The British “Chariot” Operation

This book offers a meticulously detailed account, based on British records and previously unpublished German documents, of the British Navy’s daring attack on the German naval base at Saint-Nazaire, on the French Bay of Biscay coast, carried out on 27-28 March 1942. The operation aimed to destroy the massive dry dock crucial to German naval capabilities. Through a careful analysis, the author concludes that the British commando raid achieved only a partial success. At the time, propaganda from both sides shaped the legacy of the Saint-Nazaire raid. The British hailed it as a remarkable triumph, celebrated in military circles as “the greatest raid of all.” Conversely, German accounts portrayed it as a failed assault, marked by devastating losses for the attackers and an impregnable fortress that held firm. Of the 621 British personnel involved, including sailors and commandos, 171 lost their lives, 232 were captured, and 222 were evacuated by surviving motor launches and two destroyers. Yet the German defenders also paid a heavy price, suffering approximately 140 fatalities-including 42 in combat and nearly 90 from the explosion of the destroyer Campbeltown—and 127 wounded. A compelling re-examination of a pivotal World War II operation, this work reveals the complex truth behind myths of victory and defeat.