Summary of C. E. Lucas Phillips's The Greatest Raid of All - E-book - ePub

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The raid on St Nazaire was a success, and the fire in the Forge de l'Ouest continued to burn fiercely. The guns ceased fire, the searchlights were switched off, and an uneasy quiet fell over the town and the estuary. Neither French nor Germans knew that this was mainly due to humanitarian reasons. #2 On the night of the 28th, some residents of the moonlit Boulevard Wilson, which runs along the seafront from the docks, saw two torpedo boats and a dozen motor launches ride up the estuary.
They saw a German Sperrbrecher, moored in the roads, wink an urgent signal lamp to the advancing flotilla. #3 The French listened to the sounds of explosions and gunfire, which continued for about an hour. The gunfire eventually stopped, but desultory rifle fire was heard in the streets of the town itself. It must be the Tommies. #4 The raid was the end of Operation Chariot, but for the French it was the beginning of three days of terror and death.
The delayed-action results of the raid stampeded the angry and bewildered Germans into a paroxysm of indiscriminate shooting, in which they shot down not only innocent Frenchmen and women, but also their own comrades.