Lord Ashdown unveils memorial to honour Cockleshell Heroes
The ceremony marked the upcoming 70th anniversary of Operation Frankton, when the so-called Cockleshell Heroes were sent to the Nazi-occupied harbour of Bordeaux to bomb ships.
Their mission was to attach mines to the hulls of the ships using Cockle Mark 2 canoes.
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Hide AdOf the 10 Royal Marines who set out on the mission, only two came back alive, the rest falling victim to German forces or hypothermia. But the operation was deemed a success, with Winston Churchill saying that he believed it shortened the war by six months.
Yesterday those heroes were honoured as Lord Ashdown unveiled a memorial at the Royal Marines Museum in Southsea, Hampshire.
December 7 will mark the 70th anniversary of the audacious mission.
Lord Ashdown said the event held special importance for him as a former officer in the Special Boat Service, which was founded in the wake of Operation Frankton. The former Liberal Democrats’ leader has also written a book about the mission, A Brilliant Little Operation.
He said the mission pitted 10 young Marines against 10,000 German troops.