Greatest Raid of All (Pan Grand Strategy) [Paperback]

C E Lucas Phillips (Author)

Book Description

Series: Pan Grand Strategy | Publication Date: August 11, 2000

'A deed of glory intimately involved in high strategy' - Winston Churchill. At St Nazaire, on March 28th, 1942 at 1.34 am, the destroyer HMS Campbeltown, with her Oerlikons blazing at the enemy guns only a few yards away, crashed with terrific force into one of the enormous lock gates of the Normandie Dock. Operation Chariot had reached its climax. Its object was to destroy the essential gear of the largest dock in the world, so that it could not be used by German battleships, and it was brilliantly successful in its main purpose. The story of the assault, under a storm of enemy fire at point-blank range which set the sea itself on fire, and of the heroism of the men in the 'little ships' raid, carried out by Royal Navy forces - no fewer than five VC's were awarded - is one of the most thrilling and vivid to come out of any war. 'Exciting and moving account of a great epic' - "Observer".

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan (August 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330480707
• ISBN-13: 978-0330480703
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,107,047 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping, Readable Tale, April 7, 2008

By 

K.A.Goldberg (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Greatest Raid of All (Pan Grand Strategy) (Paperback)

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.