Operation Basalt: The British Raid on Sark and Hitler’s Commando Order

The raid that led to the Fuhrer’s directive, ‘All quarter is to be denied on principle’. It was obeyed Operation Basalt was carried out by British commandos on the island of Sark on the night of ¾ October 1942, intended to serve several purposes. The raid itself was a tactical success: a German prisoner was captured, several more were killed, and all British soldiers returned safely to base. It is remembered because of Hitler’s reaction. He ordered: ‘In future, all terror and sabotage troops of the British
will be ruthlessly eliminated in battle.’ Using the National Archives and the Sark Society archives, Eric Lee tells the Basalt story for the first time. Did the commandos bind and kill unarmed German soldiers? AUTHOR Eric Lee is the author of Saigon to Jerusalem: Conversations with Israel’s Vietnam Veterans, ‘a significant presentation of the Vietnam conflict from a rare perspective’ (Vietnam magazine). He served 11 years in the Israel Defence Forces reserves in a combat unit. He has written many articles for Modern Combat and other magazines. He lives in London. SELLING POINTS: . A raid that is still controversial to this day. Four German soldiers were killed. Were they bound with toggle ropes at the time? . Executions of captured British commandos became commonplace. Two of the British officers who participated in Operation Basalt were themselves victims of the Kommandobefehl while serving with the SAS it Italy. None of the other officers survived the war. 20 b/w images