Help needed please

[cash_13]

We were in Alfreston in Sussex yesterday to track down the resting place of my wifes Great Aunt which we found, but I have a question for you all.

There was a poppy wreath on the grave for her husband and we wondered what service he was in as there was nothing on the headstone also there was a a couple of graves that people might be interested in or indeed have information on one who passed away after the war had finished....

could he have died of injuries sustained? anyone?

Also one of the grave had cockleshell heroes inscribed on his headstone

Regards Lee

[Rich Payne]

Lee, can't really help with your query but it looks like a wreath from a squadron or ship's old comrades association. Could you read the centre ?

There was coincidentally today a link on 'Maple Leaf Up' to pre-war memories of Alfriston which might interest you. His later war service is an interesting read as well.

Here :- My Story

Rich

[GPRegt]

Lee,

It's a Royal Marines wreath.

Steve W.

[cash_13]

Many thanks for that info

I found out about D E Sparks he was one of the orignal Cockellshell heroes

The Cockleshell Heroes raided Nazi-occupied Bordeaux in 1942. The Cockleshell Heroes target was the harbour in Bordeaux. They succeeded in sinking one ship and severely damaging four others and doing enough damage to greatly disrupt the use of the harbour for months to come. Such was the significance of the raid, that Winston Churchill said that it helped to shorten to World War Two by six months.
For a number of months during the war, merchant ships had used Bordeaux to supply the German military that was stationed in that part of France. German U-boats used the area as a base. Any supply ships that came through the English Channel could be dealt with but plenty of merchant ships were willing to sail to Bordeaux harbour via the Mediterranean and there was little the British Navy could do about it. A raid by bombers would have led to many civilian casualties – so this was excluded.
The task of the Cockleshell Heroes was simple – destroy as many ships in the harbour as was possible so that the harbour itself would be blocked with wreckage, thus rendering it incapable of fully operating as a harbour. This was to be called Operation Frankton.
The Cockleshell Heroes were Royal Marine Commandos. These men got their nickname as the canoes they were to use were called ‘cockleshells’. After months of training, they were ready to set-off for their target – except that none of them knew what their target was. This was only made known to them once the submarine HMS Tuna had surfaced off of the French coast.
The twelve men that formed the Cockleshell Heroes were taken by submarine and dropped off the coast of Bordeaux. The plan was for the six teams of two men to paddle five miles to the mouth of the River Gironde, paddle seventy miles up it, plant limpet mines of the ships in the harbour and then make their way to Spain.
The raid started badly once the men were due to be dropped off by HMS Tuna. One of the canoes was holed as it was being made ready on the Tuna. The two Royal Marines who were meant to have used this canoe – called ‘Cachalot’ – could not take part in the raid. It is said that Marines Fisher and Ellery were left in tears at their disappointment.
The leader of the raid was Major ‘Blondie’ Hasler. His partner was Marine Bill Sparks. Their canoe was code-named ‘Catfish’. As the canoes approached the mouth of the Gironde they hit a violent rip tide. The waves were five feet high and the canoe ‘Conger’ was lost. The two crew of Conger – Corporal George Sheard and Marine David Moffat – were towed by the other canoes. Once near the shoreline, both men had to swim to the shore as they were slowing down the remaining canoes. Neither men made it to the shore and they were assumed to have drowned.
The crew of the canoe ‘Coalfish’ – Sergeant Samuel Wallace and Marine Jock Ewart - were caught by the Germans and shot.
The crew of the ‘Cuttlefish’ – Lieutenant John Mackinnon and Marine James Conway – had to abandon their canoe after it was damaged. They were also caught by the Germans, handed over to the Gestapo and shot.
With four canoes down, the raiders were only left with two canoes. Along with ‘Catfish’, ‘Crayfish’ was left crewed by Marine William Mills and Corporal Albert Laver.
By now, the Germans knew that something was up and they had done a great deal to increase patrols along the river. The two crew paddled at night and hid during the day.
The two canoes got to the harbour. Here they were spotted by a sentry who failed to raise the alarm – possibly he mistook what he saw for driftwood as both crews remained motionless in their canoes as they had been trained to do.
The crew of both remaining cockleshells placed limpet mines on the merchant ships they found in the harbour. They had an eight minute fuse on them, giving the Marines time to get away. Both ‘Crayfish’ and ‘Catfish’ escaped on the tide. The damage to Bordeaux harbour was severe. Now the crews had to leave their canoes, move on foot and link up with the French Resistance at the town of Ruffec. The Germans automatically assumed that the men would travel south to Spain. In fact, they travelled 100 miles north of Bordeaux – a journey that took them two months.
Laver and Mills, who were moving separately from Sparks and Hasler, were caught by the Germans and shot. With the help of the French Resistance, Hasler and Sparks reached Spain and then Gibraltar. Even here, Sparks met problems. Hasler used his rank to get transported back to Britain. However, Sparks did not have such luck and was arrested. In fact the Chief of Combined Operations, Lord Louis Mountbatten, had assumed all the men were dead, so anyone claiming to be them would have been treated with suspicion.
Sparks was put under guard by the military police. However, he slipped these guards at Euston Station in London and, after visiting his father, made his way to the Combined Operations Headquarters.

The Cockleshell Heroes

Name
Canoe
What happened to him?
Marine Fisher
Cachalot
Had to abandon due to damaged canoe
Marine Ellery
Cachalot
As above
Corporal Shear
Conger
Drowned
Marine Moffat
Conger
Drowned
Sergeant Wallace
Coalfish
Captured and shot
Marine Ewart
Coalfish
Captured and shot
Lieutenant Mackinnon
Cuttlefish
Captured and shot
Marine Conway
Cuttlefish
Captured and shot
Corporal Laver
Crayfish
Captured and shot
Marine Mills
Crayfish
Captured and shot
Major Hasler
Catfish
Made it back to Britain
Marine Sparks
Catfish
Made it back to Britain

[GPRegt]

Lee,

Good post on the Cockleshell Heroes. Have a look at this. There's also a 1955 movie.

Steve W.

[GPRegt]

Any more info on your Great Uncle - any papers you might be able to get hold of?

Steve W.

[cash_13]

Steve, I knew I had seen the film but could not for the life of me remember what it was about till I read the article above.......very brave men

Its my wifes great uncle by marriage we did not even know he was in the services until we saw the grave but would love to know more...

[GPRegt]

Originally Posted by cash_13

Its my wifes great uncle by marriage we did not even know he was in the services until we saw the grave but would love to know more...

Sorry, my mistake on the relationship. I suppose there's little chance of finding anything unless you can speak to family members who might know something.

Steve W.

[cash_13]

Thats how we came to play hunt the headstone my wife has been researching our family tree's on both sides of the family's very interesting stuff......

After all its not everyday you find out one of your relatives was the lord chief justice of Ireland and pissed of Queen Elizabeth 1 so much she had his nut chopped off!!

That was nut!

The mistake you made is not a mistake I am always ranting on about my Great Uncle Harold.....

[GPRegt]

Ah, so there may be something more.

Steve W.