Operation Frankton was a commando raid on ships in the German occupied French port of Bordeaux in southwest France during World War II.

The raid was carried out by a small unit of Royal Marines known as the Royal Marines Boom Patrol Detachment (RMBPD), part of Combined Operations, inserted by HMS Tuna captained by Lieutenant-Commander Dick Raikes who, earlier, had been awarded the DSO for operations while in command of the submarine HMS Seawolf (47S).

Men from no.1 section were selected for the raid; including the commanding officer, Herbert "Blondie" Hasler, and with the reserve marine Colley the team numbered thirteen in total.

[2][3] On 13 August 1942, Hasler and Stewart visited HMS Tormentor to attend a demonstration of fast motorboat training, in preparation for the operation.

The initial plan called for a force of three kayaks to be transported to the Gironde estuary by submarine then paddle by night and hide by day until they reached Bordeaux 60 miles (97 km) from the sea, thus hoping to avoid the 32 mixed Kriegsmarine ships that patrolled or used the port.

[6] Permission for the raid was granted on 13 October 1942, but Admiral Louis Mountbatten, chief of combined operations, increased the number of kayaks to be taken to six.

[8][9] The Mark II was a semi rigid two-man kayak, with the sides made of canvas, a flat bottom and 15 feet (4.6 m) long.

[10] During the raid each kayak's load would be two men, eight limpet mines, three sets of paddles, a compass, a depth sounding reel, repair bag, torch, camouflage net, waterproof watch, fishing line, two hand grenades, rations and water for six days, a spanner to activate the mines and a magnet to hold the kayak against the side of cargo ships.

[7] On 30 November 1942 under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Dick Raikes DSO the Royal Navy submarine HMS Tuna sailed from Holy Loch in Scotland with the six kayaks and raiders on board.

[16] After reaching the shore, MacKinnon and Conway evaded capture for four days, but were betrayed and arrested by the Gendarmerie and handed over to the Germans at La Reole hospital 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Bordeaux, while attempting to make their way to the Spanish border.

On the first night the three remaining kayaks, Catfish, Crayfish and Coalfish, covered 20 miles (32 km) in five hours and landed near St Vivien du Medoc.

[3][15] While they were hiding during the day and unknown to the others, Wallace and Ewart in Coalfish had been captured at daybreak near the Pointe de Grave lighthouse where they had come ashore.

Because of the strength of the ebb tide they still had a short distance to paddle, so Hasler ordered they hide for another day and set off to and reach Bordeaux on the night of 11/12 December.

A sentry on the deck of the Sperrbrecher, apparently spotting something, shone his torch down toward the water, but the camouflaged kayak evaded detection in the darkness.

[22] They made contact with escape line leader Mary Lindell and her son, Maurice, at the Hotel de la Toque Blanche and were taken to a local farm.

[24] It was not until 23 February 1943 that Combined Operations Headquarters heard via a secret message sent by Mary Lindell to the War Office that Hasler and Sparks were safe.

[28] Wallace and Ewart revealed only certain information during their interrogation, and were executed under the Commando Order, on the night of 11 December, in a sandpit in a wood north of Bordeaux, and not at Chateau Magnol, Blanquefort, as is sometimes claimed.

[3] Evidence shows that Laver, Mills, Mackinnon and Conway were not executed in Paris in 1942 but possibly in the same location as Wallace and Ewart under the Commando Order.

[38] The bravery of the 'Cockleshell Hero' Royal Marine James Conway was honoured with a permanent memorial unveiled on Sunday 10 December 2017 in his home town of Stockport.

[47] In June 2002, the Frankton Trail was opened, a walking path which traces the 100 miles (160 km) route taken through occupied France, on foot, by Hasler and Sparks.

[48] The only known surviving Cockle Mark II kayak from Operation Frankton, Cachalot, together with other original equipment, can be seen at the Combined Military Services Museum, located in Maldon, Essex.

[49] In France, the memory of the heroes of Operation Frankton is commemorated every year, notably in Bordeaux, Blanquefort, Saint-Georges-de-Didonne and Ruffec.

In 2011, as part of a project to move the monument to the dead of the 1914–1918 war, the municipality proposes to place a second plaque against the wall of the town hall, at the new location of the commemorations.

[50][51] On 1 November 2011, a BBC Timewatch television documentary called The Most Courageous Raid of WWII was narrated by Paddy Ashdown, a former SBS officer.

[52] Ashdown describes Frankton as "a Whitehall cock-up of major proportions" due to a simultaneous mission to sink the ships in Bordeaux, led by Claude de Baissac of the Special Operations Executive, which Hasler's team and Combined Operations knew nothing about because of the secrecy and lack of co-operation among British government agencies.

The loss of the opportunity for Hasler and de Baissac to work together to strike a harder blow against the Germans in a combined operation led to the setting up of a Controlling Officer at Whitehall, responsible for avoiding inter-departmental rivalry, duplication or even conflict.