Operation Basalt was a small British raid conducted during World War II on Sark during the German occupation of the Channel Islands.

Leaving Portland at 2200 it took longer than planned to reach Sark and MTB 344 encountered strong currents on the approach, resulting in an arrival time of 0300.

The requirement to depart by 0330 in order to be clear of the German occupied islands before dawn resulted in the operation being aborted.

The occupant of the house, Mrs Frances Noel Pittard, proved very informative and advised there were about 20 Germans in the annex to the nearby Dixcart Hotel.

To minimise the guard left with the captives, the Commandos tied the prisoners' hands with the six-foot toggle ropes each carried, and required them to hold up their trousers.

The practice of removing belts and/or braces and tearing open the fly was quite a common technique the Commandos used to make it as difficult as possible for captives to run away.

[2]: 127 Germans on the island were alerted, however the Commandos managed to climb down the cliff, then using their small boat, returned to MTB 344 and made their escape with no injuries.

[2]: 146–52 The newspapers recovered from Sark gave details of the deportation of civilians to Germany, this was the first evidence the British had seen of potential German war crimes in the occupied Channel Islands.

Dame Sybil Hathaway remarked on the raid as it "seemed a heavy price to pay for the capture of one prisoner and a copy of the Guernsey Evening Press".

[citation needed] More than a year later, in December 1943, there was a follow-up raid on Sark by a team of British and French commandos known as Operation Hardtack 7.