Commando Missions (2025)

S1E2 Frankton Operation

In December 1942, Operation Frankton tasked Royal Marines with attaching limpet mines to German vessels in Bordeaux Harbour, located 62 miles up the Gironde River. Launching from the submarine HMS Tuna, five cockleshell canoes embarked on their dangerous mission. However, only two of the canoes successfully arrived at the harbour to execute the raid, aided in their escape by the French Resistance. The destruction they caused to the ships and the subsequent disruption of German supply routes had a considerable effect on the overall war effort.