CHARIOT OF FIRE

In the early hours of 28 March, 611 British sailors and Commandos launched Operation Chariot – described as the greatest and most audacious Allied raid of WWII. The target was the Nazi-occupied St Nazaire harbour, on the west coast of France near the city of Nantes. St Nazaire was home to the only dry dock in the region large enough to service the Tirpitz, Germany’s last remaining Bismarck-class battleship. The attack was masterminded by Lord Mountbatten and involved ramming the Wwi-era destroyer HMS Campbeltown into the dry dock, before detonating hidden timed explosives later that day. The mission was a success, though at the heavy cost of 169 killed.