In December 1942, German supply ships kept finding their way around British blockades.
As a result, the Nazis received a steady influx of the raw goods needed to keep their war machine functional. The British noted that the French town of Bordeaux, in particular, was where a large number of these German ships were making their way to.
Churchill estimated that a traditional attack against Bordeaux would be incredibly costly in both lives and ammunition.
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
And so, a different form of attack plan was formulated – attack the German ships via canoe.
Cockles
Major Herbert Hasler led the mission. He’d spent countless hours at sea pre-war and even crafted his own naval warfare canoe referred to as a cockle.
The cockles were specially designed to carry heavy loads of explosives and other gear while barely displacing water. As a result, they could go places other ships couldn’t.
On November 30, a British submarine surfaced at the mouth of the Gironde River and launched six canoes carrying a dozen men from its torpedo tubes. Their mission?
To attach magnetic limpet mines to the hulls of German ships at Bordeaux before silently slipping away into the night.
Disaster Strikes
Immediately the mission was met with disaster. One of the cockles became damaged in the torpedo tube, causing the two-man crew to remain with the sub.
So, with five cockles, the remaining men paddled their way 10 miles through rough seas towards the mouth of the estuary.
Waves ate two of the canoes, drowning four men in the process.
Three cockles carrying six men reached the mouth of the estuary. From there, they had to paddle 20 miles along the coast as they avoided German patrols. Unfortunately, one of the cockles was spotted, and the Germans captured the crew.
Hasler was down to a third of his original fighting force, with only three men under his command.
Explosions!
After several more nights of paddling (the only time they did so), the men reached Bordeaux. Under the cover of darkness, the men placed their limpet mines on six different German vessels before disappearing into the shadows.
Explosions rocked the harbor.
The remaining four men landed on shore a day later — but two were soon captured by the Germans. Only Hesler and his fellow paddler Bill Sparks evaded the enemy.
Dressing in civilian clothes and meeting up with the French Resistance, both Hesler and Sparks journeyed 100 miles until they crossed the border into Spain. They met up with British forces in April 1943 — months after they launched.
Churchill would later say that the men, dubbed the Cockleshell Heroes, shortened the war by six months.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Cockleshell Heroes, I suggest Lucas Phillips’ book of the same name.
This is a new style of article for Pew Pew Tactical, if you liked it — let us know in the comments! If you didn’t enjoy it…well phooey. To catch up on previous Pictures from History, click on over to our History Category.
8 Leave a Reply
Great article. Keep 'em coming.
Yes! Love these insights into history! Thanks!
Great stuff.
Keep ‘em coming. We need all the (unrevised) history we can get in this day and age.
I very much enjoy the "Historical" articles, as well as all the other content! I am a faithful, daily reader!
Thanks for reading!
Good article, thanks Aden. Operation Frankton is documented in full along with other operations which created how modern Special Forces started in James Owen's Commando, Winning World War 2 behind enemy lines. If you like this short article you will love this book. Enjoy.
The historical stuff is great! Keep it coming.