{"product_id":"9781781311257","title":"A Brilliant Little Operation : The Cockleshell Heroes and the Most Courageous Raid of World War 2","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor:  Ashdown, Paddy \u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eUnclassified\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 2 May 2013 by Quarto Publishing PLC (Aurum) in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback | 416 pages\u003cbr\u003e199 x 131 x 35 | 310g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe complete story of the remarkable canoe raid on German ships in Bordeaux Harbour -\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  by the man who himself served in the Special Boat Squadron.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  In 1942, before El Alamein turned the tide of war, the German merchant fleet was re-supplying its war machine with impunity. So Operation Frankton, a daring and secret raid, was launched by Mountbatten'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e s Combined Operations and led by the enigmatic '\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Blondie'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  Hasler -\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  to paddle '\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Cockleshell'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  canoes right into Bordeaux harbour and sink the ships at anchor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  It was a desperately hazardous mission from the start -\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  dropped by submarine to canoe some hundred miles up the Gironde into the heart of Vichy France, surviving terrifying tidal races, only to face the biggest challenge of all: escaping across the Pyrenees. Fewer than half the men made it to Bordeaux; only four laid their mines; just two got back alive. But the most damage was done to the Germans'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  sense of impregnability.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  Paddy Ashdown, himself a member of the Royal Marines'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  elite Special Boat Squadron formed as a consequence of Frankton, has always been\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efascinated by this classic story of bravery and ingenuity - as a young man even meeting his hero Hasler once. Now, after researching previously unseen archives and tracing surviving witnesses, he has written the definitive account of the raid. The real truth, he discovers -\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  a deplorable tale of Whitehall rivalry and breakdowns in communication -\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  serves only to make the achievements of the '\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Cockleshell'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  heroes all the more heroic.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HUNTS BOOKSHOP LTD","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45796148838640,"sku":"9781781311257","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0514\/8635\/9739\/files\/9781781311257.jpg?v=1713541464","url":"https:\/\/huntsbookshop.pro\/products\/9781781311257","provider":"Hunt's Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}