Qualla: Operation Basalt https://qualla.com/operation-basalt en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:11 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/b/y/3/operation-basalt-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Operation Basalt https://qualla.com/operation-basalt Operation Basalt: Introduction https://qualla.com/operation-basalt/ Photo credit Tswgb, Public domain. Twelve men in a motor torpedo boat slid up to the cliffs of Sark just after dark on 3 October 1942. They climbed a place called the Hog's Back, between Dixcart Bay and Derrible Bay, a slope steep enough to count as a cliff in any other country. At the top they found a Channel Island that had been under German occupation for two years and three months, and a woman in a small house called Mrs Pittard who quietly told them everything they needed to know. What happened next on Sark contributed to one of the worst orders Adolf Hitler issued during the entire Second World War.

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]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/b/y/3/operation-basalt-wp/gby3-operation-basalt-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Operation Basalt: The Mission https://qualla.com/operation-basalt/ Photo credit Tswgb, Public domain. Operation Basalt was a small raid. Twelve men from No. 62 Commando, also known as the Small Scale Raiding Force, and No. 12 Commando, under the broader command of the Special Operations Executive, left Portland on the motor torpedo boat MTB 344 at seven in the evening. Their obje...

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]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/b/y/3/operation-basalt-wp/gby3-operation-basalt-the-mission.mp3 0:06 2 full Operation Basalt: The House at the Top of the Cliff https://qualla.com/operation-basalt/ Photo credit Tswgb, Public domain. They climbed the Hog's Back without being spotted. No sentries challenged them. No patrols crossed their path. At the top they came upon the house of Mrs Frances Noel Pittard, a Sark resident living through the occupation. The commandos broke in. Mrs Pittard, faced with armed Bri...

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]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/b/y/3/operation-basalt-wp/gby3-operation-basalt-the-house-at-the-top-of-the-cliff.mp3 0:06 3 full Operation Basalt: What Happened at the Hotel https://qualla.com/operation-basalt/ Photo credit Tswgb, Public domain. What happened at the annex remains partly disputed. The commandos surprised five German soldiers in their quarters, took them prisoner, and bound their hands as the raiding force prepared to march them back to the cliff and down to MTB 344. The German account, supported by some B...

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]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/b/y/3/operation-basalt-wp/gby3-operation-basalt-what-happened-at-the-hotel.mp3 0:06 4 full Operation Basalt: Hitler's Order https://qualla.com/operation-basalt/ Photo credit Tswgb, Public domain. On 18 October 1942, two weeks after the raid, Hitler issued his Commando Order. It instructed German forces that all captured Allied commandos, or troops engaged in commando-type operations, were to be executed immediately, regardless of whether they were in uniform, whether they...

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]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/b/y/3/operation-basalt-wp/gby3-operation-basalt-hitlers-order.mp3 0:06 5 full