646f9e108c During WW2, German ships are "safely" docked upriver at Bordeaux, but the British send a team of kayakers to attack them. This is the true story of how a group of Royal Marines were taken by submarine to the mouth of the river Gironde from where they went by kayak to attack the "unassailable" port of Bordeaux (3 days journey) They laid limpet mines on many German warships & freighters causing major devastation. The next problem was how could they get away … I saw the cockleshell heroes many years ago and greatly enjoyed it.I was impressed enough to read the factual account of the unit and mission depicted in the film.The film was good but did not begin to show the reality of the training and the hardships these men went through.The actual mission was pretty muchdepicted in the film.The Royal Commandoes that made up the real unit went on to form the nucleus of what is now knownthe SBS or special boat section.This is the British version of the Navy Seals,but formed many years earlier.I highly recommend reading the book.You will appreciate the film even more. Hitler's "Kommando Behfel" was issued in retaliation for some jolly unsporting raids by hand - picked British soldiers into German - occupied Europe.Under its terms any combatants captured away from conflict zones and deemed by their captors to be "gangsters" would be summarily executed. Some of the elite Royal Marine Unit tasked with destroying ships in Bordeaux harbour were to be victims of this Order - a blatant contravention of the Rules of Warfare.By shooting enemy prisoners in uniform the Germans put themselves beyond the pale - not for the first or last time in the second world war. Of the ten who set out on the sixty - odd mile journey up - river,only two of the "Cockleshell Heroes" survived. The raid was aimed to strike a blow at the German supply ships loaded with priceless war materiel like rubber which they had been bringing in from Malaya.It was considered too dangerous to bomb the harbour both for the aircrews and the civilian population,so a plan was conceived involving 18 ft long 2 man canoes which were to attach limpet mines to the hulls of ships in the harbour and then slip away under cover of darkness. By a process of attrition only two crews actually completed the mission. The movie Mr J.Ferrer made of this heroic story is typical of its era. Chirpy working - class O.R.s and iron - jawed officers being forged into efficient fighting units with the odd pause to reflect,patronisingly,on the fighting and fornicating of the former and the philosophising of the latter. Mr T.Howard is finethe officer who dies with the wry quip on his lips in fine defiance of his Nazi murderers.Chirpy cockney Mr A.Newley irritatesa chirpy cockney.Mr Ferrer himself - often overlooked when fine actors of the 1950s are considered - is excellentthe O.I.C. A lady called Yana who was much - seen on English TV at the time spends a lot of screen time singing a not terribly relevant song. One officer and one Marine actually survived the raid and spent 18 months on the run before finding their way back to Blighty. After the war,a number of German Officers who had executed Hitler's Commando Order were hanged at Nuremberg.Justice or vengeance?By the standards of the day you have to say justice.
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