| Operation Postmaster | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofSOE operations and theBattle of the Atlantic | |||||||
.jpg) The Italian cargo linerDuchessa d'Aosta captured during the raid | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Gus March-Phillipps |  Captain Specht | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Small Scale Raiding Force 11 men Special Operations Executive 4 men local volunteers 17 men HMS Violet (K35) | Duchessa d'Aosta ship's crew 46 Bibundi ship's crew unknown Likomba ship's crew unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None |
| ||||||
 | |||||||
Operation Postmaster was a British special operation conducted on the Spanish colony ofFernando Po, now known as Bioko, off West Africa in theGulf of Guinea, during theSecond World War. The mission was carried out by theSmall Scale Raiding Force (SSRF) and theSpecial Operations Executive (SOE) in January 1942. Their objective was toboard the Italian and German ships in the harbour and sail them toLagos. The SSRF under the command ofMajorGus March-Phillipps left Britain in August 1941 and sailed theBrixham trawler,Maid Honor,[1][2] to the Spanish colony.
The British authorities in the area refused to support the raid, which they considered a breach of Spanish neutrality. Permission for the operation to go ahead eventually came from theForeign Office inLondon. On 14 January 1942, while the ships' officers were attending a party arranged by an SOE agent, the commandos entered the port aboard two tugs, overpowered the ships' crews and sailed off with the ships, including the Italianmerchant vesselDuchessa d'Aosta. The raid boosted SOE's reputation at a critical time and demonstrated its ability to plan and conduct secret operations no matter the political consequences.[3]
In 1941 theBritish Admiralty started receiving reports thatGerman submarines were using the rivers inVichy French parts of Africa as a base for refuelling.[4] The unit selected to investigate the reports was theSmall Scale Raiding Force (SSRF) also known as No. 62 Commando.[5] The SSRF was formed in 1941, and consisted of a small group of 55 commando-trained personnel working with theSpecial Operations Executive (SOE).[5] While being under operational control ofCombined Operations Headquarters, No. 62 Commando itself was under the command ofMajorGus March-Phillipps.[6]
Maid Honor, a 65-ton Brixham yacht trawler, leftPoole harbour on 9 August 1941, bound for West Africa.[7] The five man crew were under the command of March-Phillipps.[8] The remainder of the SSRF under the command ofCaptainGeoffrey Appleyard had departed earlier aboard a troop transport ship. On 20 September 1941 after six weeks under sail,Maid Honor arrived atFreetown,Sierra Leone.[9] Freetown was the agreed rendezvous for both groups, Appleyard's party having arrived at the end of August.[9] AfterMaid Honor's arrival in Freetown the search for the German submarine bases started. Sailing into the many rivers and deltas in the area, they failed to locate any submarines or evidence of a submarine base.[8]
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SOE maintained a presence in West Africa, where it could observeVichy French, Spanish and Portuguese territories with the intention of identifying and hindering any activities that threatened Britain's colonial possessions.[10] While the commandos were searching for the German submarine bases, SOE agents had become aware of three vessels in the port ofSanta Isabel on the Spanish island ofFernando Po 30 kilometres (19 mi) off the coast of Africa near the border of Nigeria andCameroon.[8]
The three ships were the Italian 8,500-tonmerchant vesselDuchessa d'Aosta, the large GermantugLikomba, and adiesel-poweredbargeBibundi.Duchessa d'Aosta had a working radio which was considered a threat, with the potential to provide details ofAllied naval movements. Her declared cargo was 3 million pounds of wool, 316,610 pounds of hides and skins, 1.3 million pounds of tanning materials, 4 million pounds ofcopra, 544,660 pounds of crudeasbestos fibre and over 1.1 millioningots ofelectrolyticcopper. The first page of the ship's cargo manifest was not presented to the port authorities and the ship'scaptain refused to provide them with any details, which led to speculation it was also carrying arms or ammunition.[11] In his visits to the island, SOE agent Leonard Guise kept the ships under observation, and in August 1941 submitted a plan to seizeLikomba and disableDuchessa d'Aosta.[12] Approval for the military operation in a neutral port was given by theAdmiralty on 20 November 1941.[13]
To transport the raiders to the island, two tugs,Vulcan andNuneaton, were provided by the Governor ofNigeria, SirBernard Bourdillon.[14] The raiding force would consist of 32 men: four SOE agents, 11 commandos from the SSRF and 17 men recruited from the local population to crew the two tugs. The mission suffered a blow when the BritishGeneral Officer Commanding (GOC)West Africa Command,General SirGeorge Giffard refused to support the mission. He declined to release the 17 men required, stating it would compromise some unnamed plans he had in mind, and that the act would be seen aspiracy and could lead to repercussions.[15] Responding to the concerns of the GOC West Africa, the Admiralty suspended the operation.[15] TheForeign Office was also not in favour of the operation, nor was the British Embassy inMadrid, which was concerned about the possible reactions of the Spanish government.[9] The final go-ahead, eventually supported by the Foreign Office, was not given until 6 January 1942, on the grounds that, while suspicion of British involvement in the raid was inevitable, what counted was the avoidance of any tangible proof.[9][15] As a safeguard the Admiralty also dispatchedHMSViolet, aFlower-classcorvette, to intercept the vessels at sea, which would provide the cover story that they had been intercepted while trying to make their way home to Europe.[15]
SOE agent Richard Lippett had obtained employment with the shipping companyJohn Holt & Co (Liverpool), which had business offices on the island. Having taken up the post, he started to make preparations for the raid. He became aware that the crew ofDuchessa d'Aosta were in the habit of accepting invitations to parties ashore and had held their own party aboard ship on 6 January 1942. Under the guise of a party-goer, Lippett managed to gain information about the readiness of the ship for sea, crew numbers, and the watch arrangements.[16]
The raiders leftLagos in their two tugs on the morning of 11 January 1942, and while en route they practised loweringfolbots (folding kayaks) and boarding ships at sea under the command of CaptainGraham Hayes. They approached Santa Isabel harbour and at 23:15 and 23:30 hours on 14 January 1942; both tugs were in position 180 metres (590 ft) outside the harbour. Onshore, Lippett had arranged for the officers fromDuchessa d'Aosta to be invited to a dinner party; 12 Italian officers and two German officers fromLikomba attended.[17]
The boarding parties assembled on the decks of the two tugs as they entered the harbour.Vulcan, with March-Phillipps and his second in command Appleyard on board, headed forDuchessa d'Aosta. As they approached, a few men could be seen on the after deck of the merchant vessel, but they seemed to take no notice of the tug other than to shine a torch in its direction. At the same time, folbots under the command of Hayes fromNuneaton, were being paddled towardsLikomba andBibundi, which were moored together. Challenged by a watchman onBibundi, they persuaded him with their reply that it was the ship's captain coming back on board. The men from the canoes boardedBibundi, and the two-man crew on watch jumped overboard. After attaching explosive charges on the anchor chain, the commandos guidedNuneaton alongsideLikomba to take her andBibundi in tow.[18]
As soon as they were ready, the charges were detonated, releasing the anchors, andNuneaton started to towLikomba out of the harbour. Eleven men fromVulcan had managed to boardDuchessa d'Aosta; while one group attached charges on the anchor chains, another searched below-decks, collecting prisoners. Blowing the anchor chains,Vulcan started to towDuchessa d'Aosta out of the harbour. The explosions had alerted the population of the town, who started to gather on the pier, but no attempts were made to stop the ships from leaving.[19] Several anti-aircraft emplacements opened fire at imagined targets, believing the explosions to have been caused by an aerial attack, but the six-inch guns protecting the harbour from attack from the sea remained silent.[20] From entering the harbour to leaving with the ships under tow, the operation had taken 30 minutes, without any losses to the raiding party.[21]
Out at sea on 15 January 1942, March-Phillipps established a routine of watches and placed guards on the 29 prisoners they had taken. During the evening they started to have trouble with the tugs' engines and the tow ropes to the captured vessels. The next dayVulcan reached the location for the rendezvous and was "captured" at sea by HMSViolet.[22]Nuneaton, suffering from engine trouble, managed to contact the NigeriancollierIlorin bysemaphore, which in turn contacted Lagos, and a ship was dispatched to tow them into port.[23]
The Special Operations Executive had now demonstrated their ability to undertake operations, no matter the political consequences.Hugh Dalton, the governmentminister in charge of SOE, informed the Britishprime ministerWinston Churchill of the outcome of the raid. He also stated his belief that "other neutral governments would be impressed that Britain would, if needed, disregard the legal formalities of war in their efforts to succeed".[24] The agent in charge of SOE Africa station submitted a report to the head of SOEColin Gubbins reflecting on the success of Postmaster: "perhaps next time it will not be necessary for prolonged negotiations before undertaking a 30-minute operation".[21]
The Spanish government was furious about the raid, which was seen as a breach of the country's neutrality; Foreign MinisterRamón Serrano Suñer described the operation as an
intolerable attack on our sovereignty, no Spaniard can fail to be roused by this act of piracy committed in defiance of every right and within water under our jurisdiction. Do not be surprised, if we return the answer which the case demands—that of arms.[25]
In Germany radio stations reported that a..."Britishdestroyer had entered the harbour and droppeddepth charges to blow up the anchor cables and the ship's crew were shot" and the 21 January 1942 edition ofVölkischer Beobachter published an article with the headline "British Denials – Admiralty Lies on Act of Piracy".[26] BritishNaval Intelligence issued their own communique:
In view of the German allegations that Allied naval forces have executed a cutting-out operation against Axis ships in the Spanish port of Santa Isabel, Fernando Po, the British Admiralty considers it necessary to state that no British or Allied ship was in the vicinity...As a result... of the German Broadcast, the British Commander-in-Chief dispatched reconnaissance patrols to cover the area. A report has now been received that a large unidentified vessel has been sighted, and British naval vessels are proceeding to the spot to make investigations."[26]
The details of the raid were being kept secret even from the British chiefs of staff, who were only informed, on 18 January 1942, thatDuchessa d'Aosta had been intercepted 230 miles (370 km) offshore and was being taken to Lagos.[9]
On Fernando Po itself, Richard Lippett, who had remained on the island, was taken in for questioning by the Spanish authorities on 17 January 1942. He managed to persuade them he had nothing to do with the departure of the ships, nor had he spent any money on the party for the ships' officers. He was released from custody on 27 January 1942, but was refused permission to leave the island. He finally left secretly by canoe, arriving in British territory on 1 March 1942.[27] In the aftermath of the operation,Maid Honor was left in Lagos and eventually sold to theSierra Leone government as a converted trawler.Duchess d'Aosta was sailed toGreenock and then managed byCanadian Pacific as theEmpire Yukon for theMinistry of War Transport.[28][29]Likomba was managed by theElder Dempster Lines, which renamed itMalakel in 1947 and then sold it toLiberia in 1948.[30]
After the raid March-Phillipps was awarded theDistinguished Service Order, Hayes was awarded theMilitary Cross, and Appleyard aBar to his Military Cross; Lippett and Guise were each appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire.[31] Another commando, and the only professional sailor on the raid,PrivateAnders Lassen, was the first man to boardDuchessa d'Aosta. For conspicuous efficiency in getting the ship under way, Lassen was given acommission in the field,[12] and the immediate award of the Military Cross.[32]
March-Phillipps was killed duringOperation Aquatint in September 1942.[33] On the same mission, Hayes evaded capture and crossed the Spanish border, only to be handed over to the Germans who kept him insolitary confinement for nine months before he was executed by firing squad on 13 July 1943.[34] Appleyard later joined theSpecial Air Service, and on the same day that Hayes was executed Appleyard was reported missing when his plane failed to return from a mission.[35] Lassen also joined the Special Air Service; he was awarded two bars to his MC and promoted to major. He was killed in Italy in 1945, and awarded aposthumousVictoria Cross for his actions there.[36][37]
The 2024 filmThe Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare portrays a heavily fictionalized version of the operation, based on the 2014 bookChurchill's Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII byDamien Lewis.[38][39]
