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

Operation Basalt was a raid carried out by British commandos on the island of Sark on the night of October 3-4, 1942. It was intended to reassure Channel Islanders that they had not been forgotten following their German occupation, to force the Germans to deploy resources, and to gain intelligence through German prisoners. Thought a tactical success, the raid remains mired in controversy, remembered because of Hitler's reaction. Three days after the raid, he issued this order: "In future, all terror and sabotage troops of the British and their accomplices, who do not act like soldiers but rather like bandits, will be treated as such . . . and will be ruthlessly eliminated in battle, wherever they appear." Using the National Archive in Kew and the Sark Society archives, Eric Lee tells the Basalt story for the first time.