- Type of Memorial
- Board / Plaque / Tablet
- WMR Reference Number
- 110605
- Description
- The memorial has a square, brick/stone built base on top of which sits a slightly larger concrete block in which a steel plaque is inlaid. The commemoration is in raised, white lettering. In the bottom left hand corner is a depiction of two canoes each with a crew of two marines. The front canoe is large and the image is quite clear, whilst the second is much smaller and behind the first. Both sit on a representation of waves. In the bottom right hand corner is a representation of the badge of the Royal Marines
- Inscription
- OPERATION FRANKTON/ 'Cockleshell Heroes' / 70th Anniversary / In December 1942, 10 Royal Marine canoeists - including Albert Frederick Laver from Birkenhead - embarked on a mission to attach mines/ to enemy supply ships in Bordeaux. The men behind the mission, acknowledged as one of the most daring raids of World War II/ became known as the 'Cockleshell Heroes' , and are listed below with their craft./ This plaque is to commemorate their story. The operation, codenamed Frankton, was a daring attack on merchant ships moored in the harbour of Bordeaux,/ requiring the 10 commandos to paddle for nights on end, laying up under cover on isolated stretches of riverbank during the day./ Of the 10 men who set out on the mission, only 2 survived. Two succumbed to hypothermia after capsizing and six, including Albert Laver,/ were executed by the Germans. The men who formed the raiding party would, over four days, canoe 60 miles (97 km) from the sea,/ avoiding the 32 German Navy ships patrolling the Bay of Biscay port of Bordeaux which was a major destination for goods to support the German war effort./ They succeeded in sinking one ship and severely damaging four others and doing enough damage in the port to greatly disrupt the use of the harbour for/ months to come. Such was the significance of the raid that wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, said that it helped to shorten World War II by six months./ Catfish / [NAME] / [NAME] / Crayfish / [NAME] / [NAME] / Conger / [NAME] / [NAME] / Cuttlefish / [NAME] / [NAME] / Coalface / [NAME] / [NAME] / Cachalot / [NAME] / [NAME] / A thirteenth man was taken as reserve [NAME]