Operation Bulbasket

Operation Bulbasket

Operation Bulbasket was an ill-fated operation by 'B' Squadron, 1st Special Air Service (SAS), behind the German lines in German occupied France, between June and August 1944. The operation was located to the east of Poitiers in the Vienne department of south west France; it's objective was to block the Paris to Bordeaux railway line near Poitiers and to hamper German reinforcements heading towards the Normandy beachheads especially the 2nd SS Panzer Division - Das Reich.

During the course of the operation amongst other things, the SAS men discovered the whereabouts of a petrol supply train, which was destined for the 2nd SS Panzer Division. The supply train was destroyed by Royal Air Force bombers the same night.

The Special Air Service team had made their base near Verrieres, the location of which was betrayed to the Germans. In the follow-up attack on their camp, 33 men from the Special Air Service were captured and later murdered together with one American Air Force pilot who had fallen in with them, after bailing out of his P-51 Mustang. Seven captured Maquisards were also executed in the woods after the attack. Three other SAS men, who had been wounded in the fight and taken to hospital, were murdered by lethal injections while in their hospital beds.