St. Nazaire 1942: The Great Commando Raid (Praeger Illustrated Military History)

by Ken Ford

Book Overview

The raid on the port of St. Nazaire in March 1942 by a sea-borne task force from British Combined Operations remains one of the most daring actions of World War II. The port lies at the mouth of the River Loire and in 1942, as well as a U-Boat base, contained the massive Normandie dock, the only facility on the Atlantic coast large enough to accommodate the feared German battleship Tirpitz. This book tells the story of the raid on St. Nazaire that...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0275982807
• ISBN13: 9780275982805
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Praeger Pub Text
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.8" x 0.5" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

Good intro to this campaign

This book, like most in the Osprey series, provides a good introduction to this particular battle in only 96 pages. If you are looking to get an introduction in an hour or hour and a half of reading this is the book for you. It provides a brief (with emphasis on brief) to the motivation behind, personalities involved and actual military operation.

Swiftly they struck!

Osprey's book St. Nazaire 1942: The Great Command Raid describes the great commando raid on the Normandie Dock in St. Nazaire. Focus for the raid was to eliminate the dry docks there to prevent the Tirpitz from sortieing as the Bismarck had. The layout follows Osprey's usual formula (background, the forces, getting ready, the story, and the aftermath). However, unlike most of the campaign books, this one covers the subject in good detail (while I love Osprey's work, most of their campaign series gives you just enough to wet the appetite, not enough to satisfy). The general battle is discussed along with what happens to each of the MTB's (Motor Torpedo Boats) carrying the commandoes. This is then followed up with the actions of the different commando teams on the ground. The text is a little brief and abrupt, this is due to the limited space in Osprey's books. The additional material; the photos (a few I hadn't seen in other books on the battle), the artwork (very nicely done and fitting to the battle), and the maps are great! Also, the bibliography is a good (I'll recommend St. Nazaire Commando as an excellent follow up on the land portion of the battle). I'll need to follow up on a couple of them later on. Rating wise for an Osprey book this is a five star book and by far the best I've read in the campaign series! While it doesn't have the details that the references have, it does a great job describing the Raid on St. Nazaire. Because of this, for me it's a solid four star book!

Good Narrative but no Analysis

St Nazaire 1942 is an excellent narrative summary of the famous British commando raid in March 1942. While this raid has been covered in detail in a variety of other books, this latest edition of the Osprey Campaign series adds detailed maps and diagrams that help to make sense of a very confusing night action. However, the author Ken Ford has not followed the standard Osprey Campaign format very closely, which will upset some readers. Instead of the standard sections on opposing leaders, plans and forces, the author begins with sections that outline the reasons for the raid, the planning phase, training the raiding force, the Royal Naval forces involved, and the enemy. While many details about leaders, tactics and equipment are included in these sections, the information is not as well packaged as usual. Furthermore, the author provides little information on the German perspective; only one leader is detailed and there is little information on Luftwaffe/Kriegsmarine patrols around St Nazaire. German anti-invasion plans and mine defenses are not discussed. Intelligence collection about the target is only mentioned in terms of aerial reconnaissance, with no mention of either Enigma or the French resistance. No formal order of battle information is provided for either side, although much of the data is embedded in the text. The raid itself is covered in excellent detail, with three sections covering the sea approach, the run up the Loire River and the actual assault. There are three 3-D "Bird's Eye View" maps: the raid at H+10 minutes, the commando attacks in the dockyard and attacks in the Old Town. There are four 2-D maps: the port itself, the route to St Nazaire, the path up the Loire River, and the dockyard targets. In addition, there are three battle scenes depicting HMS Campbeltown charging toward the dock, the demolition of the Pump House and the final breakout attempt. Numerous excellent photographs also complement the text. The greatest flaw in this volume is the total lack of analysis. While the raid was a brilliant success in terms of the objectives achieved, the virtual destruction of the raiding force needs closer examination. Based more on brawn than brains, the British plan relied primarily on raw courage and luck to gloss over major flaws in the plan. The British raiders were incredibly lucky in passing undetected within 750 meters of German coast defenses around St Nazaire and by the time they were spotted, the Germans could not stop HMS Campbeltown from ramming the dock. However, the British did little to interfere with German coastal defenses other than an ineffectual air raid and crude deception efforts; had the Germans spotted the British ten minutes earlier the raid would probably have ended as an utter failure. Furthermore, the lack of a viable evacuation plan - other than cruising past fully-alerted German defenses in slow, unarmored launches - was a major flaw in the plan. The British were writin