World War 2 Talk - View Single Post - St Nazaire

Warlord · 23-08-2008, 06:27 AM

I couldn´t agree more with two facts mentioned in this thread:

1. Commando style raids, no matter what their objective was, were basically conceived as a way to take the war to the enemy, keep him on his toes, constantly seeing shadows around every corner, with no rest and no sleep whatsoever, a sort of "offensive defense" in a time when the Allies were just beginning to get ready to march back against the Axis. If you add to that the definite intention of denying the enemy a very valuable asset, you just have to accept that Chariot was well worth it in any respect, although sadly it just didn´t go as planned, great deal of casualties included.

2. Who could know, back in ´42, that the Kriegsmarine didn´t intend to take the Tirpitz on a Bismarck style tour? Memories of 1940 sure were still haunting the men of the Admiralty, and given the strategic limitations the RAF still had in those days (remember the Mad Channel Dash by the Gneisenau and Scharnhorst), the right way to go initially was to try and take out the only place onto which the big ship could go if in need of repairs, should it break out into the Atlantic.

No way all those lives were wasted!

23-08-2008, 06:27 AM	#13 (permalink)
Warlord Veteran wannabe Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: The Land of Eternal Spring Posts: 321	I couldn´t agree more with two facts mentioned in this thread: 1. Commando style raids, no matter what their objective was, were basically conceived as a way to take the war to the enemy, keep him on his toes, constantly seeing shadows around every corner, with no rest and no sleep whatsoever, a sort of "offensive defense" in a time when the Allies were just beginning to get ready to march back against the Axis. If you add to that the definite intention of denying the enemy a very valuable asset, you just have to accept that Chariot was well worth it in any respect, although sadly it just didn´t go as planned, great deal of casualties included. 2. Who could know, back in ´42, that the Kriegsmarine didn´t intend to take the Tirpitz on a Bismarck style tour? Memories of 1940 sure were still haunting the men of the Admiralty, and given the strategic limitations the RAF still had in those days (remember the Mad Channel Dash by the Gneisenau and Scharnhorst), the right way to go initially was to try and take out the only place onto which the big ship could go if in need of repairs, should it break out into the Atlantic. No way all those lives were wasted! __________________ If I go forward, follow me; if I stop, hurry me; if I retreat, kill me. Guatemalan special forces motto Picture shows an Israeli Avia downing an Egyptian Spitfire in ´48. Guatemala gave the deciding vote at the UN that year for Israel to become a nation.