Description
Physical description
model
This is one of the original briefing models made by the RAF Model Making Section, at the Central Interpretation Unit, Medmenham, for Operation Chariot, prior to the actual raid that took place on the night of 27-28 March 1942.
It is made from wood and plaster, and is 57in x 24in x 3in.
Label
The object of Operation Chariot, the raid on St Nazaire on 27-28 March 1942, was to destroy the lock gate at the entrance to the huge dry dock which had been designed for the liner Normandie and was the only dock in western France that was capable of accommodating the German battleship Tirpitz.
Early on 28 March, an old destroyer, HMS Campbeltown, loaded with explosives, rammed the lock gate. Commandos landed from the destroyer, and also from smaller vessels at the Old Entrance and the Old Mole.
The Campbeltown exploded several hours later, demolishing the gate and so depriving the Tirpitz of a base on the French Atlantic coast.
Commandos also destroyed or damaged dock machinery but only four of eighteen escorting vessels returned. 144 members of the raiding force were killed or missing and another 215 were captured during the operation.
Five Victoria Crosses were won during this operation, of which 2 are on display in the Museum's Victoria Cross and George Cross Exhibition.
History note
The object of Operation Chariot, the raid on St Nazaire on 27-28 March 1942, was to destroy the lock gate at the entrance to the huge dry dock which had been designed for the liner Normandie and was the only dock in western France that was capable of accommodating the German battleship Tirpitz.
Early on 28 March, an old destroyer, HMS Campbeltown, loaded with explosives, rammed the lock gate. Commandos landed from the destroyer, and also from smaller vessels at the Old Entrance and the Old Mole.
The Campbeltown exploded several hours later, demolishing the gate and so depriving the Tirpitz of a base on the French Atlantic coast.
Commandos also destroyed or damaged dock machinery but only four of eighteen escorting vessels returned. 144 members of the raiding force were killed or missing and another 215 were captured during the operation. Five Victoria Crosses were won during this operation,
, of which 2 are on display in the Museum's Victoria Cross and George Cross Exhibition.
Inscribed
M/139
1/2000