Operation Postmaster

Part of SOE operations

Date	14 January 1942
Location	Fernando Po, Gulf of Guinea (Spanish Guinea)
Result	British victory

Belligerents

United Kingdom

Nazi Germany

Italy

Commanders and leaders

Major 'Gus' March-Phillipps

Captain Specht

Unknown

Strength

Small Scale Raiding Force 11 men
Special Operations Executive 4 men
local volunteers 17 men

Duchessa d'Aosta ship's crew 46
Bibundi ship's crew unknown
Likomba ship's crew unknown

Casualties and losses

none

29 crew and one merchant ship with 2 boats captured

Operation Postmaster was a British special operation conducted on the Spanish island of Fernando Po, now known as Bioko, off West Africa in the Gulf of Guinea, during the Second World War. The mission was carried out by the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF) and the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in January 1942. Their objective was to board the Italian and German ships in the harbour and sail them to Lagos. The SSRF under the command of Major Gus March-Phillipps left Britain in August 1941 and sailed the Brixham trawler, Maid Honor, to the Spanish colony.

The British authorities in the area refused to support the raid, which they considered a breach of Spanish neutrality. Permission for the operation to go ahead eventually came from the Foreign Office in London. On 14 January 1942, while the ships' officers were attending a party arranged by an SOE agent, the commandos entered the port aboard two tugs, overpowered the ships' crews and sailed off with the ships, including the Italian merchant vessel Duchessa d'Aosta. The raid boosted SOE's reputation at a critical time and demonstrated its ability to plan and conduct secret operations no matter the political consequences.

In 1941 the British Admiralty started receiving reports that German submarines were using the rivers in Vichy French parts of Africa as a base for refuelling. The unit selected to investigate the reports was the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF) also known as No. 62 Commando. The SSRF was formed in 1941, and consisted of a small group of 55 commando-trained personnel working with the Special Operations Executive (SOE). While being under operational control of Combined Operations Headquarters, No. 62 Commando itself was under the command Major Gustavus Henry March-Phillipps, usually called Gus March-Phillipps.

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Wikipedia