The idea behind the British Operation Postmaster was simple: secretly board Italian and German
ships and sail them to Lagos without being noticed. However, this was one of the most
controversial missions for Britain to lead. In fact, British authorities refused to support
the raid. The mission seemed impossible, and failure meant that the rest of Europe might turn
against Britain for espionage. This left the mission in the hands of the SOE and the SSRF.
In
1941, the British Admiralty received intel about German Submarines using a
refueling base in the Vichy French rivers in Africa. In response,
the Combined Operations Command sent members of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the
Small Scale Raiding Force (or SSRF) to find and investigate the German submarine bases.
So on August 9th, 1941, a team of five SSRF members left Poole harbor in Dorset, England,
on a 65-ton Brixham yacht trawler named Maid Honor. They had a six-week voyage ahead of them.
The Maid Honor arrived at Freetown, Sierra Leone, on the 21st of September. The SSRF team then met
up with a team of SOE soldiers, and the search for German submarine bases began. Unfortunately,
they failed to locate any. They didn’t find any submarines either, However, the SOE did set up
a base of operations so that they could observe Vichy French, Spanish, and Portuguese territories.
Over the next few weeks, the SOE agents learned that three Axis ships occupied a port in Santa
Isabel, Fernando Po, a Spanish Island off the West African coast. The three ships were the Merchant
vessel Duchessa d’Aosta, a 7,872-ton Italian cargo liner called Likomba, a large German tugboat,
and Bibundi, a diesel-powered barge that was also presumed to be a German vessel.
Of the three boats, it was the Duchessa d’Aosta that posed the greatest threat. Firstly,
the radios on board could potentially relay information about Allied naval movements.
Secondly, the ship's manifest claimed to only be carrying general supplies such as wool,
tanning materials, and copper ingots. However, the first page of the manifest was missing.
This led SOE agents to believe that Duchessa d’Aosta was also carrying arms and ammunition.
SOE agent Leonard Guise was tasked to visit the island and keep an eye on the ships while the
SOE commanders pushed for permission to seize Likomba and disable Duchessa d'Aosta. Finally,
almost three months later, on the 20th of November 1941, the Admiralty granted such permission.
The SOE and SSRF planned Operation Postmaster together.
The original plan involved 17 locally recruited men, 11 SSRF commandos, and four SOE agents.
They would transport the raiders to the island on two tugboats, and the raiders
would work together to grab the Axis vessels while keeping the Axis soldiers distracted.
Unfortunately, their plan hit a bump when Sir George Giffard,
the British General Officer Commanding of West Africa Command, refused to support the
operation with the 17 locals. Giffard felt that "Any which way those planning Operation
Postmaster looked at it, the chances of failure seemed to far outweigh those of
success." In his words, "[The operation should] NOT, [I] repeat NOT take place."
As such, the Foreign Office and the British Embassy in Madrid
refused to support the operation, and the Admiralty suspended it.
A major issue was that the Axis vessels were docked at a Spanish island,
and while Spain seemed to side more with the Axis and nearly joined the Axis at one point,
Spain maintained neutrality throughout the war. This meant the operation might
be regarded as one of espionage and piracy against the Spanish.
But Churchill wanted the mission to go through, anyway. In Churchill's Secret Warriors,
author Damien Lewis explains writes, "Winston Churchill had been briefed at all stages on the
progress of the mission … [and] frustration was boiling over with the local delays.”
Eventually, it became evident that the Spanish were strengthening relations
with the Axis. SSRF commander March-Phillips held a meeting
with Gifford and the Admiralty in hopes of reigniting the mission.
So the Foreign Office and Admiralty changed their minds and gave the mission a thumbs up
on January 6th, 1942. They claimed that "intervention was inevitable." However,
to keep the operation a secret, they would not involve the aforementioned
17 local men This mission would be conducted by the SOE and SSRF alone.
With Operation Postmaster back on the cards, a new plan was struck. SOE agent Richard Lippett
found an undercover job as an employee for the shipping company John Holt & Co (Liverpool). While
working for the company, Lippett found out that the Duchessa d’Aosta crew loved to
party and would regularly attend parties held ashore. And so Lippett made himself
known as a party animal to those around him so that he could grow closer to the enemy crew.
While Lippett was undercover, the other SEO and SSRF agents made their way to the port
on two large tug boats, the Vulcan and the Nuneaton. The governor of Nigeria
helped recruit a few crew members for the tug boats. While they were on their way, the agents
practiced for the mission. They used a foldable kayak called a Folbot to approach the vessels
as quietly as possible, and then they would scale the side of the ship and commandeer it.
On the 14th of January 14th, the raiders closed in on Santa Isabel harbor.
The two tugs anchored themselves 180 meters from the shore until 11:30 pm. The harbor's lights were
extinguished at night due to a wartime blackout, and as author Damien Lewis explained, "The
assault was to go ahead under cover of a waning moon when the night would be at its darkest."
On the Fernando Po shore, Lippett arranged a dinner party for the crew of the Duchessa d’Aosta
and Likomba. It's not clear how many crew members remained on board the ship that night, but at
least 12 Italian officers and two German officers from Likomba showed up at Lippett's "honey trap."
While the Axis were enjoying their feast, the Vulcan made its way into the Santa
Isabel harbor. On the Vulcan were Captain March-Phillips and ten other agents tasked
with taking control of Duchessa d’Aosta. At the same time, four other agents from Nuneaton
left the tug boat behind and paddled to the Likomba and Bibundi on Folbots.
Although some crew members from the Duchessa d’Aosta noticed the tug
boat coming into the harbor, they didn’t think much of it. However,
a watchman on the Likomba spotted the SOE agents as they were boarding the barge. He said,
"Who goes there? Identify yourselves!” while shining a light at Captain Graham Hayes.
Although Hayes had a Tommy Gun at his side, he understood that opening fire could blow
the mission wide open. Instead, Hayes answered the watchman using what little German he knew
and managed to convince him he was bringing a letter for the captain of the ship. In response,
two of Likomba’s crewmen came to help Hayes board the ship.
When the men got closer, they didn't recognize Hayes and figured that
something unusual was happening there. Before the men could react,
the SOE agents were aiming .45-calibre machine guns at them. The two African crew
members jumped overboard without raising any alarms. Over the next few minutes,
the SOE agents attached two explosive charges to the vessel’s anchors. Took control of the ship,
detonated the charges, and guided the Likomba out of the harbor and back to the Nuneaton.
The Likomba was already tied to the Bibundi, making it easy to tow the Bibundi, as well.
By the time of the first explosion on the Likomba,
the 11 agents from the Vulcan managed to board Duchessa d'Aosta. Somehow the
explosion on the Likomba had not alarmed any of the Duchessa d’Aosta’s crew. Captain Appleyard
was in charge of attaching the explosive charges to Duchessa d'Aosta's anchors
while the other 10 agents searched the ship for axis forces to take prisoner.
The second Likomba explosion was far louder than the first, and the townspeople went to
the pier to investigate. For the SOE agents scouring the Italian vessel,
this spelled disaster, and time was against them.
March-Phillipps and Appleyard then teamed up to fasten the Vulcan tug to the Italian vessel.
With this done, they set off the explosives and tugged the Duchessa d’Aosta out of the
harbor. Although multiple townsfolk were now at the pier, non made any attempts to stop the
vessel's escape. Others townsfolk had thought the explosions had come from an aerial attack,
and several anti-aircraft emplacements opened fire at imaginary targets. The
townsfolk were also scared to turn on the lights of the harbor as this could
make the harbor an easily identifiable target (to the imaginary aircraft above)
With the Duchessa d'Aosta's making its way back to the Maid Honor,
Operation Postmaster was a success. In less than 30 minutes, the SOE and SSRF managed
to steal three Axis boats and capture 29 Italians aboard the Italian vessel,
and not a single shot was fired at anyone throughout the entire mission.
According to author Damien Lewis, "It was fast becoming clear that the seemingly impossible
had transpired: Operation Postmaster had been successful beyond anyone’s wildest
imaginings. The raiders had stolen away the three target ships, and while fierce gunfire
still illuminated the sky above the town, not a shot seemed to have been directed their way.”
On the 18th of January 1942, the Vulcan released a report claiming that it had "captured" enemy
vessels 370 kilometers offshore in international waters and was en route to Lagos. Agent Lippett,
the party animal, did not leave the island that same night, and Spanish authorities questioned
him regarding the incident. He managed to convince them he wasn’t involved in
the raid in any way. While the authorities believed him, they wouldn’t let him leave
the island. But Lippett didn’t play by the rules, escaping to British waters on a canoe.
Success in Operation Postmaster seemed unlikely, yet against all odds, Churchill's secret warriors
managed to get the job done without sustaining a single casualty. This operation proved that
the SOE was an organization to be reckoned with and that the SOE was capable of working under
extreme circumstances. Postmaster is often seen as the SOEs most successful exploit.
Colin Gubbins, an SOE agent who took part in Operation Postmaster, scoffed at how long it
took for approval to get the mission going. In his words, "Perhaps next time it will
not be necessary for prolonged negotiations before undertaking a 30 minute operation."
The Spanish government was furious when they found out about the raid. Foreign minister
Serrano Suner released a report claiming that the operation was an "intolerable
attack on [Spanish] 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".
In the end, this threat didn’t amount to much.
Do you think that Operation Postmaster was worth it, considering it could have provoked
a war with the Spanish? Should Churchill have stopped the mission? And lastly,
are there any other SOE missions you'd like us to cover? Let us know in the comments below.