Editing Operation Basalt (section)

==Second attempt==
On the night of 3–4 October 1942 12 men from the [[Special Operations Executive]] commanded [[No. 62 Commando]] (also known as the "Small Scale Raiding Force") and [[No. 12 Commando]], left Portland on ''MTB 344'' at 1900 and landed on Sark with the object of offensive reconnaissance and capturing prisoners.

Climbing the cliff at the Hog's Back, between Dixcart Bay and Derrible Bay, the Commandos were not spotted by German sentries nor did they encounter any guards. Several of the raiders broke into the house of a local. The occupant of the house, Mrs Frances Noel Pittard, proved very informative and advised there were about 20 Germans in the annex to the nearby Dixcart Hotel. She also declined an offer to take her to England.  Mrs Pittard provided the commandos with documents, including local newspapers from Guernsey.<ref name= ELOB/>

In front of the hotel was a long hut-type building. There was one guard, who was silently killed by Danish commando [[Anders Lassen]], using the commando knife he carried.  This annex comprised a corridor and six rooms wherein were five sleeping Germans, none found to be officers. The men were roused and taken outside <ref name= ELOB/> whereafter the Commandos decided to go on to the hotel and capture more of the enemy.  To minimise the guard left with the captives, the Commandos tied the prisoners' hands with the six-foot [[toggle ropes]] each carried, and required them to hold up their trousers.  The practice of removing belts and/or [[Suspenders|braces]] and tearing open the fly was quite a common technique the Commandos used to make it as difficult as possible for captives to run away. Most of the prisoners when captured were dressed for sleeping, one was naked and was not allowed to dress.

While this was being undertaken, one prisoner, the naked man, escaped and ran off shouting, then a general struggle started with the other prisoners. The prisoners were shouting and, fearing the arrival of enemy troops, the raiders elected to return to the beach with the remaining prisoners. Three prisoners made a break, one was instantly shot dead with a .38 revolver, another prisoner, wounded, managed to escape. Whether or not some had freed their hands during the firefight was never  established nor if all three broke at the same time. Two were believed shot and one stabbed by Ogden-Brown.<ref name=ELOB/> The sole remaining prisoner, ''[[Obergefreiter]]'' Hermann Weinreich, was conveyed safely to England and provided useful information.<ref name=ELOB/>{{rp|127}}

Germans on the island were alerted, however, but, nevertheless, the Commandos managed to climb down the cliff, then, using their small boat, returned to ''MTB 344'' and made their escape with no injuries.

Three German soldiers had died: the sentry and two prisoners.

===Consequences===
A few days later, the Germans issued a communiqué implying at least one prisoner had escaped and two were shot while resisting having their hands tied. This came shortly after the [[Dieppe Raid]] where an Allied document reportedly instructed prisoners' hands to be tied. When this was brought to [[Adolf Hitler]]'s attention, he ordered the shackling of Canadian prisoners, which led to a reciprocating order by British and Canadian authorities for German prisoners being held in Canada.<ref>Vance, Jonathan F. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2944619 "Men in Manacles: The Shackling of Prisoners of War, 1942–1943."] ''The Journal of Military History,'' Vol. 59, No. 3, July 1995, pp. 483–504.</ref>

It is also believed that this raid contributed to [[Hitler]]'s decision to issue his [[Commando Order]] on 18 October 1942 instructing all captured Commandos or Commando-type personnel be executed as a matter of procedure. This order resulted in a number of war crimes being committed.<ref name=ELOB/>{{rp|146–52}}

The newspapers recovered from Sark gave details of the [[Deportations from the German-occupied Channel Islands|deportation of civilians to Germany]], this being the first evidence the British had seen of potential German war crimes in the occupied Channel Islands.<ref name=ELOB/> The Germans justified the action as being identical to the Allied removal of German civilians from Persia, current day Iran, to Australia that had taken place in 1941. No prosecution took place.

The raid resulted in increased security measures being taken on Sark, mainly through an increase in the number of mines, to 13,000,<ref name= ELOB/>{{rp|136}} being laid and the deportation to Germany of 201 Channel Island civilians with 48 Sark civilians, including Mrs Pittard, who had just completed a three-month jail term and [[Robert Hathaway]], the husband of the Dame of Sark, in February 1943. Dame [[Sybil Hathaway]] remarked on the raid as it "seemed a heavy price to pay for the capture of one prisoner and a copy of the ''[[Guernsey Evening Press]]''".<ref>{{cite book |first=Barbara |last=Stoney |title=Sybil, Dame of Sark |publisher= Burbridge |year=1984 |isbn= 0-95093600-6 |page=154 }}</ref>

===Participants on second attempt===
Names of the soldiers who are known to have participated in the raid:
* Major [[Geoffrey Appleyard]]<ref name="Guille">{{cite web |last1= Guille |first1=RJ |title=75TH Anniversary of Commando Raid on Sark 3rd October 2017 Operation Basalt – Commando Raid on Sark – 3/4 October 1942 (Letter) |url=https://www.combinedops.com/SSRF.htm |website= Combined ops |access-date=10 October 2021 |date=3 October 2017|postscript=(see the photo of Operation Basalt memorial stone on Sark in article)}}</ref><ref name=ELOB/>{{rp|197}}{{Efn | Page 197 of Eric Lee's book does not have a complete list of the men involved. Lee states in Appendix 3 that "After more than seven decades I have reached the conclusion that we might never know with absolute certainty who were the twelve men in the SSRF and No. 12 Commando who landed on Sark that night."}}
* Captain Philip Pinckney (later of 2nd SAS – see also [[Operation Speedwell]])<ref name="Guille"/><ref name=ELOB/>{{rp|197}}
* Lieut. [[Anders Lassen]] (later Major, [[Victoria Cross|VC]], [[Military Cross|MC]] — see also [[Operation Roast]])<ref name= "Guille" /><ref name=ELOB/>{{rp|197}}
* Patrick Dudgeon<ref name="Guille"/><ref name=ELOB/>{{rp|197}}
* Colin Ogden Smith<ref name="Guille"/><ref name=ELOB/>{{rp|197}}
* Bruce Ogden Smith<ref name="Guille"/><ref name=ELOB/>{{rp|197}}
* Graham Young<ref name="Guille"/><ref name=ELOB/>{{rp|197}}
* James Edgar<ref name="Guille"/><ref name=ELOB/>{{rp|197}}
* Sergeant Horace 'Brummie' Stokes (later of 2nd SAS – see also Operation Speedwell)<ref name="Guille"/>
* Corporal Flint<ref name=ELOB/>{{rp|197}}
* Bombardier Eric Forster<ref name=ELOB/>{{rp|197}}
* Sergeant Joseph "Tim" Robinson (later of 2nd SAS – see also Operation Speedwell)<ref name="Guille"/>

A Private Redborn claimed to be on the raid, however no official records of anyone under this name exists.<ref name=ELOB />{{rp |199}} {{Efn | Alone of all the possible participants in this raid, Redborn's name appears in no official records.  The first reference to him appears in Suzanne Lassen's book about her son Anders, published just after the war.  Redborn may therefore be a cover name for a commando who was seeking to protect his identify, as all the men had signed the Official Secrets Act.}}