Herbert George "Blondie" Hasler (27 February 1914 – 5 May 1987) was a
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
in the
Royal Marines
The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
. In December 1942, Hasler led a small
commando
Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured
A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
raid in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
against Axis shipping in
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
. He was responsible for many of the concepts which ultimately led to the post-war formation of the
Special Boat Service
The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roya ...
. After the war he became a notable yachtsman, contributing especially to developments in
single-handed sailing
The sport and practice of single-handed sailing or solo sailing is sailing with only one crewmember (i.e., only one person on board the vessel). The term usually refers to ocean and long-distance sailing and is used in competitive sailing and am ...
.
Early life
Hasler was born in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
on 27 February 1914, the youngest son of Lieutenant Arthur Thomas Hasler (a
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...
quartermaster
Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...
), and his wife, Annie Georgina (née Andrews). His father died after the troopship ''Transylvania'' was torpedoed on 4 May 1917. Hasler was sent to Wellington College, where he was a keen sportsman. He was commissioned into the Royal Marines on 1 September 1932.
Second World War
In 1940, Hasler served as fleet landing officer in
Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009
Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...
, and was then sent to
Narvik
( se, Áhkanjárga) is the third-largest municipality in Nordland county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Narvik. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Ankenesstranda, Ball ...
in support of the
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...
in the Norwegian campaign, for which duties he was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(OBE),
mentioned in despatches
To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...
, and awarded the French
Croix de guerre
The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...
.
At the age of 28 in 1942, Major Hasler planned and personally led
Operation Frankton
Operation Frankton was a commando raid on ships in the German occupied French port of Bordeaux in southwest France during the Second World War. The raid was carried out by a small unit of Royal Marines known as the Royal Marines Boom Patrol ...
, for which he was subsequently awarded the
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...
(DSO). He was also recommended for the
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
, but was not eligible because his actions were not "in the face of the enemy" as required for that decoration. There are conflicting opinions about the impact of this costly operation on the war effort, but the courage and enterprise of the participants is not in doubt.
In commemoration of Herbert Hasler's efforts in Operation Frankton, the UK Kayak marathon racing series is named 'The
Hasler Series
The Hasler Series is the British national club championship in the sport of marathon canoeing, a long distance form of canoe racing, governed by the Marathon Racing Committee and supported by British Canoeing (BC).
Racing on flat water, canoeists ...
'.
Sailing
Hasler is known as the father of single-handed sailing, owing to his invention of the first practical
self-steering gear
Self-steering gear is equipment used on sail boats to maintain a chosen course or point of sail without constant human action.
History
Mechanical or "wind vane" self-steering started out as a way to keep model sail boats on course. Before the ...
for
yachts
A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...
: many sailing vessels continue to rely on systems substantially based on Hasler's work.
In 1947 he took part in the
Royal Ocean Racing Club
The Royal Ocean Racing Club is a club in London with a further clubhouse and office in Cowes, Isle of Wight. It was established in 1925 as the Ocean Racing Club, as a result of a race to the Fastnet Rock from Cowes, finishing in Plymouth. It rece ...
Dinard Race –
Cowes
Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...
to
Dinard
Dinard (; br, Dinarzh, ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Dinard'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine Departments of France, department, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern France.
Dinard is on the Côte d' ...
, sailing the yacht ''Tre-sang'', winning his class championship.
In 1960, Hasler competed in the first
Observer Single-handed Transatlantic Race (OSTAR), from
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
to
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. The race, originated solely by Hasler, did not include any "
half a crown" bet as the myth suggests with
Sir Francis Chichester
Sir Francis Charles Chichester KBE (17 September 1901 – 26 August 1972) was a British businessman, pioneering aviator and solo sailor.
He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for becoming the first person to sail single-handed around the wor ...
the fourth of the five competitors to enter the race. Of the fifty yachtsmen who sent letters of intent to compete, only five eventually started. Hasler himself sailed one of the smallest boats in the race, his heavily modified
Nordic Folkboat
The Nordic Folkboat (Swedish: Nordisk Folkbåt) is a Swedish sailboat that was designed by and Tord Sundén as a racer- cruiser and first built in 1942. Even though Sundén drafted the plans with design ideas provided by Iversen, Sundén was ...
''Jester'', and finished second in 48 days to Chichester's much larger ''Gipsy Moth III''. ''Jester'' was equipped with Hasler's self-steering system.
Hasler had ''Jester'' built some years prior to the first trans-Atlantic race, specifying that a fully enclosed deck, with two circular hatches in the cabin top rather than a conventional cockpit, be built on the standard hull. He used the boat as a floating laboratory to develop his self-steering system, and also pioneered the use of a Chinese-style
junk rig on a western yacht, to avoid the physical effort and potentially dangerous deck-work, required to handle a conventional rig single-handed. The junk rig allowed all sail handling to be done from the safety of the central control hatch, and Hasler claimed he could sail ''Jester'' across the Atlantic without ever leaving the cabin.
Hasler and ''Jester'' returned for the 1964 OSTAR, finishing fifth in 37 days, 22 hours. On his return Hasler, who was becoming disenchanted with what he perceived as the race's commercialisation, and the increasing size, complexity and expense of the yachts brought about by sponsorship, sold ''Jester'' to
Mike Richey. Richey continued to race the boat until she was lost in an Atlantic storm during the 1988 OSTAR.
Brendan Gallagher- Blondie a lasting hit in one corner of France
11 September 2007, ''telegraph.co.uk'' Retrieved 19 February 2017
See also
* ''The Cockleshell Heroes
''The Cockleshell Heroes'' is a 1955 British Technicolor war film with Trevor Howard, Anthony Newley, Christopher Lee, David Lodge and José Ferrer, who also directed. The film depicts a heavily fictionalised version of Operation Frankton, the ...
''
References
Sources
* Ewen Southby-Tailyour
Lieutenant Colonel Ewen Southby-Tailyour, (born 18 January 1942) is a British author, sailor, and retired Royal Marine. He served for 32 years in the Royal Marines and, after retiring, he concentrated on his sailing and writing careers and has w ...
, 'Hasler, Herbert George (1914–1987)’, rev., ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 9 March 2008
* Ewen Southby-Tailyour
Lieutenant Colonel Ewen Southby-Tailyour, (born 18 January 1942) is a British author, sailor, and retired Royal Marine. He served for 32 years in the Royal Marines and, after retiring, he concentrated on his sailing and writing careers and has w ...
, ''Blondie : a life of Lieutenant-Colonel H.G. Hasler, DSO, OBE, Croix de Guerre, Royal Marines''; with a foreword by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh (London : Leo Cooper, 1998)
Royal Marine (RM) Officers 1939−1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasler, Herbert
1914 births
1987 deaths
Military personnel from Dublin (city)
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)
English male sailors (sport)
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Royal Marines officers
Royal Marines personnel of World War II
Single-handed sailors
Special Boat Service officers