It was one of the most daring commando raids of World War II. Five two-man canoes, launched from a submarine in the Bay of Biscay, set out to paddle 70 miles upriver to attack shipping in Bordeaux harbour.
After the war the raid became the subject of a film, the Cockleshell Heroes, and was one the earliest operations by what became the Royal Marines' Special Boat Section.
But in a new book, A Brilliant Little Operation, Paddy Ashdown, himself a former SBS officer, reveals a story of Whitehall rivalry which almost certainly led to the needless deaths of many of those who took part.
The BBC's Nick Higham reports.
After the war the raid became the subject of a film, the Cockleshell Heroes, and was one the earliest operations by what became the Royal Marines' Special Boat Section.
But in a new book, A Brilliant Little Operation, Paddy Ashdown, himself a former SBS officer, reveals a story of Whitehall rivalry which almost certainly led to the needless deaths of many of those who took part.
The BBC's Nick Higham reports.
8 months ago
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