Tonight on BBC2 I caught a repeat of this documentary with Jeremy Clarkson. I felt I had to post something about it in the hope that you're able to catch it some time. It relates the story of the
St. Nazaire Raid.
The only thing more incredible than the idea of attempting a plan like this, is the bravery of the men who pulled it off. It was an early mission for the newly formed Commandos, who were treated with some scorn by the rest of the British military. Indeed both the Navy and RAF top brass gave them only a fraction of the support they originally asked for.
The mission was simple: destroy the dock gates at St. Nazaire and deny the most powerful of German warships a dry dock, therefore rendering it impotent. The plan was even more simple: dress up an old destroyer to look a bit German, stuff it with explosives and sail it directly into the gates before setting off the bombs. While waiting for the fuses to detonate, the Commandos would disembark and distract the German troops in the town. All 5000 of them.
It's just astonishing and Clarkson proves to be a perfect host for it. The link above is to Wikipedia, but you must track the programme down to really get a feel for what this small group of men attempted. I should say succeeded, for indeed they did, but at a huge cost.
I was hoping there would be a DVD somewhere, but alas no. Maybe it will appear on Iplayer or even Youtube! Did drop across this thread at
Digital Spy with some interesting contributors.
