First edition, Heinemann 1968, good condition, name inside. Dust jacket is worn and chipped B&w photos

Foreword by Admiral of the Fleet, the Earl Mountbatten of Burma. 288 PP with 22 maps and diagrams, plus 16 pages with 37 b/w photos. A most classic WW2 book. Story of the 'Operation Chariot' British commando assault on the dock at St. Nazaire during World War Two. At St Nazaire, on March 28th, 1942 at 1.34 am, the destroyer HMS Campbeltown, with her Oerlikons blazing at the enemy guns only a few yards away, crashed with terrific force into one of the enormous lock gates of the Normandie Dock. Operation Chariot had reached its climax. Its object was to destroy the essential gear of the largest dock in the world, so that it could not be used by German battleships, and it was brilliantly successful in its main purpose. The story of the assault, under a storm of enemy fire at point-blank range which set the sea itself on fire, and of the heroism of the men in the 'little ships' raid, carried out by Royal Navy forces - no fewer than five VC's were awarded - is one of the most thrilling and vivid to come out of any war.