Major Geoffrey Appleyard was the commander of Operation Basalt. John Appleyard is his half-brother. Here are his remarks, delivered on 3 October 2017, at the unveiling of the memorial on Sark.
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Seigneur, Islanders and children of Sark, Ladies and Gentlemen –
If I may presume to speak on behalf of the families of those Commandos of the Small Scale Raiding Force who took part in Operation Basalt 75 years ago tonight, may I add my thanks to those of the Seigneur to you all for attending the unveiling of this memorial stone and the events which will follow later today and tomorrow.
As the half-brother of Major Geoffrey Appleyard, one of the founders of the SSRF, and who planned and commanded the raid, I pay tribute to the bravery of those twelve men who landed here that night. They were some of the founding commandos, hand-picked for their skills and abilities and highly trained. They were fit, fearsome – at least outwardly – and able to react and adapt to the unknown. Winston Churchill took a personal interest in their operations. He described them as a “Hand of Steel which comes out from the sea and plucks German sentries from their posts”, gaining valuable intelligence, causing disruption and keeping German forces away from more valuable deployments.
It is also fitting to pay tribute to the courage of the islanders of Sark, who endured almost 5 years of German occupation. Today it comes as a surprise to some people who do not realise that a part of the British Isles was occupied – perhaps this memorial will remind visitors of that fact, and help them think about the difficulties that the islanders faced during those long war years. They endured that time of hardship with bravery, stoicism and dignity.
A few of those elders are still living in Sark and are here today. We salute you.
Their mixed feelings about Operation Basalt are understandable – whilst showing that they were not forgotten, life became even more difficult as regulations were tightened, residents were interrogated, many were displaced and deported to German prison camps.
In a spirit of reconciliation the Memorial also recognises those German soldiers who died that night at the hands of the raiders.
Few of those men of the Small Scale Raiding Force who took part in Operation Basalt survived the war, and some, like my half-brother, have no grave having perished during operations without their bodies being found.
So this stone serves as a memorial to them as well as commemorating the raid and its effects on Sark.
It is an honour – a humbling one – to have taken part in this unveiling ceremony. May I thank wholeheartedly the committee of the Royal British Legion for raising this fitting and poignant memorial. I know that Geoffrey’s father – my father – would be deeply grateful, and I am certain that would echo the appreciation of the families of all the raiders.
Thank you.
