0:00:04 > 0:00:11It's 17:00 on a cold, starlit night in December 1942.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14Royal Navy submarine, HMS Tuna,
0:00:14 > 0:00:18is surfacing from the dark waters of the Atlantic,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21two and a half miles from the coast of German-occupied France.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25As the main engines stop, a small group of men,
0:00:25 > 0:00:27led by Major Blondie Hasler,
0:00:27 > 0:00:31make their final preparations for one of the most daring
0:00:31 > 0:00:35and courageous operations of the entire Second World War.
0:00:35 > 0:00:40With a humble canoe as their weapon, Operation Frankton is underway.
0:00:40 > 0:00:45Within minutes, Hasler's elite unit is silently paddling
0:00:45 > 0:00:49into the heart of enemy territory.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Their mission - navigate the treacherous waters
0:00:52 > 0:00:55of the Bay of Biscay,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58enter the most heavily defended estuary in Europe,
0:00:58 > 0:01:04dodge searchlights, machine-gun posts, armed river patrol craft,
0:01:04 > 0:01:08and then...blow up enemy shipping in Bordeaux harbour.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11The odds against them were overwhelming.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15This was a mission from which many believed they never would return.
0:01:15 > 0:01:16And they knew it.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20This was a suicide mission by any other name.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25But Blondie Hasler's Mission Impossible is far more
0:01:25 > 0:01:29than just a Boy's Own adventure of heroism against the odds.
0:01:29 > 0:01:35It is a tale of deceit, duplication and massive Whitehall cock-up.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42It is also the story of how a daring raid on the coast of France
0:01:42 > 0:01:46damaged our enemy at a desperate time for our country,
0:01:46 > 0:01:49and taught us vital lessons in the planning and execution
0:01:49 > 0:01:53of the greatest sea invasion in history - D-day.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08Three years into the Second World War,
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Britain's fortunes had taken a decided turn for the worse.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13We'd endured the Blitz...
0:02:15 > 0:02:20..the humiliating retreat from Dunkirk, and were now facing
0:02:20 > 0:02:24the threat of starvation in the Battle of the Atlantic.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Britain was losing the war, and Churchill knew it.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34'We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37'we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
0:02:37 > 0:02:42'we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46'We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight in the fields
0:02:46 > 0:02:48'and in the streets.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52'We shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender.'
0:02:55 > 0:03:00Churchill's rhetoric of the early war years now seemed
0:03:00 > 0:03:03wildly out of date. The army was in disarray,
0:03:03 > 0:03:07the RAF had only just enough planes to defend the country,
0:03:07 > 0:03:12and the navy was at full stretch, protecting vital Atlantic convoys.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14Churchill was on the back foot.
0:03:14 > 0:03:20Churchill's options at this time of the war were savagely limited.
0:03:20 > 0:03:26As PM and Minister of Defence, he, too, was under siege.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29After a string of defeats, there was real pressure,
0:03:29 > 0:03:34here in Whitehall and in the country at large, for him to stand down -
0:03:34 > 0:03:37if not as Prime Minister, then at least as Minister of Defence.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41But this was Winston Churchill
0:03:41 > 0:03:45and surrendering office was not an option.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Instead, he decided to set Europe ablaze
0:03:48 > 0:03:51by creating two new secret armies -
0:03:51 > 0:03:56The Special Operations Executive and Combined Operations.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00Churchill was always at his most resourceful when under fire.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04Churchill had to find ways of hitting back at the enemy fast
0:04:04 > 0:04:06and Combined Ops and SOE were two of the tools
0:04:06 > 0:04:08that he devised for doing it.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12They were set up at about the same time with parallel missions.
0:04:12 > 0:04:18SOE's role was primarily one of sabotage and subversion inland,
0:04:18 > 0:04:19while Combined Operations
0:04:19 > 0:04:22brought together the skills of the Air Force,
0:04:22 > 0:04:26Army and the Navy to wreak havoc along the enemy coastline.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Churchill knew that, in the absence of the resources for a second front
0:04:32 > 0:04:35against the Germans, pinprick assaults on the enemy
0:04:35 > 0:04:39were all that Britain could manage at this time.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46An unlikely model for these raids came from the Italians,
0:04:46 > 0:04:50who had done great damage by using human torpedoes - called Pigs -
0:04:50 > 0:04:53and exploding motor boats.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56This was the sort of ingenuity
0:04:56 > 0:05:00and inventiveness that Churchill was after.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04On the 19th January, he wrote to his Chiefs of Staff Committee,
0:05:04 > 0:05:08"Please report what is being done to emulate
0:05:08 > 0:05:11"the exploits of the Italians."
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Far from the corridors of Whitehall,
0:05:16 > 0:05:21one man was already working on new ideas to fight the enemy.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24His name was Blondie Hasler.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29Hasler was an extraordinary, contradictory,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32even eccentric spirit.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35A loner who lived his life on his own terms,
0:05:35 > 0:05:40yet who believed in the discipline and convention of service life.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43I met Blondie Hasler once.
0:05:43 > 0:05:44We shared the same compartment
0:05:44 > 0:05:47on a train when I was going back to join my old unit,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50the Special Boat Service, in Poole.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53He asked me a series of what I frankly thought
0:05:53 > 0:05:56were pretty intrusive questions about what I did.
0:05:56 > 0:06:02Not having a clue who he was, I rather rudely refused to answer.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07It was only later that I learnt that I had shared my compartment
0:06:07 > 0:06:10with one of the most extraordinary Special Force commanders
0:06:10 > 0:06:14of the Second World War and, by the way, a personal hero.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19Even today, the memory makes me shiver with embarrassment.
0:06:21 > 0:06:28In the early 1940s, Hasler had a radical new and surprising idea.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30It involved the use of canoes
0:06:30 > 0:06:33to take the fight directly to the enemy.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37He proposed this to the Admiralty. But they turned him down.
0:06:38 > 0:06:44Now, with Churchill's demand for new initiatives, Hasler's plans
0:06:44 > 0:06:49were suddenly of interest, especially to the newly appointed
0:06:49 > 0:06:53head of Combined Operations - Commander Louis Mountbatten.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56Mountbatten ordered Hasler to come and see him as soon as possible.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01The humble canoe was about to be turned into a weapon of war.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11When Blondie Hasler entered the HQ of Combined Operations,
0:07:11 > 0:07:15here in Whitehall, he was introduced to Louis Mountbatten.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18Mountbatten told him, "We've brought you here
0:07:18 > 0:07:21"because you seem to know a lot about small boats
0:07:21 > 0:07:24"and have some very interesting ideas about how to use them.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27"So, are you keen to take a shot at this job?"
0:07:27 > 0:07:30"Very keen, sir," said Hasler.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33"Good. I am sure you'll fit in very well."
0:07:33 > 0:07:38For Blondie Hasler, the story started right here.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40ORDERS SHOUTED
0:07:43 > 0:07:45In March 1942,
0:07:45 > 0:07:49Hasler was put in charge of a new elite unit.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01Their cover name was the Royal Marines Boom Patrol Detachment.
0:08:09 > 0:08:15What Hasler asked for were men who were intelligent, nimble,
0:08:15 > 0:08:18of good physique, able to swim, free of strong family ties,
0:08:18 > 0:08:20eager to engage the enemy.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23But most important of all,
0:08:23 > 0:08:27they had to be indifferent to their personal safety.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31When Hasler interviewed the men
0:08:31 > 0:08:35for his new unit, he asked them all this question -
0:08:35 > 0:08:39"Why did you volunteer for hazardous service?"
0:08:39 > 0:08:43"To avenge my brother, sir," said Bill Sparks.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46His brother had just been killed on active service in Crete.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50Hasler then made a chilling prediction.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53"You do you realise, that if you join my unit,
0:08:53 > 0:08:57"your chances of a long life are very remote."
0:09:02 > 0:09:05What do you say to that?
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Just accept it and that's it.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11That saying stuck...I don't know if he said it to all of them,
0:09:11 > 0:09:15but that stuck in my mind and I never forgot it.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18"Do you realise that your expectations of a long life
0:09:18 > 0:09:19"are very remote?"
0:09:21 > 0:09:24So, you knew you were going in to danger.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28But...you're 20 - you don't care.
0:09:28 > 0:09:29One, two, three.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32The truth was, at this stage of the war,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36those who volunteered for hazardous service with Hasler were,
0:09:36 > 0:09:40as he later said, "Just a good cross section of average young fellows.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44"We had to do the best with what was offered to us."
0:09:44 > 0:09:49As a leader, Hasler always inspired his men by example,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51never asking any of them
0:09:51 > 0:09:54to do something he hadn't first done himself.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00The day after their arrival,
0:10:00 > 0:10:04Hasler's team began in earnest, with their commander throwing them -
0:10:04 > 0:10:09literally - in at the deep end, by sending them out to sea in canoes.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11The results were predictably disastrous.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14All of them capsized and had to drag themselves
0:10:14 > 0:10:17and their canoes back to the beach.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21He told them, "Do it again". And then again. And again.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Until they could do it.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33You knew he was good at his job. You had faith in him.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36I would have gone anywhere with him - I would, no worry at all.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39I wouldn't have given it a second thought.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42If he asked me to do anything, I would have done it.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48Unknown to Hasler and his team, his unit would soon be providing
0:10:48 > 0:10:51a solution to a major strategic challenge
0:10:51 > 0:10:55that was preoccupying the Chiefs of Staff in Whitehall.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01In May, Churchill received a memo from his newly appointed
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Minister for Economic Warfare, Lord Selborne.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17The memo highlighted how convoys of German cargo ships
0:11:17 > 0:11:21were increasingly outrunning British warships whose job it was
0:11:21 > 0:11:24to intercept them at sea.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28These so-called blockade runners travelled between the Far East
0:11:28 > 0:11:31and Europe, carrying supplies, including rubber, molybdenum,
0:11:31 > 0:11:36tin and tungsten - all vital for the German war machine.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40A successful blockade increasingly depended
0:11:40 > 0:11:43not just on attacking them at sea,
0:11:43 > 0:11:45but also hitting them in their ports,
0:11:45 > 0:11:47especially the port of Bordeaux.
0:11:50 > 0:11:5270 miles from the Atlantic coast,
0:11:52 > 0:11:57Bordeaux sits at the end of Europe's largest estuary, Gironde.
0:11:57 > 0:12:02In 1942, it harboured not only the blockade runners
0:12:02 > 0:12:07but also German and Italian U-boats, crucial for German victory
0:12:07 > 0:12:09in the Battle of the Atlantic.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12Not surprisingly, the estuary was formidably defended,
0:12:12 > 0:12:16by around 10,000 German troops.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20In effect, Bordeaux was one huge military camp
0:12:20 > 0:12:24and provided an ideal base for the blockade runners.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28So, the question was, HOW could Bordeaux harbour be attacked?
0:12:31 > 0:12:36The Admiralty was asked, but they said the port was far too far up
0:12:36 > 0:12:39a heavily defended estuary for any chance of success.
0:12:39 > 0:12:44The RAF agreed - bombing would simply not be accurate enough,
0:12:44 > 0:12:47and cause unacceptable civilian casualties.
0:12:48 > 0:12:53And a military operation would need both ships and 50,000 men -
0:12:53 > 0:12:57far more than Britain could find at this time in the war.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00How to hit the blockade runners
0:13:00 > 0:13:04became known as the Bordeaux problem.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09With conventional solutions ruled out,
0:13:09 > 0:13:14Churchill and his Chiefs of Staff began to think the unthinkable.
0:13:14 > 0:13:20With so much at stake, could perhaps thinking small be the answer?
0:13:23 > 0:13:26On the 21st September 1942,
0:13:26 > 0:13:31Blondie Hasler was ordered back to the Combined Operations London HQ.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38Here he was given the file on the Bordeaux problem -
0:13:38 > 0:13:41now re-christened Operation Frankton.
0:13:45 > 0:13:50Overnight, he drew up a plan to use his canoes to blow up
0:13:50 > 0:13:54the blockade runners lying alongside the quays of Bordeaux.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01Within weeks, Hasler's plan was approved by Louis Mountbatten,
0:14:01 > 0:14:03but with one big exception -
0:14:03 > 0:14:07Mountbatten said Hasler couldn't go.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10He was just too valuable
0:14:10 > 0:14:15Mountbatten asked Hasler, "Why do YOU want to lead the raid yourself?"
0:14:15 > 0:14:19Hasler replied, "As we both know, this is a very important mission
0:14:19 > 0:14:21"and we have to field our best team.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25"My unit has been training on small boats for months,
0:14:25 > 0:14:27"but I have been doing it all my life.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31"It's only natural that I'm better at it than they are."
0:14:31 > 0:14:33Mountbatten smiled.
0:14:33 > 0:14:39"All right. Against my better judgment, I am going to let you go."
0:14:41 > 0:14:46Hasler now finalised his force. 12 men. Six canoes.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49Each canoe named after...a fish.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55In Catfish was Blondie Hasler and the 20-year-old Bill Sparks,
0:14:55 > 0:15:00a cobbler and a cockney, known as Ned.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03In Cuttlefish, Lieutenant Jack Mackinnon,
0:15:03 > 0:15:04a clerk from Oban in Scotland
0:15:04 > 0:15:08and James Conway, a milkman from Stockport.
0:15:08 > 0:15:09He was known as Jim.
0:15:09 > 0:15:14In Coalfish, 20-year-old Robert Ewart from Glasgow.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17Bobby had worked in the textile industry
0:15:17 > 0:15:20and was devoted to his sweetheart, Heather.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23With Bobby, Sergeant Samuel Wallace.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Sam was a Dublin-born ex-builder's merchant.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32Conger was crewed by Corporal George Sheard, known as Jan,
0:15:32 > 0:15:36and David Moffatt, a former boy scout from Belfast.
0:15:38 > 0:15:45In Crayfish, there was ex-butcher Corporal Albert Laver - Bert -
0:15:45 > 0:15:49and Bill Mills, who had worked in a sports shop in Kettering.
0:15:51 > 0:15:56Cachalot was commanded by Bill Ellery who, at 27,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59was one of the oldest, and a married father of two.
0:15:59 > 0:16:04His number two was a Brummie - Eric Fisher - a printer before the war.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09As in the game of cricket, Hasler had a spare man -
0:16:09 > 0:16:13an ex-grocer called Norman Colley.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16I went as spare man just in case anyone got injured.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18But I had a job to do -
0:16:18 > 0:16:22to help launch the canoes, get them all ready -
0:16:22 > 0:16:28put all the equipment inside them and help to launch them.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32So, I had a good job there, doing that. Quite a job.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41On the 30th November, Hasler's men travelled to Scotland
0:16:41 > 0:16:46to board Royal Navy Submarine HMS Tuna.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50With the exception of Hasler,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54none of them knew that this was no exercise.
0:17:06 > 0:17:11Once under way, Hasler told his men they were now on Operations.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13I haven't been able to tell you before.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16We have actually started an operation.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19We're going to be doing the kind of job you've been practising for
0:17:19 > 0:17:21these past four months.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24I've chosen you chaps because I feel confident...
0:17:24 > 0:17:29Their target was not, as they had all imagined, the Tirpitz in Norway.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32It was the enemy blockade runners in Bordeaux.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35There were smiles all round.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39Getting back from France would be much easier than from Norway.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43The sea would be warmer, too. So far, so good.
0:17:43 > 0:17:48For the Special Forces Commander, this is the crucial moment.
0:17:48 > 0:17:53He has to convince his men that this is a job that MUST be done.
0:17:53 > 0:17:59He has to reassure them that his plan will work.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03And he has, above all, to inspire them with the belief they can do it.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06We are positioned here.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Hasler drew them a map of the Gironde estuary.
0:18:09 > 0:18:10He plotted their course
0:18:10 > 0:18:13from the point where the submarine would drop them off.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17They would use the tides, paddle by night, and lie up during the day.
0:18:17 > 0:18:23This is where we shall spend our first night. On either side...
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Next, he described the German defences.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30The coast was patrolled by two armed trawlers, six minesweepers
0:18:30 > 0:18:34and perhaps 24 torpedo and armed river patrol craft.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36There were batteries of heavy and medium guns
0:18:36 > 0:18:40on both the sides of the estuary, a radar station at its mouth,
0:18:40 > 0:18:42maritime patrol aircraft,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45searchlight batteries and machine-gun posts.
0:18:48 > 0:18:54If - and it was a big if - they were lucky enough to evade all these,
0:18:54 > 0:18:58then, on the fourth night, they would converge separately
0:18:58 > 0:19:02on Bordeaux and plant limpet mines on the blockade runners.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13At this point, Hasler stopped. "Any questions?" he asked.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17It was Sergeant Sam Wallace who asked what everyone wanted to know.
0:19:17 > 0:19:22Excuse me, sir. How are we getting home?That is regrettable.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Hasler's answer must have chilled them to the bone.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29"The submarine can't come back,"
0:19:29 > 0:19:31he said. "It's just too dangerous for them.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35"We are going to have to split into pairs and escape
0:19:35 > 0:19:39"through occupied France and over the Pyrenees into neutral Spain."
0:19:40 > 0:19:42There were gasps...
0:19:42 > 0:19:47but no complaints. Everybody trusted Blondie.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50Nevertheless, it must have been dawning on them all
0:19:50 > 0:19:54that this would be a one-way journey.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59You've just got to make your own way through France, Spain to Gibraltar -
0:19:59 > 0:20:04there was no other way. That's why it was a suicide mission.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08We couldn't speak French and we'd no idea where it was.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14That night, Hasler's men bedded down as best they could
0:20:14 > 0:20:17in what little space was left on the metal deck
0:20:17 > 0:20:20of Tuna's forward torpedo compartment.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24The lucky ones took possession of a sack of potatoes, used as a pillow.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36Those who couldn't sleep took the opportunity to write
0:20:36 > 0:20:38farewell letters to their loved ones.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47Bobby Ewart - who had celebrated his 21st birthday
0:20:47 > 0:20:52just the day before - wrote to his 16-year-old sweetheart, Heather.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59'Dear Heather, I trust it won't be necessary to have this sent to you,
0:20:59 > 0:21:02'but since I don't know the outcome of this little adventure,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04'I thought I'd leave this note.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07'During my stay at Southsea, as you well know,
0:21:07 > 0:21:11'you made me realise what the good things in life are.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15'I couldn't help but love you, Heather, although you were so young.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18'I will always love you, as I know you do me.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21'That should get me through this.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23'But one never knows the turn of fate.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27'One thing I ask of you, Heather, is not to take it too hard.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30'You have yet your life to live.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33'Think of me as a good friend.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35'Some lucky fellow will find you
0:21:35 > 0:21:39'who has more sense than I had and who can get you what you deserve.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43'You are young for this sort of thing, but I had to do it,
0:21:43 > 0:21:45'so please don't worry yourself about me.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49'I pray that God will spare me and save you from this misery.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52'So, I'll say cheerio and God be with you.'
0:21:52 > 0:21:56'Yours for ever, Bob. Chin up, sweetheart.'
0:22:10 > 0:22:14400 miles away, off the west coast of France, Bobby Ewart
0:22:14 > 0:22:19and his mates waited patiently for the final call.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23They had endured seven days of dodging enemy ships,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26cramped conditions, and terrible, terrible seasickness.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35This, as I recall it, is the very worst moment of an operation.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39The long, heavy, dragging hours just before it all begins.
0:22:39 > 0:22:44Everyone fills this private space in their own way -
0:22:44 > 0:22:46I used to check and recheck my equipment -
0:22:46 > 0:22:49but some will read a last letter from a loved one,
0:22:49 > 0:22:51look at a photograph, think of home,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54think of the next pint they have down at the pub with their mates
0:22:54 > 0:22:55when they get back.
0:22:55 > 0:23:00Some - even those who don't believe in God - will say a silent prayer.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02Well, after a fashion.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07Are they scared? I can't speak for others, but I used to be.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12But what they're all longing for is the waiting to end,
0:23:12 > 0:23:14so they can get on with the job.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22At a little before dusk on the 7th December,
0:23:22 > 0:23:25Hasler and his team began their last checks for the operation ahead.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31Hasler confirmed with the sub's captain that they were
0:23:31 > 0:23:36in the right position and the order was given - launch the canoes.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40Hasler's men, faces blackened,
0:23:40 > 0:23:43followed their canoes up on to the casing of the submarine.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47Be ready up there.
0:23:49 > 0:23:54On the way out, one canoe, Cachalot, was ripped.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00Hasler was called down from the bridge.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03He took one look at the damage and immediately decided
0:24:03 > 0:24:08that Fisher and Ellery could not take part in the operation.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13Despite pleading from both men -
0:24:13 > 0:24:16and even tears from Fisher - Hasler insisted.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21Now, Hasler was down to ten men. Not an ideal start.
0:24:21 > 0:24:27Norman Colley was still hoping there might be a place for him.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30I was hoping to go, yes. I was.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33I was disappointed I couldn't go.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36When Hasler asked if there's anyone who didn't want to go,
0:24:36 > 0:24:38make their minds up there and then,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41I was hoping someone would say, yes, they didn't want to go.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44He said it didn't matter if they didn't want to go -
0:24:44 > 0:24:46he didn't hold anything against them.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50But nobody backed out. That disappointed me.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54After a tense 46 minutes,
0:24:54 > 0:24:58Hasler's team of ten men were finally on the water.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04It was 20:03 hours and there was no time to lose.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29But, unbeknown to Hasler and his unit,
0:25:29 > 0:25:35as they paddled into danger, there was another operation underway.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38Organised by the Special Operations Executive, or SOE,
0:25:38 > 0:25:43their agents had been given exactly the same mission as Hasler
0:25:43 > 0:25:46and his men - to blow up the German blockade runners
0:25:46 > 0:25:48in Bordeaux harbour.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51Known by some as The Baker Street Irregulars,
0:25:51 > 0:25:54and others as The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,
0:25:54 > 0:26:00SOE was defined by one thing above all others - secrecy.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05SOE took very seriously the secret element of being a secret service.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11If you belonged to it, you couldn't tell ANYBODY you belonged to it.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13You couldn't tell your own wife,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16you couldn't tell your own children, you couldn't tell your own mistress!
0:26:16 > 0:26:19You couldn't tell anybody what you were doing.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25And that included Combined Operations.
0:26:27 > 0:26:32So, long before Hasler had ever heard of Operation Frankton,
0:26:32 > 0:26:37SOE had already parachuted into France explosives, a wireless
0:26:37 > 0:26:41and their own team of agents, led by Claude de Baissac.
0:26:48 > 0:26:49What this meant,
0:26:49 > 0:26:53was that while Hasler was paddling towards the Gironde,
0:26:53 > 0:26:55de Baissac was already in place,
0:26:55 > 0:27:00in Bordeaux, in a cafe, right next to the quayside.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04Here, he could see the blockade runners.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07He could judge when they were full and ready to go.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11He could choose his moment of attack to do maximum damage.
0:27:11 > 0:27:17It's highly unlikely that anybody, however senior, at Combined Ops
0:27:17 > 0:27:20was aware that de Baissac was in Bordeaux
0:27:20 > 0:27:23and was actively planning to attack the same target.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25But, I would be very surprised
0:27:25 > 0:27:28if SOE didn't know of Hasler's raid in Bordeaux.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33This was a Whitehall cock-up on a mighty scale.
0:27:36 > 0:27:41So, despite almost certainly knowing about Hasler's mission,
0:27:41 > 0:27:47SOE in London did absolutely nothing to inform Combined Operations
0:27:47 > 0:27:51of their own plans. And if they had,
0:27:51 > 0:27:56Hasler's men may never have had to embark on such a dangerous mission.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06Out in the Gironde, for the first two hours,
0:28:06 > 0:28:10Hasler's canoes - little more than dark shadows in a darker sea -
0:28:10 > 0:28:12made good progress.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15With the flood tide behind them,
0:28:15 > 0:28:19they began sweeping down the coast at increasing speed.
0:28:25 > 0:28:26Ahead, they could see
0:28:26 > 0:28:29the dark finger of the Pointe de Grave lighthouse,
0:28:29 > 0:28:32marking the entrance to the estuary.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35Soon, they would be past the German defences
0:28:35 > 0:28:39and into the protected waters of the Gironde.
0:28:45 > 0:28:50But then, suddenly, Hasler began to hear an unfamiliar -
0:28:50 > 0:28:52and unexpected - sound.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56Ahead of them was a tidal overfall.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59I have paddled in tidal overfalls like this.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03They are pretty calm today but they can be absolutely terrifying.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07They are caused when two tides collide over shallow water.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11The waves are short, steep, and come from all directions.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14Hasler's men weren't prepared for this.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25Hasler ordered them to paddle in fast, keep the canoe bows
0:29:25 > 0:29:27always into the sea,
0:29:27 > 0:29:30and fight through the turbulence as quickly as possible.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35They would all then meet up on the other side.
0:29:37 > 0:29:42Hasler and Sparks paddled furiously into the maelstrom.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45In a few seconds, they were through and into calmer waters,
0:29:45 > 0:29:47followed by Laver and Mills in Crayfish,
0:29:47 > 0:29:49Sheard and Moffatt in Conger
0:29:49 > 0:29:53and then MacKinnon and Conway in Cuttlefish.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02But where was Bobby Ewart? Where was Sam Wallace?
0:30:06 > 0:30:11They watched, and they waited, but Coalfish was nowhere to be seen.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15Once, there had been 12 men.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17Now, there were eight.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25Hoping they would reunite later,
0:30:25 > 0:30:29Hasler's team reluctantly moved on.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35But before they had gone any distance, they heard it again!
0:30:35 > 0:30:39Another tidal overfall. This time, even more ferocious than before.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46Hasler and Sparks again went first...
0:30:49 > 0:30:51..and waited on the other side,
0:30:51 > 0:30:54panting for breath from the exertion.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01Suddenly, a cry and a splash - Conger had capsized.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06Then, Sheard and Moffatt emerged,
0:31:06 > 0:31:10clinging onto their canoe, coughing and spluttering in the icy water.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13COUGHING
0:31:24 > 0:31:29Hasler realised that, in this bitter cold, if he didn't act fast,
0:31:29 > 0:31:31the whole enterprise could be doomed.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34He told Sheard to hang onto the back of his boat,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36Moffatt onto the back of MacKinnon's.
0:31:36 > 0:31:38They would tow them in as far as they could.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40Then they would have to swim for it
0:31:40 > 0:31:42and make their way back home... alone.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47Their speed was now down to one knot,
0:31:47 > 0:31:51because of the drag of the two men in the water.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54Sheard and Moffatt, who had been in the sea for almost an hour,
0:31:54 > 0:31:57were now beginning to suffer badly from the cold.
0:31:59 > 0:32:01Hasler's mission was in jeopardy
0:32:01 > 0:32:05and he was forced to make an agonising decision.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18"I am sorry, but we have to leave you here,"
0:32:18 > 0:32:20Hasler told Sheard and Moffatt.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23"You must swim for it. I am terribly sorry."
0:32:23 > 0:32:24"God bless you both".
0:32:26 > 0:32:30With that, Hasler, with the others following,
0:32:30 > 0:32:32paddled away into the darkness.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42There are those who like to see
0:32:42 > 0:32:45Blondie Hasler as a steely-eyed professional,
0:32:45 > 0:32:49prepared to sacrifice his men in a suicide mission for glory.
0:32:49 > 0:32:53But his handling of the plight of his stricken colleagues
0:32:53 > 0:32:55tells a totally different story.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58By giving Moffatt and Sheard a chance to survive,
0:32:58 > 0:33:03albeit a very slim one, he was placing his operation in jeopardy,
0:33:03 > 0:33:06and breaking his own rules, which said, in all circumstances,
0:33:06 > 0:33:08the mission must come first.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17Days later, 60 miles up the coast,
0:33:17 > 0:33:21the frozen body of David Moffatt was found, washed-up on a beach.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27George Sheard was never seen again.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34Once, there had been 12 men.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36Now, there were six.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43With his force now reduced to half its original size,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46Hasler had to put the past behind him,
0:33:46 > 0:33:50and concentrate on what lay ahead, or all would be lost.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04They were now out of the open sea.
0:34:04 > 0:34:08They split up and, their bodies bent over the front of their cockpits,
0:34:08 > 0:34:09slipped, one by one,
0:34:09 > 0:34:13past the heavily guarded mouth of the great estuary.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16Their nerves taut with anticipation,
0:34:16 > 0:34:21their spines braced for the fury of shots which would follow discovery.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28There were no shouts, no shots.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30But on the other side,
0:34:30 > 0:34:32no Cuttlefish, either.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36Again, they waited and they watched.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40MacKinnon and Conway, too, had now disappeared.
0:34:41 > 0:34:46We now know they were later captured and executed.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48Once, there had been 12.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50Now, there were only four.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03One can only imagine what Hasler must have felt at this point,
0:35:03 > 0:35:08having lost two thirds of his force in just ten hours.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10But he pressed on.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13Desperate to find somewhere to land before dawn,
0:35:13 > 0:35:18he chose a small inlet called Le Pointe aux Oiseaux.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21It looked suitable, and, in many ways, it was.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27But - and there's always a but in this story -
0:35:27 > 0:35:30what Hasler didn't know was that he had landed
0:35:30 > 0:35:33right in the middle of one of the key concentrations of German troops
0:35:33 > 0:35:35in the whole Medoc peninsula.
0:35:41 > 0:35:46But it wasn't the Germans who found Hasler, and his now exhausted men.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49It was a group of French fisherman.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57They pointed Hasler to a nearby spit of land
0:35:57 > 0:36:00where, they said, he and his men would be safer.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09The canoes were dragged up into cover
0:36:09 > 0:36:12and the fisherman helped erase their tracks.
0:36:20 > 0:36:21Later on that day,
0:36:21 > 0:36:24they returned to give Hasler and his team some bread,
0:36:24 > 0:36:27chocolate, pate and a half-empty bottle of wine.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11These local French fisherman were not French Resistance,
0:37:11 > 0:37:14they were just fishermen.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17Yet they agreed, without hesitation, to help,
0:37:17 > 0:37:20knowing that that could lead them to the firing squad
0:37:20 > 0:37:22and put their families at risk of deportation.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26Afterwards, they swore amongst themselves never to tell anyone
0:37:26 > 0:37:29of what they had seen and they kept that promise till the war was over.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35With some food inside them, Hasler's men could rest awhile
0:37:35 > 0:37:38before the next stage of their mission began.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25A little before 23:00,
0:38:25 > 0:38:28the Marines pulled the camouflage nets off Catfish and Crayfish
0:38:28 > 0:38:31and hauled them across more than half a mile of mud
0:38:31 > 0:38:33to the water's edge.
0:38:42 > 0:38:47At 23:30 hours, just over 24 hours after they had set off,
0:38:47 > 0:38:49Hasler and the three remaining marines
0:38:49 > 0:38:51launched their canoes once again
0:38:51 > 0:38:55into the flooding tide and set off for the other side of the estuary.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58The weather was calm and clear,
0:38:58 > 0:39:01with a slight haze hanging over the water.
0:39:01 > 0:39:02They made good progress.
0:39:02 > 0:39:07On this second night, they covered 25 miles in just six hours.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22Wallace and Ewart, lost in the tide race that first night,
0:39:22 > 0:39:24were not so lucky.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26They had already been captured.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33Stumbling ashore exhausted, they had knocked at the wrong door.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38Instead of French patriots, they blundered into a German platoon.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43They were sent for interrogation, ending up here,
0:39:43 > 0:39:48in the Place de Tourny, in Bordeaux, in the hands of the Gestapo.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56As commandos, they were subject to Hitler's infamous
0:39:56 > 0:40:01and illegal Commando Order which stated that all those
0:40:01 > 0:40:04captured on raids were to be immediately executed.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09Although young Bobby Ewart said nothing,
0:40:09 > 0:40:13the Germans gleaned significant information from the equipment
0:40:13 > 0:40:18found in their canoe and from the interrogation of Sergeant Wallace.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21On 9th December 1942, German Supreme Headquarters
0:40:21 > 0:40:25in Berlin knew almost everything.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29They knew that they had been landed by submarine,
0:40:29 > 0:40:31they knew that they were from Combined Operations,
0:40:31 > 0:40:35and they knew that their mission was to travel up the Gironde Estuary
0:40:35 > 0:40:38and attach limpet mines to German ships in Bordeaux.
0:40:38 > 0:40:43But what they didn't know and what Sergeant Wallace didn't tell them,
0:40:43 > 0:40:47was that he and Ewart were not the only participants in the raid.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50Hasler and his men were out there, somewhere,
0:40:50 > 0:40:55armed, dangerous, determined to press home their attack.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57The Germans were convinced
0:40:57 > 0:41:00they were dealing with an operation which was over,
0:41:00 > 0:41:03instead of one which was still in progress.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07It was this conviction which let Hasler and his men through.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11The Germans should have flooded the river with searchlights and patrols,
0:41:11 > 0:41:13but they didn't.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16Hasler and his team were able to continue undetected,
0:41:16 > 0:41:19paddling closer and closer to their targets.
0:41:22 > 0:41:26But, by now, Hasler's men, too, were feeling the effects.
0:41:26 > 0:41:32Cold, wet, cramped, stiff, exposed, sleepless, they lived every second
0:41:32 > 0:41:37with the fear of imminent discovery, capture and death.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40Hasler had lost two thirds of his force.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43He was now in the very heart of enemy territory.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46Danger and discovery lurked at every bend in the river.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50Yet, they were still only halfway to their target.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55I think, at this point, Hasler must have wondered
0:41:55 > 0:41:59whether, against these odds, they could possibly make it.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02And if they did, what difference could it make?
0:42:02 > 0:42:06So few men left, so little explosive. And then what?
0:42:06 > 0:42:10Capture, torture, death before a firing squad?
0:42:10 > 0:42:14This must have been one of Hasler's lowest moments.
0:42:18 > 0:42:22As Hasler and his men paddled on towards Bordeaux,
0:42:22 > 0:42:27Ewart and Wallace took a different and final journey.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31They were driven to an execution site in an army camp at Souge,
0:42:31 > 0:42:33just outside Bordeaux.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36They were accompanied by two wooden coffins.
0:42:41 > 0:42:47At Souge, they were led forward and tied to two wooden stakes.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51A firing squad of 16 men levelled their rifles.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59The order was given to fire.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04GUNFIRE
0:43:04 > 0:43:08The two marines were then finished off by the Gestapo
0:43:08 > 0:43:10with shots to the back of the head.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15On December 9th, a Portsmouth newspaper reported that
0:43:15 > 0:43:18"a small British sabotage squad had been engaged
0:43:18 > 0:43:22"at the mouth of the Gironde River and finished off in combat."
0:43:23 > 0:43:27The item was spotted by 16-year-old Heather Powell,
0:43:27 > 0:43:29Bobby Ewart's sweetheart.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32Convinced that this was connected with her beloved Bobby,
0:43:32 > 0:43:35Heather became deeply depressed.
0:43:38 > 0:43:42She fell ill and was taken to hospital.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45Here, she was diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis.
0:43:45 > 0:43:51She died days later of her illness and, some say, of a broken heart.
0:43:53 > 0:43:58She was one day short of her 17th birthday.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05Journey's end was also approaching for Hasler and his men.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07Undetected by an alerted enemy,
0:44:07 > 0:44:10with his prey now no more than a stone's throw away,
0:44:10 > 0:44:15Hasler had now penetrated more than 50 miles downriver.
0:44:15 > 0:44:19Hasler hid his canoes in the reeds, just over there.
0:44:19 > 0:44:24The main port of Bordeaux is two miles in that direction.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28He was now so close to the city, he could hear the rumble of traffic,
0:44:28 > 0:44:31the hooting of cars, dogs barking.
0:44:31 > 0:44:36He could also hear the whir and clank of the cranes on this quay.
0:44:36 > 0:44:40Hasler and his men were now within touching distance of their prey.
0:44:43 > 0:44:48At around 21:00, Hasler gave the order to arm their limpet mines
0:44:48 > 0:44:50and prepare for the attack.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59They shook hands, and wished each other good luck.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02And then, quietly, they pushed aside the reeds
0:45:02 > 0:45:04and slipped out into the darkness,
0:45:04 > 0:45:08Crayfish heading off to the east bank of the river
0:45:08 > 0:45:11and Catfish making her way upstream towards the Quai des Chartrons.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19But they were not the only ones heading for the ships
0:45:19 > 0:45:21on the Quay des Chartrons that night.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25Claude de Baissac and his SOE team were also making
0:45:25 > 0:45:30the final preparations for THEIR attack, at the very same time.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33De Baissac's job was more simple.
0:45:33 > 0:45:37He could carry explosives directly onto the ships,
0:45:37 > 0:45:41hidden in the haversacks of his agents who were working as painters.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45So, while Hasler and his men were making their final approach,
0:45:45 > 0:45:48having paddled 70 miles deep into enemy territory,
0:45:48 > 0:45:54Claude de Baissac and his team had to walk only 100 yards from their HQ
0:45:54 > 0:45:58just down there, straight to their targets, right under German noses.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04Meanwhile, for Hasler and his men,
0:46:04 > 0:46:08everything now depended on the last two miles.
0:46:08 > 0:46:12They needed maximum concentration, absolute stealth,
0:46:12 > 0:46:17if they were to have any chance of completing their mission.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19Paddles dipping in and out of the water
0:46:19 > 0:46:21with minimum noise and disturbance,
0:46:21 > 0:46:26Hasler hugged the bank of the river until he got to the port,
0:46:26 > 0:46:30and then tucked Catfish into the deep shadows cast
0:46:30 > 0:46:33by the quayside, to observe his targets.
0:46:33 > 0:46:39What he saw was a cluster of ships. Among them, a large cargo vessel
0:46:39 > 0:46:44called Tannenfels, whose riverside flank was fully exposed.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46It was a perfect target.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51He allowed Catfish to slip silently on the flood tide,
0:46:51 > 0:46:52down the ship's side.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55They were now abreast of the great ship's engine room.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59They could hear the hum of its auxiliary engines and even catch
0:46:59 > 0:47:03snatches of conversation and music coming from the crew's quarters
0:47:03 > 0:47:05MUSIC PLAYING INSIDE
0:47:09 > 0:47:13Hasler took off his gloves and reached below his cockpit
0:47:13 > 0:47:15for the first limpet.
0:47:17 > 0:47:22He gently attached it, feeling a small jolt which told him
0:47:22 > 0:47:24that the magnets had taken hold.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27The first blow had been struck.
0:47:30 > 0:47:33After their second limpet was planted, they began to
0:47:33 > 0:47:37make their way towards the stern, to find a place for the third.
0:47:48 > 0:47:49Suddenly...
0:47:49 > 0:47:50BANG
0:47:50 > 0:47:53..there was a loud clang from above.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56Glancing upwards, they saw the clear outline of a sentry
0:47:56 > 0:47:58silhouetted against the sky.
0:47:58 > 0:48:04The two Marines tried to melt into their canoes and stayed stock still.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07They had no option now but to rely on their camouflage
0:48:07 > 0:48:09and their training.
0:48:09 > 0:48:14Hasler said later, "I felt as though my back had been stripped naked".
0:48:16 > 0:48:21Minutes turned into what felt like hours as they waited
0:48:21 > 0:48:25and waited for the shout and the shot.
0:48:25 > 0:48:26But none came.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30Mistaken for a log or a piece of flotsam, their camouflage
0:48:30 > 0:48:33and their discipline saved them.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38Finally, Hasler gave the signal to Sparks to let go
0:48:38 > 0:48:42and they drifted out, the tide now carrying them
0:48:42 > 0:48:46with increasing speed, downstream and away from danger.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54Hasler's limpet mines would start to explode in six hours' time.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57The job was done.
0:48:57 > 0:48:59This mission was accomplished.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05As soon as they were clear of the harbour lights,
0:49:05 > 0:49:09Hasler turned in his cockpit and, grasping Sparks' hand,
0:49:09 > 0:49:11shook it warmly.
0:49:11 > 0:49:15Then the two men shot off downstream, paddling hard.
0:49:15 > 0:49:20They had just six hours to cover the next 20 miles.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23But now, they were swept on by an ebb tide
0:49:23 > 0:49:26and spurred forward by the elation of success.
0:49:28 > 0:49:33And then, more good news when they came across Laver and Mills.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35They, too, were in high spirits -
0:49:35 > 0:49:39they had planted eight limpet mines on another two ships.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48EXPLOSIONS
0:49:48 > 0:49:53At 3:50am, the first of Frankton's bombs began to go off.
0:49:53 > 0:49:58For the next eight hours, successive explosions ripped holes in the sides
0:49:58 > 0:50:02of the blockade runners, and water began to pour into their holds.
0:50:02 > 0:50:07Unfortunately, the tide was now low and the ships were empty.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12Later that morning, de Baissac's team,
0:50:12 > 0:50:15still preparing their own attack, heard the explosions.
0:50:15 > 0:50:21To say that de Baissac was not pleased would be an understatement.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24He said, "WE were well on the way to attacking these ships,
0:50:24 > 0:50:26"but then, at the critical moment,
0:50:26 > 0:50:29"the unfortunate Commando raid took place."
0:50:29 > 0:50:32"The only result was the ships
0:50:29 > 0:50:32settled a metre or so
0:50:32 > 0:50:35"onto the bottom and were quickly re-floated
0:50:35 > 0:50:38"but we had to abandon our attack altogether."
0:50:41 > 0:50:45So far as I know, de Baissac was given no warning
0:50:45 > 0:50:47that Frankton was going to take place.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49He was furious that somebody else had sunk them when he had put
0:50:49 > 0:50:51so much effort into the sinking of them.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54They were his targets and they were sinking.
0:50:54 > 0:50:55But one can understand, anyone who's put a great deal of effort
0:50:55 > 0:50:58into something and somebody else does all the work under their noses,
0:51:01 > 0:51:04one is somewhat put out. Would you blame him?
0:51:05 > 0:51:10While de Baissac fumed at the missed opportunity, Hasler and his team
0:51:10 > 0:51:15split into pairs and began their long and desperate journey home.
0:51:16 > 0:51:21Had London coordinated with SOE's network on the ground,
0:51:21 > 0:51:26Hasler's men need never have travelled more than a mile or so,
0:51:26 > 0:51:31before being scooped up and whisked to safety by the French Resistance.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35Instead, their journey involved more than 70 miles
0:51:35 > 0:51:38in the depth of winter, through enemy-occupied France,
0:51:38 > 0:51:43a furious enemy on their tails, and without shelter,
0:51:43 > 0:51:46food or assistance, beyond what they could beg.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51Only Hasler and Sparks made it.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54After an extraordinary journey across France, Spain
0:51:54 > 0:52:00and into Gibraltar, they finally arrived home in March 1943.
0:52:00 > 0:52:06Laver and Mills were captured and then, like their colleagues,
0:52:06 > 0:52:08executed.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11Once, there had been 12 men.
0:52:11 > 0:52:13Now, there were just two.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18On Sunday 25th April 1943,
0:52:18 > 0:52:23Blondie Hasler was invited to tea at Louis Mountbatten's home.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26There, he related, for the first time,
0:52:26 > 0:52:29the full story of Operation Frankton.
0:52:29 > 0:52:35Although Frankton had cost almost every one of Hasler's men,
0:52:35 > 0:52:40he had still, against all the odds, completed his mission.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44Limpet mines had been successfully planted on blockade runners
0:52:44 > 0:52:50in Bordeaux, and had blown a hole in German illusions of invincibility.
0:52:52 > 0:52:54Mountbatten and Churchill
0:52:54 > 0:52:57recognised what Hasler and his team had achieved,
0:52:57 > 0:53:00awarding Hasler the highest medal possible
0:53:00 > 0:53:04for this kind of operation - the DSO.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08Sparks was given a DSM.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11Looking back, even over 70 years,
0:53:11 > 0:53:14Operation Frankton still stands out.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18It was one of the very first deep-penetration raids
0:53:18 > 0:53:21by Special Forces, which had genuine strategic purpose.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24There have been many such canoe-based raids since.
0:53:24 > 0:53:28But, to my mind, this was the greatest of them.
0:53:28 > 0:53:32It was the raid which gave birth to my old unit the, SBS,
0:53:32 > 0:53:37and it is the raid that has inspired me all my adult life.
0:53:40 > 0:53:45The Germans, too, recognised Frankton as something exceptional.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48One German officer called it,
0:53:48 > 0:53:51"The outstanding commando raid of the Second World War".
0:53:54 > 0:53:59But in this story, one big question remains.
0:53:59 > 0:54:03Did Mountbatten know of SOE's planned attack?
0:54:03 > 0:54:07We may never know the answer to that question for certain,
0:54:07 > 0:54:09but one thing is very clear -
0:54:09 > 0:54:13with Whitehall factions more interested in fighting each other
0:54:13 > 0:54:16than in working together to beat the Germans,
0:54:16 > 0:54:19this was a Whitehall cock-up of major proportions.
0:54:20 > 0:54:24And the people who paid the price were Hasler's young marines.
0:54:32 > 0:54:34Mountbatten - he was in charge
0:54:34 > 0:54:38of Combined Ops, and he gave the OK for the operation.
0:54:40 > 0:54:42So it was on his head, really.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47He said it was worthwhile losing those men.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49Which...
0:54:49 > 0:54:51He's in a different position to us.
0:54:53 > 0:54:58Our lives weren't as important to him as what the operation was.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01Along with the lost lives,
0:55:01 > 0:55:04one of the biggest tragedies of Frankton was the lost opportunity
0:55:04 > 0:55:08to strike a much more effective blow against our enemy.
0:55:08 > 0:55:09Hasler and de Baissac
0:55:09 > 0:55:13working together could have made a much bigger impact.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17It was fairly clear by...
0:55:17 > 0:55:21at the latest, Christmas, that there had been
0:55:21 > 0:55:25a major cock-up in that Frankton had taken place
0:55:25 > 0:55:28and had sunken ships at a horrible cost in casualties.
0:55:28 > 0:55:3180%, which is much too much.
0:55:32 > 0:55:36And, equally, SOE's effort had been...
0:55:37 > 0:55:41..well prepared, but a great waste, as it turned out,
0:55:41 > 0:55:42of resources and effort.
0:55:43 > 0:55:47By the time Frankton was over, the need for better cooperation
0:55:47 > 0:55:51was, at long last, being recognised in Whitehall.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55In the summer of 1943, a control system was established
0:55:55 > 0:55:59in the Admiralty precisely to prevent the wasteful duplication
0:55:59 > 0:56:04of effort, courage and endeavour that had made Frankton so notorious.
0:56:05 > 0:56:09A new official was set up in Whitehall
0:56:09 > 0:56:14called the Controlling Officer, who made sure that
0:56:14 > 0:56:18this particular type of model never happened again, that people didn't
0:56:18 > 0:56:22trip each other up in precisely the way that SOE had been tripped up
0:56:22 > 0:56:25by Combined Ops in Operation Frankton.
0:56:25 > 0:56:27Next to the actual sinkings,
0:56:27 > 0:56:31the clearing house was, I think, the most important result of Frankton.
0:56:33 > 0:56:38As the war progressed, SOE and Combined Ops began to turn away
0:56:38 > 0:56:43from the pin-prick raids of the past, to something rather grander.
0:56:43 > 0:56:48You could certainly maintain that the setting up
0:56:48 > 0:56:53of the Controlling Office after Frankton was an assistance
0:56:53 > 0:56:58towards the major cooperation between all three Armed Forces
0:56:58 > 0:57:04and all the secret services that worked so well in the end
0:57:04 > 0:57:06in Normandy D-Day.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15What stands out for me from this story
0:57:15 > 0:57:18is not the inter-departmental rivalries in Whitehall,
0:57:18 > 0:57:22the petty squabbles, the cruel twists of fate.
0:57:22 > 0:57:27It is the extraordinary loyalty, determination and courage
0:57:27 > 0:57:30of those ordinary young men who followed Blondie Hasler
0:57:30 > 0:57:35into the heart of the enemy, that cold December night in 1942.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40In an age of easy living, where we are seldom asked to choose
0:57:40 > 0:57:44between ourselves and something greater,
0:57:44 > 0:57:47they should be an inspiration to us all.
0:58:31 > 0:58:33Subtitles by Ericsson