The Commando Order was issued before Operation Frankton, and British intelligence learned of it quickly. Hasler's force therefore understood that capture after landing was unlikely to end in ordinary prisoner-of-war detention. Coalfish's isolated first-night progress gives the clearest example of resolve: Wallace and Ewart kept paddling when they could reasonably believe every other canoe had been lost. Their persistence meant conscious acceptance of an extreme personal risk.
Notable Point · 2:28:24-2:30:15
The raiders knew capture meant death
British intelligence knew of the October 1942 Commando Order, so the Marines launched knowing that capture ashore would probably mean execution.