OPERATION BASALT: An annotated reading list

The print version of OPERATION BASALT will not contain my annotated version of the Bibliography, but I wanted to share my thoughts about some of the sources I used. Many of these books are no longer in print, but all can be found at the British Library in London.

J.E.A., Geoffrey: Major John Geoffrey Appleyard, Being the Story of “Apple” of the Commandos and Special Air Service Regiment, London: Blandford Press Ltd., 1946.  This is an account of the life of the commanding officer of the Sark raid, consisting mainly of Appleyard’s letters, and edited by his father.  Originally privately circulated, then published as a book, it gives an unforgettable portrait of a very brave young man.  The section on Operation Basalt runs for only five pages.

Bard, Robert, The Channel Islands at War: A Dark History. A very critical — and angry – account of the behaviour of the Channel Islanders under Nazi rule. Madeleine Bunting’s book (see below) is better.

Bunting, Madeleine, The Model Occupation: The Channel Islands Under German Rule, 1995. Bunting’s controversial book contains little specifically about Sark, but the picture she paints of collaboration and lack of resistance is compelling. It also contains vivid interviews with survivors of the horror of Alderney, the channel island on which occurred the largest mass murder ever to take place in Great Britain.

Carr, Gilly, Paul Sanders and Louise Willmot, Protest, Defiance and Resistance in the Channel Islands: German Occupation, 1940-45, London: Bloomsbury, 2014. Carr and her colleagues wrote this book to challenge the narrative that showed islanders — including on Sark — as either passive or collaborators during the five years of German rule. Though this well-researched book contains several examples of defiance and resistance, it strangely neglects to highlight the role played by Mrs Pittard during the commando raid in 1942.

Cohen, Frederick, The Jews in the Channel Islands during the German Occupation, Jersey: Jersey Heritage Trust, 2000. The definitive account of the treatment of Jews throughout the islands, including Sark.

Cruickshank, Charles, The German Occupation of the Channel Islands, Stroud: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1990. This is the official history, commissioned by the governments of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark.

Durand, Ralph, Guernsey Under German Rule, London: The Guernsey Society, 1946. One of the first — if not the first — books devoted entirely to this subject, it has a few pages on the Sark raid. Durand was also the first to point out how little we know for sure about the raid.

Falla, Frank, The Silent War, Guernsey: Burbridge, 1967. Falla was a founder of G.U.N.S., the underground news service that reached Sark through the baker, Hubert Lanyon.

Forty, George, Channel Islands at War: A German Perspective, Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing, 1999. A rare account in English of the occupation from the point of view of the occupiers. Though the section on Operation Basalt is quite brief, it reprints in full the German military’s secret report on what happened.

Fraser, David, The Jews of the Channel Islands and the Rule of Law, 1940-1945, Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2000. Among other things, a complete account of the case of Annie Wranowsky, “the only Jew on Sark”.

Fournier, Gérard and André Heintz, “If I Must Die …” From “Postmaster” to “Aquatint”, Cully (France): OREP Editions, 2006. A history of the SSRF up until the raid just before Basalt. The very brief account of the Sark raid is unfortunately inaccurate, and claims that the commandos extracted a Polish SOE agent. Authors who have relied on this otherwise excellent work should be aware that it is a translation of the French, and the spelling of English names (e.g., Francoise Pittard) may be incorrect.

Hathaway, Sibyl, Dame of Sark: An Autobiography, London: Heinemann, 1961. The Dame devotes nearly 70 pages to the war years, with a detailed account of the Commando raids and their effect on the island.

Heaume, Richard, The Little Commandant of Sark, Channel Islands Occupation Review, No. 27, December 1999. A good overview of Herdt and his role on Sark.

Hitler, Adolf, Hitler’s Table Talk, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1953. Reports of Hitler’s meal-time monologues as transcribed by a Nazi official. Though the book skips over the period of the commando raid on Sark, it does contain a vivid passage laying out Hitler’s views on the Channel Islands and their importance.

Jacobs, Peter, Codenamed Dorset: The wartime exploits of Major Colin Ogden-Smith, Commando and SOE, London: Frontline Books, 2014. Biography of one of the Basalt raiders, though the book mostly focusses on Ogden-Smith’s later career and tragic death in France. The author had access to Colin-Smith’s handwritten journal which contains the only primary source available for who may have participated in Operation Basalt.

Keene, Tom, Britain’s Band of Brothers, Stroud: The History Press, 2014. Keene’s history of the Small Scale Raiding Force is well researched and thorough. The eleven pages on Operation Basalt contain new information based on the author’s interview with a surviving raider, Corporal James Edgar.

Konstam, Angus, British Motor Torpedo Boat 1939-45, Oxford: Osprey, 2003. This short book gives some very good information about the type of boat that took the commandos to Sark, but unfortunately claims that MTB 344 itself did not exist.

Lassen, Suzanne, Anders Lassen VC, London: Frederick Muller Limited, 1965. Translated by Inge Hack. This is the English version of Mrs Lassen’s 1949 biography of her son. It contains a very detailed account of the raid on Sark, running for more than twenty pages, based largely on the testimony of Gunner Redborn.

Le Feuvre, Nellie, A Sark Teenagers Deportation, privately printed 2005. Though there’s nothing about the raid, this paints a vivid picture of life for the deportees.

Le Tissier, Richard, Island Destiny: A true story of love and war in the Channel Island of Sark, St. Helier: Seaflower Books, 2006. Wehrmacht medic Werner Rang arrived in Sark after the commando raid of 1942, but the book contains valuable information about life on the Sark under German rule. Rang later married his Sark girlfriend, Phyllis, and lives on the island to this day.

Le Tissier, Richard, Mined Where You Walk: The German Occupation of Sark, St. Helier: Seaflower Books, 2008. The most recent, and probably definitive account of the years of the German occupation. Unfortunately, his account of Operation Basalt is marred by some inaccuracies.

Lett, Brian, The Small Scale Raiding Force, London: Pen & Sword Military, 2013.  Lett’s book covers the entire history of the SSRF, devoting twenty pages to the Sark raid.  It seems to be the definitive history of the force, with great attention to detail.

Lewis, Damien, Churchill’s Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII, London: Quercus, 2014. Lewis’ 400 page book focussing largely on Anders Lassen’s career, devotes only thirteen pages to the Sark raid. Covering much the same territory as Lett, it remains a good source of information about Lassen and the other “desperadoes”.

Marshall, Michael, Hitler Invaded Sark, Guernsey: Paramount-Lithoprint, 1963. Written at a time when memories of the German occupation were still fresh, and based on extensive interviews with islanders, this short book offers a wealth of detailed material on the occupation of Sark and on the October 1942 raid.

Mayne, Richard, Channel Islands Occupied: Unique pictures of the Nazi rule 1940-1945, Norwich: Jarrold and Sons Limited, 1972. There are just a few photos of the occupation of Sark. One shows German soldiers repairing La Coupée— this may not be an accurate caption, as the work on La Coupée was done by German prisoners at the end of the war.

McLoughlin, Roy, Living With The Enemy: An outline of the German Occupation of the Channel Islands with first-hand accounts by people who remember the years 1940 to 1945, St John, Jersey: Channel Island Publishing, 1995. Scant attention is paid to the commando raid on Sark in this book, which reflects the widely held view on the islands that the raids were unnecessary and counter-productive.

Moreman, Tim, British Commandos 1940-46, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2006. 96p. A general history of all commandos during the war.

Nettles, John, Jewels and Jackboots: Hitler’s British Channel Islands, Seeker Publishing, 2013. This history includes an account of Basalt that shares the view common on the islands that it wasn’t worth it.

Ramsey, Winston G., The War in the Channel Islands: Then and Now, London: After the Battle, 1981. Excellent coverage of all the commando raids, including a recreation (with photos from the 1980s) of the Sark raid in 1942. For his account of the Basalt raid, Ramsey relies heavily on Suzanne Lassen’s interview with Redborn.

Saelen, Fritjof, Unge Anders Lassen. Text of the chapter on the Sark Raid translated by Miss Benedicte Laursen Gothesgade, 1951. 7 1/2 pages. A very useful account, based apparently on Anders Lassen’s diary.

Scotland, Lt. Col. A.P., The London Cage, London: Evans Brothers Limited, 1957. Scotland commanded the interrogation centre for German prisoners to which Obergefreiter Weinreich was taken after the Sark raid. He doesn’t mention Weinreich at all, but Scotland was subsequently very involved with war crimes investigations and his book does contain an important discussion of Hitler’s Commando Order and how it was applied in practice against British commandos in Norway.

Stephenson, Charles, The Channel Islands 1941-45: Hitler’s impregnable fortress, Oxford: Osprey, 2006. A comprehensive overview of the fortifications built by the Germans to repel an invasion, but which proved useless in preventing the commando raids.

Stokes, Peter, No Ordinary Life, FeedARead.com, 2013. Based on the previously-unknown memoirs of the author’s father, Horace Stokes, one of the Sark raiders, this includes a first-hand account never before heard of the raid.

Tremayne, Julia, War on Sark: The Secret Letters of Julia Tremayne, Exeter: Webb & Bower, 1981. Tremayne’s secret letters provide a vivid portrait of life under German occupation. She was not happy at all about the commando raids which, in her view, made life more difficult for the locals.

Toms, Carel, Hitler’s Fortress Islands: Photo History of the German Occupation, Four Square Book, 1967. An excellent pictorial history of the occupation years.

Wood, Alan and Mary, Islands in Danger: The story of the German Occupation of the Channel Islands, 1940-1945, Morley: The Emfield Press, 1955. One of the first published accounts of the raid, it devotes an entire short chapter to Operation Basalt.