The area
of the foreshore immediately west of the Avant Port, close to the
wartime position of Bunker 'SUD 1', now contains several memorials. The
first of these, at the base of the Place du Commando, is the Monument
du Commando, consisting of the barrel of HMS Campbeltown's
forward gun - saved from being sold for scrap after it was dredged from
the sea bottom - and a tall granite column. Every year, on
the anniversary of the Raid, representatives of the Saint-Nazaire
Society pay their respects to the fallen, at commemorative ceremonies
hosted by the town of Saint-Nazaire. The fact that these events are
still attended by such circumstance is a measure of the debt owed to
the young commandos and sailors who first brought the hope that one day
the Occupation would end.
Beneath this commemorative plaque are inscribed the names of all the fallen Commandos and sailors.The list includes two individuals who in fact survived the raid: Telegraphist A.H. Jones (MiD) HMS
Campbeltown; and Able Seaman A.E. Milner, ML298.
March, 2008: wreaths are laid by -L-R:
Captain Philip Stonor, Naval Attaché: Dr W.H. 'Tiger' Watson,
MBE., MC., Légion d'honneur: and M. Michel Euxibie, French
Vice-President of the Saint-Nazaire Society.
As
fellow comrades-in-arms the Anciens Combatants never fail to pay their
respects to the memory of these young men from distant shores who long
ago came out of the night to prove that the Allies were a far from
beaten force.
Immediately
next to the 'Commando' memorial (the French refer to the raid as a
whole as 'the Commando') is the memorial to those lost when the
troopship Lancastria was sunk offshore on 17 June, 1940,
during the dark days of the retreat when thousands of troops and
civilians converged on Saint-Nazaire in the hope of being evacuated to
the UK. Bombed within sight of the shore, the ship foundered with loss
of life running into the thousands. 
Further
along the seafront are to be found the Monument aux Morts,
commemorating the French war dead from both World Wars, and the
Mémorial Américain. This tall structure
shows a 'Doughboy' being carried on the wings of an eagle. Designed by
the American sculptor Gertrude Whitney, its function was to
commemorate Saint-Nazaire's role as a major port of entry for American
expeditionary forces in World War One. Destroyed by the Germans late in
1941, it was later restored and now appears to rise from the very sea
itself.
