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Great and Bold World War II Raids

Khalid Elhassan January 3, 2025 16 min

Raid - Italian frogmen in manned torpedoes launched from submarine near Alexandria Harbor, by Ivan Berryman. World Naval Ships

11. A Cascade of Mishaps

Raid - British Commandos aboard landing craft, en route to Bardia — British Commandos aboard landing craft, en route to Bardia. Wikimedia

Things got off to an iffy start when the raiders were landed at night behind schedule and on the wrong beach. However, they managed to sort things out and find their way to Bardia, which they were surprised to discover was lightly defended. The Commandos located and destroyed an Italian supply dump, as well as an artillery installation, all for the loss of a single officer, mistakenly killed in a friendly fire incident. The raiders then trudged back to the beach for re-embarkation – and that was when the consequences of poor preparation manifested themselves. A contingent of 70 Commandos got lost in the dark, and after a cascade of mishaps, ended up going to the wrong beach. There, they waited futilely for boats to pick them up. They were left behind, and all were captured by the enemy in the following days.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.