5. Raiders Stranded in Enemy Territory
The Commandos set off in a flotilla of 18 small craft, intended to be the raiders’ ride back home after completion of their mission. They were accompanied by an obsolete destroyer, HMS Cambeltown, packed with well-concealed delayed-action high explosives. The raiders sailed from British ports down the English Channel and into the Atlantic, and set course for St Nazaire. When they reached their target, the Cambeltown rammed the gates of the Normandie dry dock, and came to rest above them at an angle. The Germans, unaware of the destroyer’s deadly cargo, concentrated on fighting the Commandos, who had disembarked to attack and destroy other vital installations, facilities, and machinery around the port. In the resultant heavy exchanges of fire, the Germans destroyed nearly all the British small craft that were supposed to take the Commandos back home, and thus stranded the raiders.
