THE daughter of a Second World War hero has praised kayakers who retraced her heroic father’s footsteps for charity.

Gill Clark, from Weymouth, hailed the efforts of the Munro’s Mariners team for raising £15,000.

The 21-strong team of Dorset Police staff and officers completed a 70-mile charity kayaking expedition in France – following in the footsteps of Second World War Cockleshell Heroes.

Gill, who is the daughter of Cockleshell commando Bill Sparks, attended the presentation of the money.

She said: “The amount of money that they raised was amazing.

“They did really well to complete the challenge and they will have needed to have done so much training to complete it.

“All of the hours of kayaking they had to do in those conditions, which can be treacherous, is a fantastic achievement.”

The police team tackled the kayaking expedition in memory of the late Inspector Neil Munro who died in March 2008.

The team smashed their original target of £10,000.

The Special Boat Service Association, the Neo-Natal Unit at Poole Hospital and the Dorset Police Benevolent Fund each received a cheque for £4,899.43.

Representatives from each of the three charities received their cheques at a presentation ceremony on Poole Quay.

They retraced the route taken by commandos in the daring Second World War Operation Frankton against German ships in Bordeaux harbour in December 1942.

Mrs Clark, aged 58, who lives in Preston in Weymouth with husband Alan, said: “As a family we always knew about it.

“But as children we didn’t realise until we were older what it actually entailed.

“My father wasn’t someone who used to say he was heroic. He was always campaigning for the guys that didn’t come back.

“He managed to get a memorial built at the SBS base in Poole.”

Mrs Clark has lived in Weymouth for 18 years and her father died in Sussex seven years ago. Mr Sparks recreated his epic adventure in 1983 for Cancer Research after his wife died of cancer.

Mrs Clark said: “Dad would have been really proud and pleased of what the police staff and officers achieved.”

* An open verdict was recorded into the death of Insp Neil Munro after his body was found washed ashore along the Sandbanks peninsular in Poole Harbour. He had suffered from a chronic form of depression for around 10 years.