The great dockbusting 'St Nazaire Raid' of March, 1942
Welcome to the webpage of...Colonel Newman's Army Commandos storm ashore from the original HMS Campbeltown under withering fire.
(Painted by the renowned military artist David Rowlands, this superb depiction of the victorious Commandos at St-Nazaire, is on permanent loan to the National Army Museum, London. Prints, image size 58cm X 38cm, are available from the artist's website. © David Rowlands, 2002: www.davidrowlands.co.uk)
-click on the image for a more detailed view-
'FIRST THERE WAS HISTORY - THEN THERE WAS HOLLYWOOD'
Latest developments in the story of the Saint-Nazaire feature film
Many of you will be aware that, over the past several years, I was part of a group involved in a project to bring the story of the raid to the big screen - factually and without recourse to having to fictionalise events in order to make the film a success. Sadly this project has had to be put to one side now that a major American studio (Warner Brothers) has begun development of their own feature in conjunction with Heyday Films, in London. This has at various times been described as both the true story of the raid AND a heavily fictionalised version - very hard to establish which with any degree of certainty. The raid, of course, is replete with characters and events which do not need any further embelishment to make them bankable. Said characters are deficient only in respect of their nationality as none was American, a lapse in parental planning that makes it doubly difficult to find sufficient funding.
As mentioned below, and on the 'Links' page, I was the programme advisor for Jeremy Clarkson's documentary on the raid, 'The Greatest Raid of All Time'. As programme planning coincided with the writing of my battlefield guide to Saint-Nazaire, I made available to the programme makers the full contents of my very substantial, and current, archive. Given both the volume and the quality of the information and contacts provided, and Jeremy's obvious enthusiasm for the subject matter, the programme was a great success and looked set to boost development of our own feature-film plans, of which the programme makers were aware; however, it did exactly the opposite, with Warner/Heyday suddenly appearing on the scene. David Yates, of 'Harry Potter' fame, is named as the director (see www.imdb.com/title/tt1647670/combined), with Joe Fisher as screenwriter.
Before you ask - no, I have had no involvement in any part of this, aside from having provided the bulk of the material used in the TV documentary. I am assured that the St. Nazaire Society, of whose committee I am a member, has not been contacted either. Will the raid now have to 'acquire' some sort of American link or character(s) to make it saleable in the US market? God, I hope not, as this was one of the few truly Commonwealth successes of the war.
What appears on the big screen, portrayed by popular and influential celebrities, can actually change people's perception of history. Sometimes this is all for the good - as in 'Schindler's List', 'Das Boot', 'Stalingrad', or 'Letters From Iwo Jima': sometimes not - as with the film 'U-571' which grinds the actual facts into the dust and attributes one of the most important successes of WW11 - the British capture of a German Enigma coding machine - to an American submarine crew.
Sadly, even history seems to have its price.....COMMANDOS TO THE FOREDuring the summer of 1940, when the military situation for Britain seemed truly hopeless, a new force was created whose sole objectives were to take the fight to the enemy, to keep him on his toes, and to demonstrate to the world that, while the British might lack the matériel with which to wage war on a Continental scale, they would never be found wanting in respect of fighting spirit.Known as the ARMY, as opposed to ROYAL MARINES Commandos, this élite unit was to usher in the era of Secial Forces as we know them today, its specialized - and extremely arduous - training regimes so impressing the U.S. military heirarchy that they soon brought into being their own 'Commandos' under the historic American title 'Rangers'.
A wholly volunteer force, drawn primarily from 'Territorial' units, whose 'irregular' status meant that they were not hidebound by the strictures imposed on 'regular' formations, the ethos of the Army Commandos revolved around developing individual initiative to the point where men, regardless of rank, would continue to strive towards an objective whatever the odds against them. It is their particularly distinctive contributions which so illuminate every facet of CHARIOT and characterize the raid as so much more than just another relentlessly military 'war' story.
Having developed the Army Commandos in the face of often bitter opposition from traditionalists, the British could not, however, then agree on how best they should be used, leading to a situation in which these highly motivated individuals were consigned to apparently endless months of training amidst the hills and moors of Scotland, while one operation after another was planned for, then almost inevitably cancelled.
Small wonder therefore that when, in the early months of 1942 it was proposed that they attack the supposedly impregnable submarine base of Saint-Nazaire with the object of deterring Tirpitz's Atlantic ambitions by ramming an explosive-filled destroyer into the port's enormous Normandie dry dock, their overwhelming desire to get to grips with the enemy led them to embrace a plan which might just succeed in getting them as far as their objective, while offering almost no hope of ever bringing them home again.
Representing as it does both the best and the worst that Britain had to offer in those dark days - the best in respect of the quality and enthusiasm of the young soldiers who could not wait to sail for France; the worst in respect of the muddle and parsimony that saw them face the enemy with no weapon more potent than their absolute determination to win regardless of the cost - here is a poignant memoir both of a great adventure stained by pain and loss, and of an era whose attitudes and aspirations were soon to change forever.
ST - NAZAIRE : BLOG
If you would like to comment on the raid, the raiders or the site, you can access my blog at http://chariot-heroes.blogspot.com
James Dorrian, (WEBMASTER) July 2006
e-mail: jamesgdorrian@mac.com
ST NAZAIRE: PAGES
BOOKSTo date I have written two books on the subject of this much-neglected episode, contributed to others, and acted as programme consultant for Jeremy Clarkson's documentary 'The Greatest Raid Of All Time' (North One Television Midlands, for the BBC, 2007). As with the majority of non-fiction writers, accuracy has always been paramount, and it is very dispiriting to see such efforts undermined by inaccuracies elsewhere. In this specific case I refer to Max Hastings' book 'Finest Years: Churchill as Warlord 1940-45', in which he makes a number of statements about the raid that are wholly erroneous. As we all know the 'Normandie' Dock was - and still is today - an enormous fixed structure allowing passage between the two main basins of the port. In 'Finest Years' it is described as a 'floating dock'. Four Victoria Crosses are stated as having been won, when in fact the total was five. And the attack is attributed to the Royal Navy. Additional comments about the high number of awards for the raid being 'generous' and having the purpose of making '..... the survivors feel better about losses...' came as an unwarranted blow to the few remaining veterans and their still vivid recollections of exactly how much suffering was involved in those awards being won. Very frustrating...
'Storming St Nazaire' is based largely on original research. It was written in the mid 1990s with the full cooperation of the members of the St-Nazaire Society, the commemorative body established by survivors of the raid while they were still 'guests of the Reich'. With the Society's help I was able to contact the some 100 veterans then surviving, who provided me with a wealth of material mostly in the form of taped interviews, but also including comprehensive personal accounts of the action written in previous years. These first-hand accounts were supplemented by material sourced from the relatives of Commandos and sailors lost in action. Many of these personal memories of CHARIOT are contained in the text which therefore, instead of having to describe the raid second-hand as is the case with more recent volumes, uniquely and honestly reflects the views and experiences of the actual soldiers and sailors who achieved the impossible all those years ago. (304pp: illustrated)
'Saint-Nazaire: Operation Chariot - 1942' is a much more heavily illustrated battlefield guide, containing a truncated account of the raid, along with a detailed walking tour of the battle area and tourism information designed to assist visitors both to St-Nazaire and to the surrounding area (hotels; driving in France; museums; maps, etc) As with 'Storming St Nazaire', the text is constructed around numerous personal accounts of the action. (224pp: some illustrations in colour)
'Turned Towards the Sun' is the remarkable autobiography of Captain Michael Burn, MC, whose 6 Troop of number 2 Commando suffered heavy losses during the raid. Sailing, along with his men, on board Motor launch 192, Micky was fortunate indeed to survive the flames when this 'little ship' was destroyed early on by enemy fire. His story is the subject of a documentary, currently in development. (2011: Micky having very sadly passed away, all rights relating to his story now lie with the Trustees of his estate)
Read chapter 1
Read Introduction
Read cover
'Storming St Nazaire' - James G Dorrian 1998/2001: Pen & Sword Books Ltd: isbn-085052 8070 www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/?product_id=291
'Saint-Nazaire: Operation Chariot-1942' - James Dorrian 2006: Pen & Sword Books, Ltd: isbn-1844153347 www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/?product_id=818
'Turned Towards the Sun' - Michael Burn 2003: A Clocktower Paperback - Michael Russell (Publishing) Ltd - isbn-978-0-85955-308-7
© James Dorrian: March 2006. Material contained in this site is subject to copyright and must not be reproduced in any form without permission. The site contains hypertext links to third party Websites where relevant; however no responsibility is accepted for the content of these sites, nor should their listing be taken as an endorsement of any kind.
