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Operation ''Bulbasket'' was an 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; its 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. ==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.〔Molinari, p.22〕〔Haskew, p.39〕 It was conceived as a commando type force intending to operate behind enemy lines in the North African Campaign.〔Thompson, p.7〕 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〔Shortt & McBride, p.16〕 and then carry out operations supporting the Allied advance through Belgium, the Netherlands and eventually into Germany.〔Shortt & McBride, p.15〕 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.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Royal British Legion )〕 The officer in command of 'B' Squadron was Captain John Tonkin of the 1st SAS 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.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Bulbasket」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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