The heroic Salford lad who took part in top-secret World War II mission before being killed by the Nazis

Corporal Kenneth Bateman was part of a crack team of 55 elite soldiers parachuted into occupied France hours before D-Day on June 6, 1944. The mission, named Operation Bulbasket, was deemed so secret the details only came out following the release of classified documents decades later.

Cpl Bateman was born in Salford and became the foster son of Charles and Jane Seddon of Swinton, Greater Manchester. He joined 1 SAS in 1943 and spent months training before undertaking his role in the operation.

Serving with B Squadron, Cpl Bateman, 24, and his comrades were ordered to disrupt the movement of German troops as the Allied invasion got underway. The team worked with the French Resistance to blow up railway lines and identity fuel depots for RAF bombers to target.

He operated behind enemy lines in complete secrecy for 22 days before he was eventually captured by German troops on June 28. Military records show Cpl Bateman was shot on July 7, 1944, in accordance with Hitler’s infamous ‘Kommandobefehl’ Commando order.

Decades after his death, his relatives claimed the six service medals awarded to Cpl Bateman, whose service number was 5572359. They include the France and Germany Star, 1939-1945 Star, 1939-1945 War Medal, Defence Medal, The Africa Star and The Italy Star. He was also awarded an 8th Army Bar which would be added to The Africa Star.

The medals, along with newspaper cuttings and correspondence his relatives had with the War Office in the 1940s Ministry of Defence in the 2000s, are being auctioned. There is also a book detailing Operation Bulbasket, in which Cpl Bateman is mentioned numerous times.

The collection is set to fetch between £800 and £1,200 when it goes under the hammer at Richard Winterton Auctioneers in Staffordshire on July 10. Cpl Bateman’s medals and documents shine a light on Operation Bulbasket, which has gone down in military folklore.

Jeff Clark, militaria specialist, said: “This elite unit of 55 soldiers successfully managed to sabotage the railway lines many times and was tasked with preventing fuel supplies reaching the 2nd Panzer Division. They managed to obtain the whereabouts of a large supply of fuel that was due to arrive where the RAF managed to destroy that supply.”

On the day he was caught on June 28, Cpl Bateman was on a sabotage operation to blow up the points in the marshalling yards at Saint Benoît. The mission was a success but Cpl Bateman and his fellow NCO Sergeant Eccles were captured by sentries.

They had hoped their silence would buy time for their comrades to move from the camp at Verrières but changing location proved challenging due to water supply and commanders decided to risk returning temporarily. At dawn on July 3, the Germans attacked and captured 28 SAS soldiers and an American pilot who had been shot down and was being helped to escape.

Three further SAS soldiers who had been injured were taken to hospital and believed to have later been executed by lethal injection. The rest joined Cpl Bateman and Sgt Eccles in a German prison until they were put in a lorry and driven to the forest of Saint-Sauvant near the village of Rom. Here they were executed by firing squad on July 7 and buried.

Three mass graves had already been dug and the soldiers’ bodies were discovered by hunters in December 1944 and their remains exhumed. The Germans had removed the soldiers' dog tags but the dead men's possessions and dental records helped most be identified. Their bodies were later reburied in Rom Communal Cemetery.

Cpl Bateman’s niece applied to the Ministry of Defence for her heroic uncle’s medals when they approved in 2003. Following her death in February that year, the medals were passed to Cpl Bateman’s great-niece who is selling them following an illness.

The great-niece, who did not wish to be named, said: “Mum dug into the story and found out what happened. She applied for the medals from the Government and had them framed. Mum always wanted to visit his grave in France but sadly never made it over there. We are now not in the best of health and would sooner the medals go to someone who will appreciate them.”