Saint-Nazaire 28 March 1942 - Operation Chariot - The Greatest Commando Raid of World War II

One had indeed to be mad or British to venture by night into the Loire estuary and sail upriver to Saint-Nazaire in order to ram the Joubert lock gate at full speed with an old destroyer packed with delayed-action explosives. And this with the objective of rendering unusable the only dry dock large enough to accommodate the German super-battleship Tirpitz, the terror of all Allied navies. This raid had a tremendous impact both in France and across the Channel, proving to the Allies and to all of occupied Europe that the Third Reich was not invulnerable.

To recount this extraordinary coup de main, Jean-Charles Stasi consulted German, British and French archives, interviewed former commandos as well as Saint-Nazaire residents who had witnessed the raid. His vivid and lively account is illustrated with numerous period photographs, as well as maps, infographics and ship profiles, immersing the reader at the heart of the action and bringing them as close as possible to the preparations for this exceptional operation.

Jean-Charles Stasi is a journalist and author. He has written some twenty books, several of them devoted to the Second World War. He became fascinated by Operation Chariot about ten years ago while covering an anniversary of the raid at Saint-Nazaire when he was working in Angers and reporting on news from the Pays de la Loire. After a first account published in 2014, he now dedicates to « Chariot » this richly illustrated volume in order to reach a wider audience.