The French port of Bordeaux, a major shipping center, was crucial in supplying the German occupation in France. In 1942, an elite Royal Marine commando squad was ordered to penetrate the 50-mile-long Gironde River estuary, proceed to the port, and destroy as many cargo ships as possible with timed explosive devices. Because the estuary was heavily protected, the mission would have to be carried out by six canoes, with two man crews paddling all the way to Bordeaux. The mission was named Operation Frankton.
After launching from a submarine at the mouth of the estuary on the night of December 7, one canoe was damaged immediately, one capsized in five foot swells, and two crews were captured before they made it to the port, leaving the last two canoes to carry out the mission. They hid by day, on December 8, and continued on with their plan that night.
Each of the surviving teams attached mines to four cargo ships, then left the port. The plan called for them to destroy their canoes and attempt to reach the Spanish border. Only two of the four remaining crew members made it. Of the 10 saboteurs, two drowned, six were captured and executed under Hitler's Commando Order, and two made it to Spain, from where they returned to to Great Britain. The strike was a huge propaganda boost for the struggling Allies, and the Germans were forced to guard their ships more closely from then on, an increased expenditure of resources. (Pictured above floating testicles of freedom) #ww2 #raid #military #zerofoxtrot