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.

Of 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.