March-Phillipps was a special operations veteran who proved remarkably successful in his missions. In
The Daily Telegraph,
Max Hastings noted: "In January 1942 he launched
Operation Postmaster, a picaresque 'cutting-out expedition', which seized two Italian merchant ships from the neutral Spanish colonial port of Santa Isabel in West Africa, and towed them triumphantly to Lagos." After the raid March-Phillipps was awarded the
Distinguished Service Order. He was
killed in action during
Operation Aquatint, which took place on the German-occupied French coastline in September 1942. Intending to harass the enemy and boost the Allied morale, March-Phillipps led a raiding team of 11 men onto a beach in
Goatley canoes. The landing was on an incorrect area of the beach, and they came under heavy fire from a German patrol. Four of the raiders were injured and taken prisoner, four men went on the run but were eventually captured; the rest of the team were killed, including March-Phillipps who was shot when trying to swim ashore after his canoe got damaged. On the Commando Veterans website, the following note accompanies the text on his gravestone: "In Memory of Major 39184 Gustavus Henry March-Phillipps DSO MBE Royal Artillery and Commando, Small Scale Raiding Force who died age 34 on 12 September 1942. Remembered with honour at ST. LAURENT-SUR-MER CHURCHYARD" , France ==Personal life==