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Churchill's Shadow Raiders is the story of the birth of British special operations, when in the darkest days of WW2, with fascism advancing everywhere, Churchill looked for courageous men to set Europe ablaze.
Lewis covers two operations in detail. The first, Operation Colossus, was an attack on an Italian aqueduct that ended in cruel farce. The plane carrying the sappers and the majority of the demolition charges dropped their parachutists one valley over, and the explosives on hand were enough to shatter the aqueduct, but not bring it down. When aerial reconnaissance revealed the aqueduct still standing, command concluded the mission had failed and ordered the submarine designated to evacuate the raiders to return home. All of the Colossus raiders were captured, and the stench of failure settled over parachute operations.
Operation Biting, the Bruneval Raid, was a chance at redemption. Photo reconnaissance had revealed a strange parabolic antenna, which the boffins figured was a radar system more advanced than anything the British had in Chain Home. Of course, officially radar was solely a British advance; the Germans didn't have it at all. Stealing everything not nailed down at Bruneval would prove that British technology needed to constantly evolve to match the Nazis.
The plan was to parachute 120 SAS commandos into the area, seize the radar, and evacuate to the sea before an armored response force could arrive. It was a desperate action that almost never worked right in training, the seaborne evacuation being a particular sticking point, with the assault boats running around. The airborne side was smoother, but still complicated by the crudity of available tech. Paratroopers dropped out of a chute in the belly of the obsolete Whitley Armstrong bomber, armed only with knives and pistols. Their weapons and supplies were dropped separately in lighted containers, and the first task was to get their guns.
The actual mission went much better, with luck helping and hindering the British raiders in equal measure. The team with the key job of seizing of the evacuation beach was dropped on the wrong side of the town of Bruneval, and had to fight their way to the objective, arriving in the nick of time. The Royal Navy flotilla commander brought his ships in closer to shore, a fortunate modification to the plan because the original offshore rally point was in the middle of a German sea lane, and if the ships had been there they would have collided with a patrol of Nazi destroyers and torpedo boats. Despite two Commandos KIA, and six left behind in the chaos of evacuation, the mission was a stunning success, a scientific coup which provided a much needed boost to morale.
Lewis writes a fast-paced, very readable history, but also one that doesn't reach beyond the cliches of the swaggering SAS commando. The best bits are on the triumph of the French Resistance in getting near complete intelligence on the sight, including the names of key Nazi officers.
Lewis covers two operations in detail. The first, Operation Colossus, was an attack on an Italian aqueduct that ended in cruel farce. The plane carrying the sappers and the majority of the demolition charges dropped their parachutists one valley over, and the explosives on hand were enough to shatter the aqueduct, but not bring it down. When aerial reconnaissance revealed the aqueduct still standing, command concluded the mission had failed and ordered the submarine designated to evacuate the raiders to return home. All of the Colossus raiders were captured, and the stench of failure settled over parachute operations.
Operation Biting, the Bruneval Raid, was a chance at redemption. Photo reconnaissance had revealed a strange parabolic antenna, which the boffins figured was a radar system more advanced than anything the British had in Chain Home. Of course, officially radar was solely a British advance; the Germans didn't have it at all. Stealing everything not nailed down at Bruneval would prove that British technology needed to constantly evolve to match the Nazis.
The plan was to parachute 120 SAS commandos into the area, seize the radar, and evacuate to the sea before an armored response force could arrive. It was a desperate action that almost never worked right in training, the seaborne evacuation being a particular sticking point, with the assault boats running around. The airborne side was smoother, but still complicated by the crudity of available tech. Paratroopers dropped out of a chute in the belly of the obsolete Whitley Armstrong bomber, armed only with knives and pistols. Their weapons and supplies were dropped separately in lighted containers, and the first task was to get their guns.
The actual mission went much better, with luck helping and hindering the British raiders in equal measure. The team with the key job of seizing of the evacuation beach was dropped on the wrong side of the town of Bruneval, and had to fight their way to the objective, arriving in the nick of time. The Royal Navy flotilla commander brought his ships in closer to shore, a fortunate modification to the plan because the original offshore rally point was in the middle of a German sea lane, and if the ships had been there they would have collided with a patrol of Nazi destroyers and torpedo boats. Despite two Commandos KIA, and six left behind in the chaos of evacuation, the mission was a stunning success, a scientific coup which provided a much needed boost to morale.
Lewis writes a fast-paced, very readable history, but also one that doesn't reach beyond the cliches of the swaggering SAS commando. The best bits are on the triumph of the French Resistance in getting near complete intelligence on the sight, including the names of key Nazi officers.