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CRHnews - 'Cockleshell Hero' Raymond Quick DSM HMS Tuna

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• published: 17 Mar 2013
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COCKLESHELL HERO FADES AWAY IN HOSPITAL AGED 95 Adapted from an obituary posted by Sophie Braybrooke on the RHS Community Website http://www.rhscommunity.co.uk/news/76264/ One of our oldest old boys, Raymond Quick, who attended Royal Hospital School, Greenwich, and transferred to Holbrook in 1933, sadly passed away in September aged 95 years. Mr Quick was a key member of the famous Cockleshell Heroes wartime mission in 1942 and as submarine HMS Tuna's Royal Navy telegraphist he told the world of its successful conclusion. His message: "Operation Frankton completed. 2100/7." Devon-born Mr Quick, of Gloucester Avenue, Moulsham Lodge, died at Broomfield Hospital Chelmsford on September 20, 2011, after being admitted with an infection shortly after giving his final interview. His carer, Mrs Iris Walker, said: "Ray was brave and heroic to the very end. I miss him terribly already." Mr Quick was the last surviving submariner to take part in Operation Frankton, a mission which Sir Winston Churchill claimed had shortened the Second World War by six months. Ten commandos who became known as the Cockleshell Heroes were launched from his T-Class submarine in five tiny 'cockle' canoes to attach limpet mines on shipping in Bordeaux harbour. Admiral Louis Mountbatten described it as the most courageous and imaginative of all the raids ever carried out by the Armed Forces and they crippled the enemy. However, two of the combined services team, made up of army soldiers and Royal Marines - George Sheard and David Moffatt - perished from hypothermia after their canoe capsized. Six were executed by the Germans - John MacKinnon, Samuel Wallace, Albert Laver, Robert Ewart, James Conway and William Mills. The surviving pair of Herbert Hasler and Bill Sparks made it home three months later via Gibraltar. Their bravery was at long last commemorated earlier this year with a permanent memorial in Bordeaux which also reflects the role of HMS Tuna and her men, as well as three French resistance fighters -- but Mr Quick was not well enough to attend the unveiling ceremony in March. His wartime role as chief petty officer telegraphist won him the Distinguished Service Medal, but, not for Operation Frankton. It was for his 'outstanding coolness, cheerfulness and skill whilst serving on HMS Tuna in five arduous patrols and a brilliant and successful attack on a German U-boat on April 7, 1943.' Mr Quick, who suffered from dementia, was lucid while talking about his submarine exploits, having kept the stories to himself in the post-war years, when the Essex Chronicle featured his story in March.(2011) Mrs Walker said: "Raymond hoped to go to France for the ceremony, but though he had sight, hearing and mobility challenges, his heart was there." Mr Quick settled in Chelmsford after the war and worked for Marconi before retiring with his late wife, Eileen, to Paignton. Mrs Walker added: "Our spouses both died at the same time and due to his infirmities I became Raymond's carer, but I never tired of hearing his war stories." Mr Quick thoroughly detested the 1954 movie The Cockleshell Heroes, starring Trevor Howard, Victor Maddern and Christopher Lee. The modest hero said he was "scared out of his wits" most of the time, especially when his submarine was forced to spend 36 hours at the bottom of the Mediterranean, off Cyprus, avoiding Nazi hunters. He expressed amazement that he survived the war, having sailed in a succession of five subs, all of which were lost after he was transferred, concluding hostilities safely on board HMS Tuna. The full details of what happened to all those involved in Operation Frankton, which succeeded in damaging five enemy ships, including a U-boat support vessel, are grippingly recorded in the latest book 'Cockleshell Heroes The Final Witness' by Torquay-based historian Quentin Rees. His comprehensive researches delve into every aspect of the clandestine raid and its aftermath and throws fresh light on the fate of those who dared. • At Launch, Rains Must Fall and Awaiting Return are royalty free by the talented - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) • Licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0" http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" • http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/faq.html