We all hear of these terrific battles that occurred throughout the war that American and British troops accomplished. But one of the big turning points that no one seems to remember or mention is the St Nazaire Raid. It became known amongst the British Military as “The Greatest Raid of All.” The acts of bravery among individual British Commandos that carried out the raid were so incredible, 5 Victoria Crosses were awarded, the most at any time in British Military History. In 1942, the Battle of the Atlantic was heavily in Germany’s favor. Their most coveted ship, the Turpitz, was the largest warship commissioned by the Reich, and England knew that if that ship were able to commence a large-scale attack, the war in the Atlantic would be over. So they had to figure out a way to either attack the ship or deviate it from being able to reach the English Channel. In St Nazaire, there was a massive dry dock built in the ealier part of the century for massive French ocean liners, and it was discovered that this dry dock was the only one that could accommodate the size of the Turpitz. The British came up with a plan to destroy the dry dock, so the large German warship couldn’t reach the English from a shorter vantage point. The British took a borrowed 1st World War American destroyer, the Campbeltown, and made an attempt to disguise it to look like a German destroyer. The plan was to sail the Campbeltown up the Loire during the night so chances to be spotted would be less, and ram the Campbeltown into the dry dock. The ship was to be loaded with a bomb that would explode and completely destroy the dock. When the raid happened, the Campbeltown sailed up the Loire and was spotted by German guard stations along the estuary, and began to open fire. Commandos onboard had broken German morse code, and attempted to deviate saying they were a friendly ship, but after a few moments, German forces opened fire again. The Campbeltown reached the dry dock under massive fire, and rammed it, but the bomb did not explode because the fuses were running too slowly. At Noon following the attack, the bomb finally exploded, while many German troops were onboard looking for prisoners as well as enemy intel. Over 360 Germans died during the raid/bombing. Of the 622 Commandos, 169 were killed, and 215 were taken prisoner. The remaining men managed to return to England. The Turpitz was never able to reach the Atlantic because of this raid. It also helped push the war of the Atlantic in Britian’s favor. I find this particular story so interesting because of the sheer bravery of the raid. To sail a badly disguised destroyer up an estuary heavily armed by the enemy and sort of “hope for the best” and get away with it is truly astounding. I first heard of this raid when I watched a documentary about it by Jeremy Clarkson called “The Greatest Raid Of All,” and was blown away at how cool this raid truly was. It’s a documentary that is hard to come by, but if found, should absolutely be watched.