waters off France.
One canoe, Cachalot, was damaged as it was being taken out of the submarine and could not be launched.
Ten men. Five canoes. Ahead of them lay the Gironde, Bordeaux and an extraordinarily dangerous mission.
Into the Gironde
Almost immediately, the conditions began taking their toll with the men facing powerful tides, freezing temperatures and the constant danger of discovery.
Coalfish, crewed by Sergeant Samuel Wallace and Marine Robert Ewart, became separated from the others and the two men were later captured.
Conger capsized. Corporal George Sheard and Marine David Moffatt were left trying to reach the shore in bitterly cold conditions. Neither survived. The remaining crews continued deeper into the Gironde.
For several nights, they paddled under the cover of darkness and hid during daylight. Eventually only two canoes reached Bordeaux: Catfish, carrying Hasler and Sparks, and Crayfish, crewed by Corporal Albert Laver and Marine William Mills.
On the night of 11 December, the four men moved amongst enemy shipping and attached limpet mines to their targets, then turned towards the shore. Against extraordinary odds, the resulting explosions would damage six enemy ships, striking a significant blow against German shipping.
The objects they carried
More than 80 years later, some of the objects connected to Operation Frankton survive.
They are small, personal things. But they bring us remarkably close to the men behind the raid. Among them are a pair of brown leather ankle boots connected to Hasler’s extraordinary journey home.
After leaving his canoe, Hasler began an escape across occupied France with Bill Sparks. Moving through unfamiliar territory and dependent on help from local people, the pair eventually crossed into Spain before reaching Gibraltar and returning to Britain.
The boots now in the Royal Navy Museums collection were given to Hasler by a French farmer during that escape. His mittens, goggles and map case also survive.
Seen today, they tell a very different story from maps showing routes or accounts describing military strategy. They are the things one man needed as he paddled through freezing water and then attempted to cross occupied Europe without being captured.
Hasler made it home. For Marine Robert Ewart, the story was very different.
A letter in case he didn’t return
Before Operation Frankton, Ewart wrote a farewell letter to Miss Heather Powell. It was to be read in the event of his death.
Ewart set out aboard Coalfish with Sergeant Samuel Wallace on 7 December. Their canoe became separated from the main group during the opening stages of the operation and both men were captured.
Ewart and Wallace were among six members of the raiding party who were executed under Hitler’s Commando Order. Corporal Albert Laver and Marine William Mills, who had reached Bordeaux aboard Crayfish, were also captured during their escape, as were Lieutenant John MacKinnon and Marine James Conway of Cuttlefish.
Ewart’s farewell letter survives in the Royal Navy Museums collection.
Among the equipment, uniforms and objects associated with military service, it is an intensely personal reminder of what the men taking part understood before they left. They knew they might not come back.
Two men return
On 23 February 1943, confirmation finally reached Britain that Hasler and Sparks were alive. Their journey home was not yet over. Hasler eventually returned to Britain by air from Gibraltar on 2 April, while Sparks travelled home separately by sea, arriving later.
The raid had succeeded in damaging German shipping at Bordeaux, but at an enormous human cost. Lord Mountbatten, then Chief of Combined Operations, would later write:
“Of the many brave and dashing raids carried out by the men of Combined Operations Command, none was more courageous or imaginative than Operation Frankton.”
Come face to face with their story
Operation Frankton is remembered for its extraordinary plan, the tiny canoes that carried the raiders towards Bordeaux and the courage required to attempt it. But behind the operation were ten individual men.
At the Royal Marines Experience at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, you can get closer to their story through objects connected to the raid. See the boots given to Blondie Hasler by a French farmer during his journey through occupied France, alongside his mittens, goggles and map case. And come face to face with Robert Ewart’s farewell letter, written before he left in case he did not return.
These are objects that take us beyond the operation itself and closer to the people who lived it, the choices they made and the risks they understood.
Royal Marines Experience
Opening at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard on 24 October, the Royal Marines Experience brings more than 360 years of Royal Marines history to life through remarkable objects, personal stories and immersive experiences.
Discover the people behind the Green Beret and the stories that have shaped generations of Royal Marines.
Plan your visit to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, book online before you arrive and step into their world.