The Greatest Raid of All

Author C.E. Lucas Phillips provides a concise, gripping account of the surprise commando raid on the port at St. Nazaire in German-occupied France. In March of 1942, this was the largest dry-dock port in the world, capable of housing both large German warships and Nazi submarines then ravaging Britain's ocean lifelines. As the author shows, the British planned to put the dock out of commission by ramming it with an over-aged destroyer (the HMS Campbeltown) packed with a large cache of explosives concealed below decks. Readers see that the diversionary bombing alerted the German defenders, and many attacking British commandos were killed or captured. But the Campbeltown silent approach worked, it rammed the deck, and the huge explosion came as planned the next morning. As a result, the Allies gained a boost in the crucial Battle of the Atlantic. This is a readable, gripping account for military history buffs, or anybody wanting to read a suspenseful true tale.