Background
The men involved in Operation Bulbasket were part of the Special Air Service Brigade. It was a unit of the British Army, formed in July 1941 by David Stirling and originally called 'L' Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade; 'L' being an attempt at deception, implying the existence of numerous such units. It was conceived as a commando type force intending to operate behind enemy lines in the North African Campaign. In 1944 the Special Air Service Brigade was formed and consisted of the British 1st and 2nd Special Air Service, the French 3rd and 4th SAS and the Belgian 5th SAS. They were to undertake parachute operations behind the German lines in France and then carry out operations supporting the Allied advance through Belgium, the Netherlands and eventually into Germany.
In May 1944 the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) had issued an order for the Special Air Service Brigade to carry out two operations in France, Hounsworth in the area of Dijon for 'A' Squadron and Bulbasket, near Poitiers, which was given to 'B' Squadron.
The focus of both operations would be the disruption of German reinforcements from the south of France to the Normandy beachheads. To carry out the operation the men were to destroy supply dumps, block the Paris to Bordeaux railway line near Poitiers and attack railway sidings and fuel trains. One formation they especially wanted to delay was the 2nd SS Panzer Division - Das Reich which was based in the area around Toulouse in the south of France. The intelligence experts at SHAEF responsible for planning the Normandy landings, had estimated it would take three days for the panzer division to reach Normandy.
The officer in command of 'B' Squadron was Captain John Tonkin of the Royal Marines with Second Lieutenant Richard Crisp as his second in command; both men were briefed on the operation by SHAEF in London 1 June 1944. Over the next two days they spent time at the headquarters of the Special Operations Executive who had agents of 'F' section operating in the area under the command of Captain Maingard, alias 'Samuel'. He also had links with the two main French Resistance groups in the area the Francs tireurs et Partisans and the Armée Secrète. Tonkin was also given a list of rail targets by Headquarters Special Air Service.
Read more about this topic: Operation Bulbasket
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