THE GREATEST RAID OF ALL

by C.E. Lucas Phillips ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 27, 1960

This first full account of the 1942 commando raid on St. Nazaire, called by Lord Mountbatten the ""finest and most profitable of all"", is told with clarity, precision, and its share of the famous British understatement. It was the great dry dock at St. Nazaire which prompted the raid. Used for the construction of the Normandy, it was ideal for servicing the giant battleship Tirpitz if that ship should ever break out into the Atlantic. Thus operation ""Chariot"" came about. And thus 611 men in rickety old boats, plus an overage destroyer with its bow loaded with dynamite, hit the shores of St. Nazaire late one night bent upon the dock's destruction. In fierce fighting with the Germans, and in ramming the destroyer right up into the dock, half the commandos were killed or captured. But the effort was a success. A very well told vignette of a minor but gallant and worthwhile action of war.

Pub Date: July 27, 1960

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown-A.M.P.

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960

Categories: NONFICTION