30 AU Killed by Roadside Booby Trap

Si Biggs
4 days ago
2 min read

Brest Booby Trap - 1st Sept. 1944

Returning from a clandestine mission in Brest, in front of the Allied lines, probably to seize specialised equipment from the munitions factory at “la Pyrotechnie de St Nicolas” (Guipavas) ,a small convoy of 30 AU was travelling through the Landerneau forest to the east of Brest.

Bedford MWD 15-cwt 4x2 GS (Closed Cab) Truck [Paint schematic from Gecko Plastic Model ] — **Bedford MWD 15-cwt 4x2 GS (Closed Cab) Truck** [Paint schematic from Gecko Plastic Model ]

As its heavy 15cwt Bedford truck crossed the main railway line, a German IED detonated destroying the truck and throwing the following jeep onto its side.

The three men inside the truck, Marine Herbert Sanderson, driver, Able Seaman Daniel Muldoon and Able Seaman Peter Brady, torpedo specialists, were killed instantly and several others were wounded including Captain Chris Lessing, a South African Royal Marine officer.

Lt Postlethwaite and a group of 30AU finally entered Brest on, or perhaps slightly before the German surrender on 18 September, but no detailed record of their activity has yet been found. The official War Diary mentions “The elaborate control gear” found at the Graf Spee Battery at Pointe St Mathieu, now an excellent museum.

Their bodies were removed to Bayeux CWGC cemetery at the end of the war and no memorial to them exists in Brittany.

With the help of local historians Brittany Remembers located the site of the incident and together with the Brest Amicale des Fusiliers Marins et Commandos unveiled a new monument to them in September 2024.

In 2024, a new memorial was dedicated to their memory.