April 29th 1943, 7 men were transported to the island Karmøy, just north of Stavanger in Norway, onboard MTB's. This was a commando operation named Checkmate, with the intent to sink german ships in the area.
Their names werer:
- Lt John Godwin – leader of the operation - RNVR
- Sgt. Victor John Cox ( Jack ) - Somerset Light Infantry and No. 12 Commando
- Petty Officer Alfred John Roe - RN and 14(Arctic) Commando
- Petty Officer Harold Hiscock - RNPS and 14(Arctic) commando
- Able Seaman Keith Mayor - RN and 14(Arctic) Commando
- Able Seaman Neville Burgess - RN and 14(Arctic) Commando
- Able Seaman Andrew Anthony West - RN and 14(Arctic) Commando
They had a small fishing coble and two canoes to help them, and managed to sink a few vessels in the area. May 15th they were all caught by the germans, with the help of norwegians. All the men ended up in Sachenhausen og Belsen, where Roe died of Thyphus and the rest were executed.
I have lived not far from Karmøy all my life, bur never heard of this operation before. I'm planning to visit Kew to look at the few files they have there. Now I'm looking for any information about this operation and not least it's men. German documents relating to their arrest or interregation would very interesting.
This operation is almost nonexisting in published war history. There are some information on Wiki (I'm a bit sceptic when it comes to Wiki.), on the Commando veterans site and in the book Godwin's Saga, A Commando Epic .
I am now planning to write this story. These 7 men deserve it!
Information about the Operation Checkmate
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