St. Nazaire 1942: The Great Commando Raid

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 (1939-1945). 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 German pocket battleship Tirpitz. This book tells the story of the raid on St Nazaire that denied the use of the dock to the Tirpitz, the sister ship of the Bismarck, and constituted a crucial victory in the Battle of the Atlantic.

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 German pocket battleship Tirpitz. This book tells the story of the raid on St Nazaire that denied the use of the dock to the Tirpitz, the sister ship of the Bismarck, and constituted a crucial victory in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Ken Ford was born in Hampshire, UK, in 1943. He trained as an engineer, but now spends his time as an author and a bookseller specialising in military history. Ken has made a long term study of many of the battles of World War II and has already published books on the Assault crossing of the River Seine in 1944 and the battle for Geilenkirchen.