James Dorrian - Saint-Nazaire Operation Chariot - 1942

Central to the writing of any book which purports to tell the story of Operation CHARIOT, is the support, encouragement and accumulated wisdom of the members and associate members of the St Nazaire Society. Consisting not only of those soldiers and sailors who participated in the raid, but also of families and friends, the Society is a primary source of experience gained at first hand, the fruits of which have been made available to me in the course of numerous interviews, and through personal narratives from which I have been permitted to quote freely. The comprehensive Society newsletters, produced in recent years by Eric de la Torre, MBE., have proven to be a rich vein of information, the collection steadily coalescing into a unique historical record.

In the case of individual narratives, I owe a special debt of thanks to Dr W H Watson, MBE., MC, for allowing me to access his unpublished personal memoir; to Peter Copland for making available his fathers excellent account of the raid, the letter he wrote to his wife Ethel immediately prior to the raid, and his invaluable photographic record of 2 Commando in Scotland, during 1941; to the Reverend Canon Lisle Ryder for permission to quote from Captain Robert Ryder VCs extensive written records of CHARIOT, and to publish photographs of HMS Campbeltown during conversion; and to the family of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Newman VC for supplying me with a copy of his detailed action report, written while still a POW. In the case of Lieutenant Stuart Chant later Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Chant-Sempill, OBE., MC although his personal recollections took the form of a book his son, Lieutenant Colonel Ian Chant-Sempill, has volunteered a significant and very pertinent volume of background documentation, this including the short, quoted account which I have attributed to F A Carr, DCM (Sergeant, 5 Cdo).

Other written accounts which contribute directly to this text have been sourced from F W M Arkle (Sub Lieutenant, RNVR, ML ), D K Croft (Able Seaman, RANR, ML ), Colonel W W Etches, OBE., MC (Lieutenant, 3 Cdo), F A Smith, DSM (Able Seaman, RN, MGB ), E C A Roberts, OBE, FIB ( Sub Lieutenant, RNVR, ML ), G R Wheeler, MM (Corporal, 2 Cdo), the family of I L Maclagan (Corporal, 9 Cdo), and E D Stogdon (Sub Lieutenant, RNVR, HMS Tynedale ) whose insight into both the attack on U-593 and the subsequent confrontation with the German Torpedo-Boat flotilla has proved invaluable.

I have Mrs Elmslie Henderson to thank for references to her late husband, Nigel Tibbits, DSC (Lieutenant, RN HMS Campbeltown ) contained in Lieutenant Commander Beatties letter to her, of 28 June, 1945. And I am indebted to Radio Times for allowing me to quote extracts from the article My Town is St Nazaire, 29 April, 1949. The short quotation from Professor F H Hinsleys second volume of British Intelligence in the Second World War is Crown Copyright material reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queens printer for Scotland. And Jerome M OConnors description of the general layout of U-Boat pens is quoted with the permission of the US Naval Institute.

As ever, the various departments of the Imperial War Museum, in London, have proven to be a primary source of Crown Copyright material which includes both photographs and highly relevant documentation. I would like to express my gratitude to the Trustees for having been permitted to access, and quote from, a selection of after-action reports including Lieutenant Commander Beatties Narrative of HMS Campbeltown at St Nazaire, and Lieutenant Commander Tweedies Action Report of HMS Tynedale , 31 March, 1942.

Other reports directly related to this text include those written by Lieutenant Dunstan Curtis, RNVR, DSC., CdeG.,CO of MGB ; Lieutenant Ted Burt, RNVR, DSC., CO of ML ; Sub Lieutenant N G Machin, RNVR, DSC., First Lieutenant, ML ; Lieutenant T D L Platt, RNR, DSO., normally CO of ML , but acting as CO of ML during the raid; Lieutenant K M Horlock, RNVR, temporarily acting as CO of ML ; Sub Lieutenant N R Nock, RNVR, DSC., CO of ML ; and Sub Lieutenant R C M V Wynn, RNVR, DSC., CO of MTB .

In respect of information communicated orally, I have relied, to varying degrees, on taped interviews with Herr Gerd Kelbling ( Kapitnleutnant, U-593 ); Lieutenant Colonel Bob Montgomery, MC., (Captain, RE, Special Service Brigade); Bob Wright (Sapper Corporal, 12Cdo); Arthur Ashcroft (Private, 2 Cdo); Don Randall, DCM., (Lance Sergeant, 2 Cdo); and Des Chappell (Lance Sergeant, 1 Cdo). Needless to say, all material gleaned from interviews has contributed to the whole, even if not mentioned specifically here.

Over the years a number of Charioteers have published personal histories such as allow for a more comprehensive depiction of their part in, and impressions of, the raid. Special mention is due to those publishers and, or, authors who have allowed passages to be quoted freely in the text. Generous, as always, Major General Corran Purdon, CBE., MC., CPM., has placed no restriction on my use of his 1993 publication, List the Bugle : while Michael Burn, MC., and his publisher, Michael Russell have afforded me the same courtesy with respect to Mickys 2003, Turned Towards the Sun .

In providing photographs, and detailed information and drawings relevant to my understanding of the construction and performance of the vessels which carried the attacking force to Saint-Nazaire, special thanks are due to Al Ross and John Lambert: the former particularly for allowing me to adapt his profiles of HMS Campbeltown , and the latter for his exquisitely detailed small boat plans and weapon drawings.

Photographs contained within the text carry the appropriate attributions. Mention has already been made of the contributions of both Peter Copland and the Imperial War Museum, in addition to which I must express my gratitude for their help and advice, to Mme Maryse Collet, of the Ecomuse de Saint-Nazaire, and M. Olivier Simoncelli, of the Etablissement de Communication et de Production Audiovisuelle de la Dfense (ECPAD). Where it has been necessary to copy or enhance originals, I have relied heavily on the equipment and skills of Mr Ian McLeod, and Andy Lawrence (KUDIS: Keele University). For her willing, and continuing, assistance in translating numerous French texts I must make special mention of my niece, Mrs Sharon Greenwood.

As we now live in an age where digital forms of communication are becoming the norm, the text contains numerous references to Internet sites of value to tourists and researchers alike. Within this group two stand out as having been particularly useful that of the Mairie; www.mairie-saintnazaire.fr and that of the highly informative www.franceguide.com .

On a final and very personal note, I have benefited greatly from the assistance, always given willingly, of Mme Michle and M. Jacques Mah, of Saint-Marc-sur-Mer. Their local knowledge and connections with those whose function it is to maintain accurate historical records of Saint-Nazaire and the surrounding area, have promoted a much deeper understanding, on my part, of the effects of the war in general, and the raid in particular, on the local French civilian population.