The Missions History Forgot: 10 Covert WWII Operations Lost to the Footnotes

2. Operation Frankton: The Cockleshell Heroes

In December 1942, a daring Royal Marines raid, known as Operation Frankton, involved canoe-borne commandos infiltrating Bordeaux harbor to mine German cargo ships, crippling vital supply lines. Despite the mission’s audacity and its inspiration for future unconventional warfare, it remains largely absent from standard WWII narratives. The operation’s story was later immortalized in the 1955 film “The Cockleshell Heroes.”