The Cockleshell raid

In early December 1942, five canoes set out from the Gironde estuary. Each carried two British commandos with a single mission: to steal past the defences of Bordeaux and sink as many enemy merchant vessels as they could. Just two canoes reached the port, yet their efforts were enough to leave five German ships seriously damaged.

The raiders who survived then faced a long, tense pursuit as they tried to make their way back to Britain. Some reached Gibraltar, while others were captured and put to death. Ken Ford follows one of these operations closely, reconstructing it step by step.