Operation Knockout (i)

'Knockout' (i) was the British delivery of weapons and other supplies by motor gun boat to the French resistance forces at Lézongar in the Bénodet area of Brittany in German-occupied France (17/18 September 1944).

The boat used was MGB-718 of the 15th Motor Gun Boat Flotilla, and this departed Dartmouth to land 25 cases of ammunition, arms and clothing at Bénodet, between Brest and Lorient on the French west coast. The resistance leader in the Audierne area then asked for MGB-718's aid in overcoming a pocket of German resistance, and Lieutenant R. F. Seddon, the boat’s commander, agreed to carry out a gunfire bombardment despite the fact that this was a serious breach of the 15th Motor Gun Boat Flotilla’s security. The German defenders replied with unexpected vigour and accuracy, and MGB-718 was hit several times, sustaining enough damage to be forced to pull back under cover of smoke.