St Nazaire Raid
St Nazaire Raid | |
---|---|
Part of the St Nazaire, France 47°16′30″N 2°11′48″W / 47.27500°N 2.19667°W | |
Result |
British victory
|
- Robert Ryder
- Stephen Beattie (POW)
- Augustus Newman (POW)
- HMS Campbeltown
- HMS Tynedale
- HMS Atherstone
- HMS Sturgeon
- Motor Gun Boat314
- Motor Torpedo Boat74
- 28th Motor Launch flotilla (Eight Fairmile Motor Launch gunboats)
- 7th Motor Launch flotilla (Three Motor Launch gunboats)
- 20th Motor Launch flotilla (Four Motor Launch gunboats)
- 22nd Naval Flak Brigade
- 280th Naval Artillery Battalion
- 6th U-boat flotilla
- 7th U-boat flotilla
- 16th Minesweeper flotilla
- 42nd Minesweeper flotilla
- German torpedo boat Jaguar
- Sperrbrecher 137
- 1 armed trawler
- Harbour Defence Companies
- 346 Royal Navy
- 265 Commandos[nb 1]
- HMS Campbeltown
- 169 dead [i]
- 215 prisoners of war [i]
- 1 Motor Gun Boat
- 1 Motor Torpedo Boat
- 13 Motor Launches
- 1 Armstrong Whitworth Whitley
- 1 Bristol Beaufighter
- Normandie dock
- 360 dead [ii]
- 2 Junkers Ju 88
- 2 tankers
- 2 tugs
The St Nazaire Raid or Operation Chariot was a British amphibious attack on the heavily defended
The obsolete destroyer HMS Campbeltown, accompanied by 18 smaller craft, crossed the English Channel to the Atlantic coast of France and rammed into the Normandie dry dock south gate. The ship had been packed with delayed-action explosives, well hidden within a steel and concrete case, that detonated later that day, putting the dock out of service until 1948.
A force of commandos landed to destroy machinery and other structures. German gunfire sank, set ablaze, or immobilized virtually all the small craft intended to transport the commandos back to England. The commandos fought their way through the town to escape overland but many surrendered when they ran out of ammunition or were surrounded by the Wehrmacht defending Saint-Nazaire.
Of the 612 men who undertook the raid, 228 returned to Britain, 169 were killed and 215 became
Background
Beyond the basin is the larger inner dock called the Bassin de Penhoët, which can accommodate ships up to 10,000 tons. There is also an old entrance to the Bassin de St Nazaire midway along the Bassin de St Nazaire. Immediately upstream of this lies the Normandie dry dock, between the Bassin de St Nazaire and the Loire, with its southern end giving on to the Loire and the northern end facing into the Bassin de Penhoët. Built to house the ocean liner SS Normandie, this dock was the largest dry dock in the world when it was completed in 1932.[3] The "Old Mole" jetty juts into the Loire halfway between the southern pier of the Avant Port and the old entrance into the basin.[4]
On 24 May 1941, the
Britain's Naval Intelligence Division first proposed a commando raid on the dock in late 1941.[5] When the German battleship Tirpitz was declared operational in January 1942, the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Air Force (RAF) were already drawing up plans to attack her. Planners from Combined Operations Headquarters were looking at potential scenarios if Tirpitz escaped the naval blockade and reached the Atlantic.[6] They decided the only port able to accommodate her was St Nazaire, especially if, like Bismarck, she was damaged en route and needed repairs. They came to the conclusion that if the dock at St Nazaire were unavailable, the Germans were unlikely to risk sending Tirpitz into the Atlantic.[6]
Combined Operations examined several options while planning the destruction of the dock. At this stage of the war the British government still tried to avoid civilian casualties. This ruled out a bombing attack by the RAF, which at the time did not possess the accuracy needed to destroy the dock without serious loss of civilian life.[7]
The Special Operations Executive (SOE) were approached to see if its agents could destroy the dock gates. They decided that the mission was beyond their capabilities because the weight of explosives required would have needed too many agents to carry them.[8] The Royal Navy was also unable to mount an operation, as St Nazaire is 8 km (5.0 mi) up the Loire estuary. Any naval ships large enough to cause sufficient damage would be detected well before they were within range.[7]
The planners then examined whether a
Plan
The purpose of the raid was to destroy the Normandie dock, the old gates into the Bassin de St Nazaire with the water pumping machinery and other installations and any U-boats or other shipping in the area.[11] The initial Combined Operations plan required one specially lightened destroyer to carry out the raid. It would be packed with explosives and rammed into the dock gates.[12] Commandos on board would then disembark and use demolition charges to destroy nearby dock installations, searchlights and gun emplacements.[12] The destroyer would then be blown up. At the same time the RAF would undertake diversionary air raids in the area.[10]
When the plan was presented to the
Combined Operations Headquarters worked closely with several intelligence organisations to plan the raid. The Naval Intelligence Division compiled information from a variety of sources. A detailed plan of the town of St Nazaire was provided by the
Composition of the raiding force
The revised Combined Operations plan required one destroyer to ram the dock gates and a number of smaller craft to transport the commandos. The Royal Navy would therefore provide the largest contingent for the raid, under the overall command of the senior naval officer,
Converting Campbeltown for the raid took ten days. She had to be lightened to raise her
Two of her four funnels were removed, and the forward two were cut at an angle to resemble those of a German destroyer.[17] The bow was packed with 4.5 tons of high explosives, which were set in concrete.[14] It was decided that the explosive charge would be timed to detonate after the raiders had left the harbour. To prevent the Germans towing her away, the crew would open the ship's seacocks before abandoning the ship.[13] Should she become disabled or sunk before getting to the dock, four motor launches had been detailed to take off the crew and put the commandos ashore. The charge would be reset to explode after the last boat had left.[18]
Other naval units involved were two
Wynn's boat was offered for the raid at the last moment. The ML consumed a lot of petrol and was capable of only two speeds: a slow 6 knots and a fast 33 knots.[21] The flaw meant the ML could only float by leap frogging and waiting. It was clear she would need a tow if taken in that condition. The flawed boat brought disapproval, necessitating last-minute modifications.[21]
To assist in transporting the commandos, 12
The man selected to lead the Commando force was
The commandos were divided into three groups: One and Two would travel in the 12 MLs, while Three would be in Campbeltown. Half the commandos would be in the motor launches, alongside the explosive destroyer.
Group Two, under the command of Captain
The commandos were aided in their planning for the operation by Captain Bill Pritchard of the Royal Engineers, who had pre-war experience as an apprentice in the Great Western Railway dockyards and whose father was the dock master of Cardiff Docks. In 1940 while part of the British Expeditionary Force in France, his duties had included determining how to disable the French dockyards if they were captured. One of the dockyards he had studied was St Nazaire, and he had submitted a report detailing how to put the dock out of action.[26]
German forces
The Germans had around 5,000 troops in the immediate area of St Nazaire.
The brigade was equipped with 43 anti-aircraft guns ranging in calibre from 20 to 40 mm. These guns had a dual role as both anti-aircraft and coastal defence weapons. Many were in concrete emplacements on top of the submarine pens and other dockside installations of the St Nazaire submarine base.[30][31]
The harbour defence companies were responsible for local defence and for the security of the ships and submarines moored in the harbour. These companies and the harbour defence boats used to patrol the river were under the command of Harbour Commander
The
The raid
Outward journey
The three destroyers and 16 small boats left
The convoy next encountered two French
The convoy reached a position 65 nautical miles (120 km; 75 mi) off St Nazaire at 21:00 and changed course toward the estuary, leaving Atherstone and Tynedale as a sea patrol.[37] The convoy adopted a new formation with the MGB and two torpedo MLs in the lead, followed by Campbeltown. The rest of the MLs formed two columns on either side and astern of the destroyer, with the MTB bringing up the rear.[38] The first casualty of the raid was ML 341, which had developed engine trouble and was abandoned. At 22:00 the submarine Sturgeon directed her navigation beacon out to sea to guide the convoy in. At about the same time Campbeltown raised the German naval ensign in an attempt to deceive any German lookouts into thinking she was a German destroyer.[29]
At 23:30 on 27 March, five RAF squadrons (comprising 35 Whitleys and 27 Wellingtons) started their bombing runs. The bombers had to stay above 6,000 feet (1,800 m) and were supposed to remain over the port for 60 minutes to divert attention toward themselves and away from the sea. They had orders to only bomb clearly identified military targets and to drop only one bomb at a time. As it turned out, poor weather with full cloud cover over the port meant that only four aircraft bombed targets in St Nazaire. Six aircraft managed to bomb other nearby targets.[29][39]
At around 02:00, the convoy was sighted by the German submarine U-593, which dived and later reported the British ships as moving westward, further complicating the German understanding of the raid.[citation needed]
The unusual behaviour dropping bombs one by one from the bombers concerned Kapitän zur See Mecke. At 00:00 on 28 March, he issued a warning that there might be a parachute landing in progress. At 01:00 on 28 March, he followed up by ordering all guns to cease firing and searchlights to be extinguished in case the bombers were using them to locate the port. Everyone was placed on a heightened state of alert. The harbour defence companies and ships' crews were ordered out of the air raid shelters. During all this an estuary lookout boat reported seeing some activity out at sea, so Mecke began suspecting some type of landing and ordered extra attention to be paid to the approaches to the harbour.[40]
Ramming the dry dock
At 00:30 hours on 28 March the convoy crossed over the shoals at the mouth of the Loire estuary, with Campbeltown scraping the bottom twice. Each time she pulled free, and the group proceeded toward the harbour in darkness. They had come within about eight minutes' passage from the dock gates when, at 01:22, the entire convoy was illuminated by searchlights on both banks of the estuary. A naval signal light demanded their identification.[33]
MGB 314 replied in a coded response obtained from a German trawler boarded during the Vågsøy raid in 1941. A few bursts were fired from a shore battery and both Campbeltown and MGB 314 replied: "Ship being fired upon by friendly forces". The deception gave them a little more time before every German gun in the bay opened fire.[41] At 01:28, with the convoy 1 mile (1.6 km) from the dock gates, Beattie ordered the German flag lowered and the White Ensign raised. The intensity of the German fire seemed to increase. The guard ship opened fire and was quickly silenced when the ships in the convoy responded, shooting into her as they passed.[42]
By now all the ships in the convoy were within range to engage targets ashore and were firing at the gun emplacements and searchlights. Campbeltown was hit several times and increased her speed to 19 kn (35 km/h). The helmsman on her bridge was killed, and his replacement was wounded and replaced as well.[43] Blinded by the searchlights, Beattie knew they were close to their objective. Still under heavy fire, the MGB turned into the estuary as Campbeltown cleared the end of the Old Mole, cut through anti-torpedo netting strung across the entrance and rammed the dock gates, striking home at 01:34, three minutes later than scheduled. The force of the impact drove the ship 33 feet (10 m) onto the gates, crushing 36 ft (11 m) of the bow forward of the demolition charge cemented belowdecks.[33]
Disembarkation from Campbeltown and the MLs
The commandos on Campbeltown now disembarked. These comprised two assault teams, five demolition teams with their protectors and a mortar group.[38] Three demolition teams were tasked with destroying the dock pumping machinery and other installations associated with the dry dock caisson gates. The Captain Donald William Roy – 'The Laird' – and his 14-man kilted[44] assault troop were tasked with knocking out two pump-house roof-top gun emplacements high above the quayside and securing a bridge to provide a route for the raiding parties to exit the dock area. Roy and Sgt Don Randall used scaling ladders and grenades to accomplish the former, and a head-on rush to secure the bridge and form a bridgehead that enabled Captain Bob Montgomery and Lt Corran Purdon and their demolition teams to exit the area.[45][46]
They lost four men in this action. The fifth team also succeeded in completing all their objectives, but almost half their men were killed. The other two commando groups were not as successful. The MLs transporting Groups One and Two had almost all been destroyed on their approach. ML 457 was the only boat to land its commandos on the Old Mole and only ML 177 had managed to reach the gates at the old entrance to the basin.
There were only two other MLs in the vicinity: ML 160 had continued past the dock and was engaging targets upriver, ML 269 appeared to be out of control and was running in circles.[citation needed]
Lt Col Newman aboard the MGB need not have landed, but he was one of the first ashore. One of his first actions was to direct mortar fire onto a gun position on top of the submarine pens that was causing heavy casualties among the commandos. He next directed machine-gun fire onto an armed trawler, which was forced to withdraw upriver. Newman organised a defence that succeeded in keeping the increasing numbers of German reinforcements at bay until the demolition parties had completed their tasks.[49]
Some 100 commandos were still ashore when Newman realised that evacuation by sea was no longer possible. He gathered the survivors and issued three orders:
- To do our best to get back to England;
- Not to surrender until all our ammunition is exhausted;
- Not to surrender at all if we can help it.[50]
Newman and Copland led the charge from the old town across a bridge raked by machine gun fire and advanced into the new town. The commandos attempted to get through the narrow streets of the town and into the surrounding countryside, but were eventually surrounded. When their ammunition was expended, they surrendered.[47][49][51] Not all the commandos were captured, as five men reached neutral Spain and eventually returned to England.[52]
Small ships
Most of the unarmoured wooden MLs had been destroyed on the run in and were burning. The first ML in the starboard column was the first boat to catch fire. Her captain managed to beach her at the end of the Old Mole. Some starboard boats managed to reach their objective and disembark their commandos. ML 457, the leading boat in the port column, got to within 10 feet (3 m) of the mole in the face of heavy direct fire and hand grenades before being set on fire.[53] The crew were rescued by ML 160, one of the torpedo MLs which had been looking for targets of opportunity such as the two large tankers reported to be in the harbour.[54] The commanders of ML 160 and ML 447, Lieutenants T Boyd and T D L Platt, were awarded the Distinguished Service Order for their bravery.[55][nb 5] The rest of the port column had been destroyed or disabled before reaching the mole.[57] ML 192 and ML 262 were set on fire, and all but six of their men were killed. ML 268 was blown up, with one survivor.[58]
Thomas O'Leary, the wireless operator for ML 446, said:
One commando was remarking how pretty the tracer fire, red and green, was. A moment later one blew the back of his head out. I was down below with my tin hat because by now the bullets were going through (the boat) and out the other side. If I wanted to get about I had to crawl on my hands and knees and I was lucky nothing came through at my level. We couldn't get in (to the objective) and all of a sudden the wounded started coming down. By then all our guns had jammed and most of the other ships were on fire.[59][60]
ML 177, the launch that had successfully taken off some of the crew from Campbeltown, was sunk on her way out of the estuary.[61] ML 269, another torpedo-armed boat, moved up and down the river at high speed to draw German fire away from the landings. Soon after passing Campbeltown it was hit and its steering damaged. It took ten minutes to repair the steering. The boat turned and started in the other direction, opening fire on an armed trawler in passing. Return fire from the trawler set the boat's engine on fire.[62]
ML 306 also came under heavy fire when it arrived near the port.
After the commando headquarters group had landed, Commander Ryder went to check for himself that Campbeltown was firmly stuck in the dock. Some of her surviving crewmen were being taken on board the MGB. Ryder returned to the boat and ordered the MTB to carry out its alternative task and torpedo the lock gates at the old entrance to the basin. After a successful torpedo attack, Ryder ordered the MTB to leave. On their way out of the estuary they stopped to collect survivors from a sinking ML and were hit and set on fire. The rate of supporting fire had evidently been felt, and the commandos in the area of the Tirpitz dock had undoubtedly overcome the resistance in that area. There was an appreciable slackening in the enemy's fire.[65]
Ryder could see no ships other than seven or eight burning MLs. He then realised that the landing places at the Old Mole and the entrance to the basin had both been recaptured by the Germans.[2] There was nothing more they could do for the commandos, so they headed out to sea. On their way they were continuously illuminated by German searchlights and were hit at least six times by the German guns. Passing ML 270, they ordered her to follow and made smoke to hide both boats.[55]
When they reached the open sea the smaller calibre guns were out of range and stopped firing but the heavier artillery continued to engage them. The boats were about 4 miles (6.4 km) off-shore when the last German salvo straddled them and killed Savage, who was still at his gun. He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his exploits. His citation recognised both Savage and the bravery of "many others, unnamed, in Motor Launches, Motor Gun Boats and Motor Torpedo Boats who gallantly carried out their duties in entirely exposed positions against Enemy fire at very close range."[55]
Return journey
At 06:30 the five German torpedo boats that the convoy had evaded the previous day were sighted by HMS Atherstone and Tynedale. The destroyers turned toward them and opened fire at a range of 7 nmi (8.1 mi; 13 km). After ten minutes the German boats turned away, making smoke.
The next German aircraft on the scene, a
ML 160, ML 307 and ML 443 reached the rendezvous and waited until 10:00 for the destroyers to appear. Having already been attacked once, they moved further out into the Atlantic to try to avoid the Luftwaffe but a Junkers Ju 88 appeared overhead at 07:30 and approached them at low level for a closer look. The ships opened fire, hit the Junkers in the cockpit and the aircraft crashed into the sea. The next aircraft to appear was a Blohm & Voss seaplane which attempted to bomb the ships but left after being damaged by machine-gun fire. The MLs eventually reached England unaided the following day.[67][68]
Campbeltown explodes
The explosive charges in HMS Campbeltown detonated at noon on 28 March 1942, and the dry dock was destroyed.[69] Reports vary on the fate of the two tankers that were in the dock; they were either swept away by the wall of water and sunk,[70] or swept to the far end of the dock, but not sunk.[71] A party of 40 senior German officers and civilians who were on a tour of Campbeltown were killed. In total, the explosion killed about 360 men.[72] The wreck of Campbeltown could still be seen inside the dry dock months later when RAF photo reconnaissance planes were sent to photograph the port.[73]
According to Captain Robert Montgomery (Royal Engineers, attached to No. 2 Commando), Campbeltown was meant to have detonated at 04:30, the delay caused, he believes, by some of the acid in the pencil detonators being distilled away. As the morning progressed, more and more captured comrades joined him in the German HQ.
Just before the Campbeltown exploded, Sam Beattie was being interrogated by a German naval officer who was saying that it wouldn't take very long to repair the damage the Campbeltown has caused. Just at that moment, she went up. Beattie smiled at the officer and said, 'We're not quite as foolish as you think!'[74]
The day after the explosion, Organisation Todt workers were assigned to clean up the debris and wreckage. On 30 March at 16:30 the torpedoes from MTB 74, which were on a delayed fuse setting, exploded at the old entrance into the basin. This raised alarms among the Germans. The Organisation Todt workers ran away from the dock area. German guards, mistaking their khaki uniforms for British uniforms, opened fire, killing some of them. The Germans also thought that some commandos were still hiding in the town, and made a street by street search, during which some townspeople were also killed.[69]
Aftermath
The explosion put the dry dock out of commission for the remainder of the war.[75] The St Nazaire raid had been a success, but at high cost: of the 612 men of the Royal Navy and commandos who took part in the raid, only 228 men returned to England. Five commandos escaped via neutral Spain and
To recognise their achievement, 89
Legacy
St Nazaire was one of the 38
A memorial to the raid erected in Falmouth bears the following inscription:[82]
OPERATION CHARIOT
FROM THIS HARBOUR 622 SAILORS
AND COMMANDOS SET SAIL FOR
THE SUCCESSFUL RAID ON ST. NAZAIRE
28th MARCH 1942 168 WERE KILLED
5 VICTORIA CROSSES WERE AWARDED
———— · ————
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF
THEIR COMRADES BY
THE ST. NAZAIRE SOCIETY
A new HMS Campbeltown, a Type 22 frigate, was launched on 7 October 1987.[83] She carried the ship's bell from the first Campbeltown, which had been rescued during the raid and been presented to the town of Campbelltown, Pennsylvania, US at the end of the Second World War. In 1988 the people of Campbelltown voted to lend the bell to the new ship for as long as she remained in Royal Navy service.[84] The bell was returned to the town on 21 June 2011 when HMS Campbeltown was decommissioned.
On 4 September 2002, a tree and seat at the National Memorial Arboretum were dedicated to the men of the raid. The seat bears the inscription:
In memory of the Royal Navy Sailors and Army Commandos killed in the raid on St Nazaire on 28 March 1942[85]
A new Type 31 HMS Campbeltown has been announced as part of the new "Inspiration class" of frigates for the Royal Navy, announced on 19 May 2021.[86]
In 2007, Jeremy Clarkson presented a BBC documentary on the raid entitled Jeremy Clarkson: The Greatest Raid of All Time, featuring interviews with surviving commandos.[87][88]
See also
- Bill Etches
- Gift Horse (film)
- Attack on the Iron Coast (film)
- Donald William Roy
- Medal of Honor: European Assault (game)
Notes
Footnotes
- London Gazette account of the raid the Admiralty states there were 353 Royal Navy and 268 Commandos.[2]
- Lewis guns aft, and 12 depth charges.[23]
- ^ The brigade had three battalions, the 703rd, 705th, and 809th Naval Flak Battalions.[30]
- ^ Called torpedo boats by the Germans, they were the equivalent in firepower to a small destroyer; indeed, Allied forces referred to them as destroyers.[35]
- ^ The total awards for the crews of the small boats were 44 decorations and 19 Mentions in Dispatches.[56]
28th Motor Launch flotilla | 20th Motor Launch flotilla | 7th Motor Launch flotilla |
---|---|---|
ML 447 Lieutenant Commander F N Woods |
ML 192 Lieutenant Commander Bill Stephens |
ML 156 Lieutenant Leslie Fenton |
ML 298 Lieutenant Bob Nock | ML 262 Lieutenant Ted Burt | ML 160 Lieutenant Tom Boyd |
ML 306 Lieutenant Ian Henderson | ML 267 Lieutenant E H Beart | ML 177 Sub Lieutenant Mark Rodier
|
ML 307 Lieutenant Norman Wallis | ML 268 Lieutenant Bill Tillie | ML 270 Lieutenant Charles Stuart Bonshaw Irwin |
ML 341 Lieutenant Douglas Briault | ||
ML 443 Lieutenant T D L Platt | ||
ML 446 Lieutenant Dick Falconer | ||
ML 457 Lieutenant Tom Collier |
Note: ML 443 was sunk off Anzio in July 1944.[90] Lt Platt's boat was ML 447 [91]
Citations
- ^ Dorrian, p. 114
- ^ a b c d "No. 38086". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 September 1947. pp. 4633–4640.
- ^ a b c Ford, p. 7
- ^ Mountbatten, p. 71
- ^ a b c Hinsley et al., p. 192
- ^ a b Ford, p. 10
- ^ a b Ford, p. 13
- ^ a b Ford, p. 15
- ^ a b c d Lucas Phillips (1958), Kindle location 862–870.
- ^ a b c Ford, p. 14
- ^ Mountbatten, p. 72
- ^ a b c Bradham, p. 33
- ^ a b c d e f g Bradham, p. 34
- ^ Dorrian, p. 118
- ^ Dorrian, p. 41
- ^ Dorrian, p. 106
- ^ Dorrian, p. 91
- ^ a b c Bradham, p. 36
- ^ Arthur, Max (28 October 1998). "Obituary: Lord Newborough". The Independent. No. 28 October 1998. London. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
- ^ a b Lucas Phillips (1958), Kindle location 1211.
- ^ Ford, p. 25
- ^ Lambert & Ross, p. 29
- ^ Neillands, p. 49
- ^ Neillands, p. 46
- ^ a b Ford, p. 17
- ^ a b Zetterling & Tamelander, p. 78
- ^ a b c d Bradham, p. 37
- ^ a b c d Bradham, p. 38
- ^ a b c d Ford, p. 29
- ^ Moreman, p. 66
- ^ Ford, pp. 29–30
- ^ a b c Bradham, p. 39
- ^ Bradham, p. 31
- ^ Mountbatten, p. 76
- ^ a b Ford, p. 84
- ^ Ford, p. 36
- ^ a b Moreman, p. 68
- ^ "Campaign Diary March 1942". Royal Air Force. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
- ^ Ford, p. 38
- ^ Miller p. 38
- ^ Zetterling & Tamelander, p. 73
- ^ Zetterling & Tamelander, p. 74
- ^ Lucas Phillips (1958), Kindle location 2419.
- ^ DWR Diaries
- ^ "Storming St. Nazaire" J G Dorrian
- ^ a b Bradham, p. 40
- ^ Dorrian, pp. 189, 258
- ^ a b "No. 37134". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 1945. pp. 3171–3172.
- ^ Mountbatten, p. 94
- ^ a b Bradham, p. 41
- ^ Ford, p. 88
- ^ https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80010739 Herbert Reginald Dyer Oral History, Imperial War Museum
- ^ Dorian, p. 143
- ^ a b c "No. 35566". The London Gazette. 19 May 1942. p. 2225.
- ^ "Medals Awarded". St Nazaire Society. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
- ^ St George Saunders, p. 96
- ^ Neillands, p. 52
- ^ "Centenary of 'Spitfires of the Seas'". BBC News. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- ^ "O'Leary, Thomas (IWM interview)". Imperial War Museums. 24 April 1990. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- ^ Zetterling & Tamelander, p. 84
- ^ Mountbatten, p. 85
- ^ "No. 37134". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 1945. pp. 3172–3172.
- ^ Zetterling & Tamelander, p. 83
- ^ St George Saunders, Hilary (24 May 1943). "St Nazaire". Life. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
- ^ Mountbatten, p. 89
- ^ Bradham, p. 44
- ^ Mountbatten, p. 90
- ^ a b Bradham p. 42
- ^ Ford, p. 85
- ^ Wingate, John (1972) [1971]. HMS Campbeltown (USS Buchanan). Warships in Profile Vol.1. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. p. 117.
- ^ "Campbeltown pays tribute to the Greatest Raid of All". Navy News. 4 April 2001. Archived from the original on 20 March 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
- ^ Imperial War Museum, collections reference number: C3398
- ISBN 0091897351.
- ^ Zetterling, & Tamelander, p. 86
- ^ Ford, p. 89
- ^ Harrison, p. 135
- ^ Zaloga, pp. 7–9
- ^ Zetterling & Tamelander, p. 326
- ^ Moreman, p. 94
- ^ "Homepage of the St Nazaire Society". St. Nazaire Society. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
- ^ "Remembering the St Nazaire raid". BBC. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
- ^ "HMS Campbeltown". Royal Navy. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
- ^ "Ship's Bell". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 5 December 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
- ^ "The National Memorial Aboretum". St. Nazaire Society. Archived from the original on 11 May 2003. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
- ^ "New 'Inspiration Class' Type-31 warships named". GOV.UK. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ "Jeremy Clarkson: Greatest Raid of All Time". BBC Two. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
- ^ Jeremy Clarkson's the Greatest Raid of All – the Full documentary | North One, retrieved 22 March 2024
- ^ Bradham, pp. 35–36
- ^ "HMS ML 443 (ML 443) of the Royal Navy – British Motor Launch of the Fairmile B class – Allied Warships of WWII". uboat.net. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
- ^ Scott, Peter (1945). The Battle of the Narrow Seas (1st ed.). London: Country Life Ltd. pp. P55.
References
- Bradham, Randolph (2003). Hitler's U-boat Fortresses. Santa Barbara: Greenwood. ISBN 0-275-98133-9.
- Dorrian, James (1998). Storming St. Nazaire: the Gripping Story of the Dock-Busting Raid, March, 1942. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-849-6.
- Ford, Ken (2001). St. Nazaire 1942: The Great Commando Raid. Campaign Series No 92. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 1-84176-231-8.
- Harrison, Gordon A (1951). United States Army in World War II: European Theater of Operations, Cross-Channel Attack. Washington: Defense Dept., Army, Center of Military History. GPOS/N 008-029-00287-6.
- Hinsley, F. H.; et al. (1981). British Intelligence in the Second World War: Its Influence on Strategy and Operations. Vol. II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 0-11-630934-2.
- Lambert, John; Ross, Al (1990). Allied Coastal Forces of World War II: Fairmile Designs and US Submarine Chasers of Allied Coastal Forces of World War II. Vol. I. London: Conway. ISBN 0-85177-519-5.
- Lucas Phillips, C. E. (1958). The Greatest Raid of All: Operation Chariot and the Mission to Destroy the Normandie Dock at St Nazaire. Sapere Books. ISBN 9781800550643.
- Miller, Russell (1981). The Commandos. Alexandria: Time-Life Books. ISBN 0-8094-3401-6.
- Moreman, Timothy Robert (2006). British Commandos 1940–46. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 1-84176-986-X.
- ISBN 978-1-4067-5957-0.
- Neilands, Robin (2005). The Dieppe Raid. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-34781-5.
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- ISBN 978-1-84603-129-8.
- Zetterling, Niklas; Tamelander, Michael (2009). Tirpitz: The Life and Death of Germany's Last Super Battleship. Havertown: Casemate Publishers. ISBN 978-1-935149-18-7.