Throughout November and December 2022, a host of commemorations and events will be held to mark the 80th anniversary of Operation Frankton, which ranks as one of the most incredible tales of Bordeaux’s dark wartime years (and which has already been featured on the blog): ten Royal Marines set out from the Atlantic, canoeing down the Gironde Estuary in order to plant mines on German cargo ships docked in central Bordeaux. Only two of the so-called Cockleshell Heroes, Herbert "Blondie" Hasler (1914-1987) and Bill Sparks (1922-2002), survived the mission. After escaping inland to Ruffec, near Angoulême, members of the French Résistance guided them across the Pyrenees and onto to Gibraltar, from where they departed for the UK.
Friend of the blog Jean-Claude Déranlot and his association, Operation Frankton History & Values, have conceived a rich series of events including a number of French-language conferences, as detailed below:
- 1942 : L’année bascule
Speaker: Stéphane Barry, Docteur en histoire, Directeur des éditions Memoring> This conference took place on Thursday November 3
- Le cahier noir du journal “La Liberté du Sud Ouest”
Speaker: Gilles Robert> Tuesday November 15, 18:30, Salle 46, Athénée municipal Joseph Wresinski, Place Saint-Christoly, Bordeaux
- La Garonne et l’estuaire en 1942
Speaker: Éric Veyssy, Directeur et Médiateur culturel « Fleuve / Eau/Climat », Docteur en Biogéochimie de l’environnement> Wednesday November 23, 18:30, Salle 46, Athénée municipal Joseph Wresinski, Place Saint-Christoly, Bordeaux
- Le Renseignement de la France
Speaker: Jean-Claude Déranlot> Thursday December 1, 18:30, Salle 46, Athénée municipal Joseph Wresinski, Place Saint-Christoly, Bordeaux
- L’Opération Frankton
Speaker: Jean-Claude Déranlot> Thursday December 8, 18:30, Salle 46, Athénée municipal Joseph Wresinski, Place Saint-Christoly, Bordeaux
- Une mission, des hommes, une équipe, un chef
Speaker: Jean-Claude Déranlot> Sunday December 11, Cap Sciences museum
- Mauriac et la guerre
Speakers: Anne-Marie Cocula, Présidente du Centre François Mauriac, and Astrid Llado, Responsable des projets d’éducation artistique et culturelle du Centre François Mauriac.> Wednesday December 14, 18:30, 18:30, Salle 46, Athénée municipal Joseph Wresinski, Place Saint-Christoly, Bordeaux
In addition, official commemorations will be held in Bordeaux (near Hangar 14 on the Garonne waterfront) and Blanquefort (Château Magnol) on December 9th, and a group of canoes will paddle into Bordeaux on Sunday December 11. An exhibition will also be held at la Maison écocitoyenne on Sunday December 11, along with an additional conference by Jean-Claude Déranlot at Cap Sciences museum.
