AR often brings about the most extraordinary acts of bravery from sometimes the most ordinary men.o
And in memory of one such man, Corporal Bill Sparks, Loughton town council has agreed to provide a permanent memorial to the last of the 'Cockleshell Heroes' outside his former home.
Councillors have voted to put up a heritage plaque at Mr Sparks' home in Poundfield Road to honour the Royal Marine who was one of 12 men chosen for possibly the most daring and dangerous mission of the Second World War. Their heroics during Operation Frankton were immortalised in the film The Cockleshell Heroes starring Jose Ferrer and Trevor Howard.
Town councillor Monty Juniper, 81, who served in the Essex Regiment and then the Royal Armoured Corps during the Second World War, said it was only right that he was honoured.
He said: "He came to live in Loughton after the war and lived here for some time. We put up two heritage plaques each year to honour people like this.
"He was a very brave man and taking part in Operation Frankton is not something I would have liked to have done.
"If you study the Cockleshell Heroes and you look at what these men did, there were many who didn't get away and some were actually shot. Corporal Sparks was one of only two men to get away, which was an amazing feat."
Mr Sparks died last November, aged 80, and was given full military honours at his funeral in the village of Alfriston, in East Sussex.
His career reads like something out of a Boy's Own book.
A former cobbler from the East End of London, he volunteered for service in the Royal Marines at the age of 17 after war was declared on Nazi Germany in 1939.
But following the tragic news that his brother, Benny, had been killed at sea on the HMS Naiad, Mr Sparks volunteered for "hazardous duty" in an attempt to strike back at the enemy.
He was accepted into the ranks of a covert unit called No.1 Section of the Royal Marines Boom Patrol Detachment (RMBPD) and the training started.
On December 1, 1942, Mr Sparks and the team got their chance when their submarine, the HMS Tuna, set off from the Clyde in Scotland and surfaced ten miles off the south west coast of France on December 7.
Their target was a fleet of armed merchant ships docked at the German occupied port of Bordeaux.
Under the operation planned by Admiral Mountbatten's Combined Operations command, the men were to paddle into the Gironde estuary in six two-man kayaks then travel 85 miles up river to Bordeaux travelling by night and lying up on shore by day.
The daredevil mission started badly and only half the team made it to the estuary while two marines drowned, two made it back to the Tuna and two made it ashore but were betrayed, captured and finally shot by the Germans.
The three remaining kayaks made it into the estuary but one sank on December 8 and its crew made it ashore but they too were captured by German patrols and shot.
Of the original 12-man team only Corporal Sparks and operation leader Major Herbert 'Blondie' Hasler in one boat and Corporal Laver and Marine Mills in the other made it to the target on December 10.
After dark the following night they stole into the harbour and attached limpit mines with nine-hour fuses to the hulls of five ships.
With half the mission safely completed the four men paddled 20 miles back up the river and ditched their canoes close to the village of St Genes-de-Blaye and set off overland into north east France for the 100-mile trek to Ruffec.
On the morning of December 12 the soldiers heard the satisfying sound of loud explosions from Bordeaux. They had sunk one ship and crippled four others.
However during their escape Laver and Mills were captured and shot but Corporal Sparks and Major Hasler made their rendezvous with renowned British agent Mary Lindell.
The pair separated but Corporal Sparks made his way over the Pyrenees into Spain on February 28, 1943, then, through diplomatic channels, entered Gibraltar in late March.
In an ironic twist he was arrested as the very nature of the mission meant no-one, including MI5, could corroborate his story and he was shipped back to London.
Corporal Sparks was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) which was presented to him by King George VI.
After serving in Burma, Africa and Italy, the end of the war meant a return to civilian life for Mr Sparks in March 1946.
He lived in Loughton while working at the town's London Transport bus depot as a driver on the 38A route to Victoria but took a break in 1952 to work as a lieutenant in the Malayan police during the insurgency.
In 1955, he embarked on a promotional tour for the film The Cockleshell Heroes and went back to London Transport where he became a garage inspector until his retirement, aged 63.
His later years were spent fighting for a memorial to his brave colleagues and following a successful fundraising campaign in the Daily Telegraph in 1983 he got his wish.
Lieutenant General Sir Stuart Pringle, Commandant General of the Royal Marines, unveiled the lasting tribute to the Cockleshell Heroes in Poole, Dorset.
His actions were best summed up by Major Steve Wakeley of the Royal Marines.
He said: "Bill's spirit and pugnacious demeanour as a young marine typified the wartime spirit of the British. At the time of volunteering for 'hazardous service', Bill could not have realised what lay before him and the significance of his actions.
"Bill's dedication, resolve and the sacrifice made by those of No1 Section of RMBPD will always be remembered."
March 7, 2003 10:00
Share