The Cockleshell Heroes

Research by a Plymouth graduate has shed new light on the World War II Cockleshell Heroes raid, which will be screened on national television this week.

Tom Keene’s research conducted as part of his Plymouth PhD studies reveals that a lack of communication between allied units led to unnecessary deaths during the famous Cockleshell Heroes raid on enemy shipping. The new findings will be showcased in the BBC 2 documentary ‘The Most Courageous Raid Of World War Two’ 9pm, Tuesday 1 November.

While delving into the background of the ten Marines’ attack from their canoes (known as cockles) in Bordeaux Harbour in 1942, Tom Keene discovered Churchill had his own special agents planning to attack the same ships the next night.

Although both teams were supposed to liaise, rivalry and a cult of obsessive secrecy meant that Churchill’s Special Operations Executive told the Marines from Combined Operations nothing.

War history expert and author, Keene said: “This discovery was central to my thesis, and had the two allied units co-operated as they were supposed to, the raid might never have been mounted.”

As it happens, the operation was only partially successful and just two out of the ten men survived. Yet it has entered legend and shaped the ethos of today's SBS, the Royal Marines' Special Boat Service.

Plymouth University’s Professor Harry Bennett, who supervised Tom’s research, said: "During the course of his research Tom uncovered a tangled web of rivalry and competition between the different elements which made up British Intelligence during the Second World War. His findings create a new and disturbing context for the Cockleshell Hero raid and raise difficult questions about whether the lives of brave men were needlessly lost."

Keene’s work has gained the interest of many historians, leading to his successful collaboration with Lord Paddy Ashdown on this book ‘A Brilliant Little Raid’ which will be published next year to mark the 70th anniversary of the December 1942 attack.

An edited version of Keene’s thesis ‘Cloak of Enemies’ will be published next year by History Press.

ENDS