The great dockbusting 'Raid on Saint-Nazaire': March, 1942
Colonel Newmans' Commandos storm ashore from HMS Campbeltown under heavy fire.
(© David Rowlands, 2002: www.davidrowlands.co.uk)
'They seek no further glory for they are all dead. They lie in a cemetery of La Baule, some 15 kilometres from where they died. A salt wind flies over them. Not all of them are buried here for not all of them could be found. Not all of them could be identified when they were found. Luger and Schmeizer (sic) bullets, incendiary shells fired over open sights, blazing petrol and the last shattering explosion had rendered some unidentifiable. During the days that followed, many were picked out of the eddies and currents of the tidal river. Tattoo marks on human skin are usually too discreet to give a name and address. "I love Glad" tells the undertaker little. The battle in which they died was relatively small in scale. But it was successful - and costly. It was a brief, bloody, savage, flaming, explosive incident that burst on a mild March morning.... It was the raid on Saint Nazaire.'
(Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Chant-Sempill, OBE., MC., 1956)INTRODUCTIONDuring the summer of 1940, when the military situation for Britain seemed truly hopeless, a new force was created whose sole objectives were to take the fight to the enemy, to keep him on his toes, and to demonstrate to the world that, while the British might lack the matériel with which to wage war on a Continental scale, they would never be found wanting in respect of fighting spirit.Known as the ARMY, as opposed to ROYAL MARINES Commandos, this élite unit was to usher in the era of Secial Forces as we know them today, its specialized - and extremely arduous - training regimes so impressing the U.S. military heirarchy that they soon brought into being their own 'Commandos' under the historic American title 'Rangers'.
A wholly volunteer force, drawn primarily from 'Territorial' units, whose 'irregular' status meant that they were not hidebound by the strictures imposed on 'regular' formations, the ethos of the Army Commandos revolved around developing individual initiative to the point where men, regardless of rank, would continue to strive towards an objective whatever the odds against them. It is their particularly distinctive contributions which so illuminate every facet of CHARIOT and characterize the raid as so much more than just another relentlessly military 'war' story.
Having developed the Army Commandos in the face of often bitter opposition from traditionalists, the British could not, however, then agree on how best they should be used, leading to a situation in which these highly motivated individuals were consigned to apparently endless months of training amidst the hills and moors of Scotland, while one operation after another was planned for, then almost inevitably cancelled.
Small wonder therefore that when, in the early months of 1942 it was proposed that they attack the supposedly impregnable submarine base of Saint-Nazaire with the object of deterring Tirpitz's Atlantic ambitions by ramming an explosive-filled destroyer into the port's enormous Normandie dry dock, their overwhelming desire to get to grips with the enemy led them to embrace a plan which might just succeed in getting them as far as their objective, while offering almost no hope of ever bringing them home again.
Representing as it does both the best and the worst that Britain had to offer in those dark days - the best in respect of the quality and enthusiasm of the young soldiers who could not wait to sail for France; the worst in respect of the muddle and parsimony that saw them face the enemy with no weapon more potent than their absolute determination to win regardless of the cost - here is a poignant memoir both of a great adventure stained by pain and loss, and of an era whose attitudes and aspirations were soon to change forever.
James Dorrian, (WEBMASTER) July 2006
e-mail: jamesgdorrian@mac.com
CONTENTS
'ST NAZAIRE RAID': BLOG
If you would like to comment on the raid, the raiders or the site, you can access my blog at http://chariot-heroes.blogspot.com
BOOKSTo date I have written two books on the subject of this much-neglected episode, and acted as programme consultant for Jeremy Clarkson's documentary 'The Greatest Raid Of All Time' (North One Television Midlands, for the BBC, 2007).
'Storming St Nazaire' was written in the mid 1990s with the full cooperation of the members of the Saint-Nazaire Society, the commemorative body established by survivors of the raid while they were still 'guests of the Reich'. With the Society's help I was able to contact some 100 veterans and immediate family members, who together provided me with a wealth of material mostly in the form of taped interviews, but also including comprehensive personal accounts of the action written in previous years. Many of these personal memories of CHARIOT are contained in the text which therefore, instead of having to describe the raid second-hand, uniquely and honestly reflects the views and experiences of the actual soldiers and sailors who achieved the impossible all those years ago. (304pp: illustrated)
'Saint-Nazaire: Operation Chariot - 1942' is a much more heavily illustrated battlefield guide, containing a truncated account of the raid, along with a detailed walking tour of the battle area and tourism information designed to assist visitors both to Saint-Nazaire and to the surrounding area (hotels; driving in France; museums; maps, etc) As with 'Storming St Nazaire', the text is constructed around numerous personal accounts of the action. (224pp: some illustrations in colour)
'Turned Towards the Sun' is the autobiography of the remarkable Michael Burn, MC, poet, author, Commando - a Captain in command of 6 troop during the raid, who was one of the few to survive the flames when his Motor Launch was destroyed early on by enemy fire. See 'Times' article HERE.
Read chapter 1
Read Introduction
Read cover
'Storming St Nazaire' - James G Dorrian 1998/2001: Pen & Sword Books Ltd: isbn-085052 8070 www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/?product_id=291
'Saint-Nazaire: Operation Chariot-1942' - James Dorrian 2006: Pen & Sword Books, Ltd: isbn-1844153347 www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/?product_id=818
'Turned Towards the Sun' - Michael Burn 2003: A Clocktower Paperback - Michael Russell (Publishing) Ltd - isbn-978-0-85955-308-7
© James Dorrian: March 2006. Material contained in this site is subject to copyright and must not be reproduced in any form without permission. The site contains hypertext links to third party Websites where relevant; however no responsibility is accepted for the content of these sites, nor should their listing be taken as an endorsement of any kind.
