Just spotted this. My grandfather was in 12 commando and was onboard the Campbeltown as it sailed up the estuary to St Nazaire. He told me they were lying on the floor of the ship as the 88mm shells went straight through the ship over them. His team destroyed their target, one of the winding houses. When he was eventually captured the Germans thought he was Scottish as he had a towel wrapped around him as his trousers had been burnt off by a phosphorous shell. He spent the rest of the war in a prison camp and learnt to speak German. He was only 19 at the time. They were very brave men. When he was much older the French awarded him the Legion d’honneur.

Excellent job of explaining the events of this raid. I will add a footnote regarding Cmdr Robert Ryder, who led the raid. He likely harbored a very strong desire to avenge his brother who had been one of 97 British soldiers murdered by the Waffen SS during the infamous Le Paradis massacre in 1940. Another brother would die in Japanese captivity after the fall of Singapore in Feb 1942. Cmdr Ryder also participated in the Dieppe Raid in August 1942. After the war he served in Parliament for five years.

I like the last shot where the German soldier gently helps the wonder British soldier into the truck. Some chivalry seemed to exist by such small gestures

I didn't realise the Ships Compliment was so large. I also didn't realise 5 got away to Spain, Cdo's are a breed apart.

That is just phenomenal in every aspect from overwhelming odd, out numbered and huge losses, the dry dock was destroyed and much bravery from men who did not no defeat. For Tom Durrant VC, to be awarded the Victoria cross on the word of of an enemy officer is incredible and almost unheard of. These men gave their live willingly and without hesitation and I for one say, thank you all very much and may you all R.I.P

jeremy clarkson done a good documentary on this aswell mate this is brilliant

One of the new Royal Navy’s Type 31 frigates (Inspiration class) is being called HMS Campbeltown after this operation.

If you find this interesting, I highly recommend watching "Jeremy Clarkson's The Greatest Raid of All" as it has interviews with the men who went on that raid and came back. Amazing to hear those stories and the way they're told. It's on YT, it has some quiet sections because of music licensing. This documentary is kind of a sequel to "The Victory Cross: For Valour". It's about a VC winner in particular, who has an insane story, but it tells the stories of other VC winners as well. Watch this first if you plan on watching both as the second has a spoiler for the first. If you don't like Clarkson, do give it a try as it not his Top Gear persona. He is genuine, enthusiastic and very respectful. No over the top bravado or him being obtuse. In the making of/behind the scenes (also on YT) he says he has just done his best bit to camera in his career after a certain scene. That's how much he is into the story.

Most plans go to sh*t as soon as you make enemy contact. The chaos, confusion, green commandos getting their first taste of fight, flight, or freeze, and this plan still succeeded. Despite the loss of such valuable and brave men, they accomplished their mission. I have seen more than my fair share of enemy contact, loss, chaos… but I am not naive enough to believe I can relate to the things that these men had seen and done. My brothers in arms of our previous conflicts were exactly what motivated me to push on in my worst moments in combat. These shock troops were the men that set the standard for me and my comrades today. Cheers to these warriors.

My grandad was in the Royal marines commandos during ww2. Very proud of him. He trained at achnacarry in 1942.

This raid inspired me to drive to St.Nazaire and check it out...I'd recommend any body interested in WW2 to go as it's relatively unchanged...The dock is still the, the swing bridge is still there complete with bullet holes and battle scars and the U-boot pens are still there which you can get up on top of via a stairway...It's really interesting and would make a very good film set of the raid with little work for film makers

I was always under the impression that Tom Durrant was already at his designated position on ML306, i.e. the Lewis guns. He maintained a torrent of fire mainly directed at the bridge of the Jaguar despite being under constant searchlight illumination, being wounded in both arms, legs, stomach, chest and head. His response to the appeal from the Jaguar to surrender was to open fire AGAIN at the bridge of the Jaguar although he was so weakened by this point that he could only stay upright by hanging onto the gun mount. He only gave up once the enemy vessel had grappled onto the motor launch and was boarded. This man of steel did not die at his post, but passed away from his injuries shortly afterwards in a German military hospital in St. Nazaire. A week or so later, the Captain of the Jaguar met the now POW Commando commander Lt. Col. Newman in a prison camp. He relayed Durrant’s heroism to Newman, suggesting that Newman recommend Durrant for as high an award for gallantry as possible. This was achieved. There’s a reason these men ~ and the women who supported them in myriad ways ~ are referred to as ‘The Greatest Generation’ and the destruction of the totally intolerant and brutal Nazi regime was a paramount necessity. Looking at the state of the U.K. today, I am regretfully more and more inclined to wonder that if they knew this was the Britain that would ultimately result, would they still consider it worthwhile that they willingly gave up their future so that we could live ‘free’ in a world where people lose their minds at the perceived ‘insult’ of a ‘misused’ pronoun?

I can’t believe you’ve “only” got 137k subscribers.. This is easily one of the best channels, with superbly told stories adding fantastic detail to each story.. Keep up the good work, these heroes deserve the recognition of what they did and how they sacrificed their futures😔

There have been two films about this legendary raid: 1952's The Gift Horse with Richard Attenborough and 1968's Attack on the Iron Coast with Lloyd Bridges and Andrew Keir. Both fine films, but there has never been the great film this great raid really deserves.

Thank you very much for the documentary, 10/10. Cheers from Brazil!

Knew Commander W L Stephens DSO who took part .He was captured and ended up in Colditz POW camp. Escaped and made a successful "home run " back to the UK.

10/10 for this documentary....some bravery shown on that day that's for sure. Great video, well done.

I served on the new HMS Campbeltown a type 22 frigate and went to st Nazire in 1990. We met survivors from both sides in swapping of the ships bell ceremony. It was truly heart felt and emotional 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🙏🥲

I had a great uncle who took part in the raid. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to meet him. He survived but was wounded after shrapnel tore off all of his fingers on his left hand except his thumb. Apparently he became an alcoholic and died in the 70s or 80s (dont recall when).

Point to note- No 5 Troop 2 Commando LIVERPOOL SCOTTISH COMMANDO's participated in the raid. It was the last time British soldiers went into battle wearing the kilt- Forbes tartan. A number of Liverpool Jocks were killed, including the RSM and Private Tom McCormack. The latter was photographed sitting on the quayside cradling his bandaged head in his hands. Tom was severely wounded by a grenade which detonated near him. The infamous photo appeared in the German forces magazine, 'Signal,' with the caption, 'Captured British Commando.' Sadly, Tom died of his wounds a couple of days later. I have photographs of him outside his family home located on Menlove Avenue, Allerton- Liverpool. Liverpool Scottish was a Territorial Regt which had a distinguished history and a fine reputation- earned during WW1 in fighting around Ypres. During WW2, LS served as a training battalion. Many of it's trained soldiers went into the elite formations like the LRDG, Commando's, Para regt and SAS. No other British Army regt provided more men to the elite units than Liverpool Scottish did- FACT. In the late 90's on Remembrance Day, we would march through Liverpool in full Highland uniform with the Pipes & Drums up front. We had association members who were WW2 SAS veterans. They wore the SAS Cambridge wings on the sleeve of their highland jackets and still wore the Liverpool Scottish Glengarry and capbadge. They might have been WW2 SAS, but they identified themselves as LIVERPOOL SCOTTISH soldiers first and foremost- which speaks volumes about the esprit de corps of the regt. Sadly, Liverpool Scottish no longer exists due to myopic defence cuts. The Regimental Colours hang in Liverpool CIty town hall. The LS Association is strong and the turn out on Remembrance Day is impressive. We have very close links with 4 Para, the Para's attend the Liverpool Scottish Remembrance service in the gardens of St. George's Hall. The Para's are very aware that when Para Regt was formed, many of the initial volunteers came from Liverpool Scottish- at least one Coy in one battalion was composed almost entirely of Liverpool Scottish soldiers. Brigadier CE Lucas Philips author of, 'The Greatest Raid Of All,' concerning the St. Nazaire raid makes frequent references to the Liverpool Scottish. *ONCE YOU HAVE SERVED IN LIVERPOOL SCOTTISH, YOU REMAIN A LIVERPOOL JOCK UNTIL YOU DRAW YOUR LAST BREATH- THE CREAM ALWAYS RISES TO THE TOP!*

I visited Saint -Nazaire in 1978 , and also took a tour around a preserved U boat . At the time I was aware of operation Chariot ,but didn't realise the ferocity of the battle , and all those brave men who lost their lives . An interesting and educational video . Thankyou .

👏👏👏👏👏👏 Rule Britannia from Glasgow 😎🇬🇧👊👍

Courageous and brave men, are a valient tribute to Freedom! God Bless them all!

This was excellent 👌🏻. Really well put together documentary. The bravery of these heroes must never be forgotten.

Thanks for showcasing this amazing raid and for all you do. Love to see you tackle the Cockleshell Heroes raid.

Thanks for this. Living in Devon, we visited the Op Chariot Memorial down in Falmouth when it was dedicated by Prince Charles (now HM the King) nearly twenty years ago. It's well worth a visit on Prince of Wales Pier. The lads bunked in Falmouth before raiding the St Nazaire dock on 28 March, 1942. They sailed from Falmouth Harbour; 168/169 sailors and commandos were killed on the raid and a number of Victoria Crosses, reports say five, were won.

Tom Durrant getting his Victorian Cross recommendation from a Nazi is amazing that truly shows his bravery that even the enemy acknowledges it

Great episode - Walking in the footsteps of giants .What a tour that would be -Desperately sad colour photo of McCormack later circuming to his wounds @19.15 proudly wearing the tartan .

If the Tirpitz had been able to sail, it could have killed more lives than this raid by several times over plus the loss of material.

SALUTE TO THOSE SOULS GOD BLESS THEM

I guess I'll go to my dirt nap never knowing if my uncle "Sandy" was on this raid. I know he was on the invasion of Sicily and he trained at Achnacarry, that's about it. I have no idea what he got involved in except those units weren't formed for anything but high risk actions. We're an all Scottish family but I can't even assume he was in a Scottish Commando. I've lost the only pic I had of him in uniform and he had on his cap which would have helped. The oldest of the four brothers. A little trivia: Two of the younger brothers took the train to Achnacarry to see him and at the station there was what one uncle described as a quiet American, keeping to himself, waiting for a train out. My uncle felt sorry for the guy because it was clear he didn't make the cut for a Commando unit and was being RTU'd. His shoulder patches were U.S. Army Ranger.

the is another good video on this subject on youtube with jeremy clarkson called "the greatest raid of all time jeremy clarkson"

Bravo! Excellent reportage of the details of the raid aided in no small part by the availability of the footage you used. Your no nonsense dialogue with a tone of admiration and sympathy that in no way dilutes the harsh reality of the action. A very definite MiD for you and your team in remembering these incredibly brave men. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇬🇧

They should make this into a movie and not a crapy Netflix one. My dad was in the commandos during WWII. So proud of him. RIP dad

I had the privilege of visiting St. Nazzaire last year during a motorcycle tour. Visited the harbour memorial and war cemetery. Wrote a nice memo in the guest book and verbally named every named grave as I went around. Cemetery is right in the middle of a housing estate. All graves well looked after.

Superb documentary, I've watched quite a few regarding this operation over the years but I would say this is the best one I've seen. Great attention to detail especially regarding the layout and the route taken. Makes me think they need to make a new movie to show how mental this op was. The amount of soldiers who died there is pretty upsetting and it's good these documentaries help us to remember their sacrifice.

This entire operation is one of my favorite stories from WWII. It was extremely brave and it disabled the only dry dock big enough to service the SMS Tirpitz (Germany's largest warship and sister of the Bismarck). The British HAD to destroy it. Great story.

my dear old dad was in special operations taking the fight to the nazis

Excellent documentary well done!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

Excellent video. Very well produced, informative, and entertaining. This was my time well spent IMO.

I'm a recent subscriber to your channel and have been binging on your content for some days now. Great stuff. Been reading WW2 history for 50 years now and it never gets old. Love being able to see the locations of these historic events in more modern times. The videos are very informative and engaging. Thanks for your work in bringing this content to an accessible forum.

Between your narration, and the images and video, almost made me feel as tho I was there. Great job 👍

Fantastic video and everytime I hear or read of this raid I get a lump in my throat. Huzzah!!

No words..... sailors and liberators to a man

Excellent presentation . Keep up the good work

Amazing mission, expertly covered by ypur team. Excellent piece of history telling!

One point about this raid is the commandos were all volunteers who could pull out at any time whereas the Royal Navy personal had no choice and had to go.

Bonjour de France. Braves parmi les braves. Qu'ils reposent en paix-may they rest in peace.

Outstanding! Great commentary of this unbelievable raid, men of steel.

Excellent presentation, thanks, I knew the story but this gave me a better insight, thanks again

While in grade school I purchased a Reville Model of the HMS Campbelltown, it came complete with its history so enjoyed seeing this post....Thankyou..

Magnificent work of a battle that I didn't know! Thank you all ! Continue like this !

An excellent documentary of an awe inspiring mission. My upmost respect to all those that took part and those made the ultimate sacrifice.

Best description of this raid hands down. Thanks !

Excellent work! I always enjoy your content.

Excellent as always

A grand video describing impressive events - many thanks!

A lot of WW2 channels are informative. A lot are entertaining. This has to be be of the best of both. I always watch the videos thinking this is the way I’d want to do it.

Absolutely brilliant presentation of this heroic mission... God bless all that took part... All deserve a VC.. and their memory will live on in history... Rest in peace indeed.

Very interesting. Thank you for posting.

FYI: MGB - MOTOR GUN BOAT - and a subcategory of the gun boat - the MTB - MOTOR TORPEDO BOAT.

Very instructive, excellent👍👍👍

Good video, especially the use of the maps.

Thank you for this video, what brave men 🙏 🇬🇧

Wow have seen plenty of documentaries about this but actually seeing the operation from the enemies perspective. Got to have true guts doing this knowing that you might not return home.

What a wonderfully made tribute to these brave men. Bravo.

Love this channel. It has to be one of the best on UKposts. Have you got any plans of making a video about Operation Archery?

Excellent video . Very well described .

Why would the success of the operation be debated? The objective was to destroy the dry dock and that was achieved. It couldn't be used thereafter. As for the high casualty count, that was entirely to be expected. The heroism of those who took part was amazing and it was commendable of that German captain to acknowledge one particular act of bravery. Thanks for your efforts.

well done sir bringing a small tale of high valor of some of the bravest people to have served in that time.

EXCELLENT VIDEO.....Thanks 🇺🇸

outstanding! Thank you!

If you ever visit the Swanpool area of Falmouth, take a look in the cemetery where another VC and other survivors are buried. Johnny Johnson from Falmouth, Brummie Bill Savage VC and mechanic Tom Parker. Also check out the Prince of Wales Pier and the old gasworks car park, to see where they embarked. Granite Rocks and names in the ground mark the spot.

I think this raid was a success especially at the time of the war and an attack in mainland france showed Britain was up for the fight. Yes men were lost but then it protected many more at sea.

I am a current military history student in an MA programme, and it was not until you placed the image of the Tommy gun, RN anchor, and RAF eagle next to Combined Ops that it clicked!!! Thank you

Another excellent video from you guys, bravo Zulu

I love learning new things about WW2! American, British, Canadian! ❤ I love learning everything that the Brave Allies did to help save the World from the Axis Bullies!! Great video! Thank you for sharing this!! God Bless All of the Young Men of the Allies!! 🙏🇺🇸🇬🇧🇨🇦❤💙

A different breed of young lads having to become heroic men overnight. I'm writing this because their bravery enabled my parents to meet not long after the war ended.

my great uncle was that breed

Brilliantly done. Thanks and god bless those who died in the battle!

Excellent. They really were crazy and brave to take that mission on.

Fantastic video

i love every vid u make

Great narration.

The only real problem from a tactical view was that the British Admiralty had so little confidence in the Commandos they that they devoted completely inadequate resources to the operation. If they had given them some slightly larger, better armoured vessels to land the commandos on the mole it's likely they would have experienced fewer casualties. They might have suppresed the shore 20mm guns better as well. Also, a better timed, larger RAF raid would have kept the German's heads down and away from their shore batteries. The surviving commandos might have been able to evacuate by the mole as planned. But the courage and willingness to sacrifice of those soldiers and sailors is truly extraordinary. We they did is beyond belief.

What a great video.Thanks.

The RAF were not keen to bomb St Nazaire as they predicted civilian casualties. The Royal Navy raised objections, Naval Commander John Hughes Hallett and others voiced strong objection was mostly based upon their assumption that the flotilla would not even reach it's target. The Campbeltown nearly crammed the wrong dock, thankfully it was realised in time. There were 5 Victoria Crosses awarded to personnel who fought at St Nazaire. There is a memorial at Falmouth commemorating Operation Chariot. There are some very detailed books regarding Operation Chariot, I've read three of them and still pick them up from time to time.

I’ve heard about that V.C being awarded. It’s not something you would hear about too often, a V.C or any other award of its kind being awarded on the advice given by an enemy officer.

I read a book about this raid a while ago, I believe it was called Churchills Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. It explained the details of this read very thoroughly. I never knew there was actual footage of the event. Thanks for sharing this video, its helped me understand the nuances of the event a bit better.

Thank you!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇬🇧This was a brilliant video telling the story of the raid .🇬🇧 I remember watching the film about this as a kid .

Good stuff!

they made a single person board game about this in the 1990' s.. Avalon Hill I believe.

Avalon Hill has a great board game depicting this awesome raid. This incredible action is ripe for a movie.

Five combatants escaped to Spain?! That's a story which needs telling.

Away the lads. ! 👍💛👊

❤😊🎉❤when i was a schoolboy this piece of history always fascinated me and still does, nights i think of them a lot🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧saluut 💂🏾‍♂️✌🏼

"The Gift Horse" is a vintage film that profiles this raid. We'll worth watching.

This Operation is one of the highest decorated engagements of the last century and an embarrassment the Royal Navy who stated at the time "Its a Fool's Errand" and could not be completed. The Soldiers, as the Commando's at the time were mainly if not totally Army, knew what was being asked of them, as they had been paraded prior to the launch and any man who did not or could not go was offered free reign to do so, none took it. They did not use torches, they did everything in the pitch dark as not to give the objectives or positions away, though the Campleton was beached on the doors, the prisoners were marched past her wondering why the she had not gone up, that was due to the decay / acid fuses set. This remarkable endeavor proved to the Germans and Hitler that the British resolve had not wavered, after which he penned his famous directive that all British Commandos were to be shot as spies. This was a high cost to the British, but a massive bloody nose to the Germans, meaning the Atlantic Supply Convoys would be safer, so thousands of lives saved by this one action, again Churchill's words " so much been owed by so many to so few" been more apt.

In terms of men and resources committed, the Dieppe Raid was the greatest raid of WWII.