"War veterans have taken part in a memorial parade in Falmouth to remember those troops that left the town 67 years ago on a World War II mission. Operation Chariot, in 1942, took out vital German facilities in the French port of St Nazaire and played an important role in winning World War II. The crew of HMS Cambeltown, filled with explosives, sailed from Falmouth and rammed the dry dock gates. Five Victoria crosses were awarded for the attack. The ramming, by HMS Campbeltown, an obsolete destroyer, ended use of the dock. Only 27 of the commandos who landed on the docks and destroyed other dock structures avoiding capture or being killed." BBC NEWS | UK | England | Cornwall | Veterans remember WWII dock raid
I first heard about this mission while playing a WWII computer game. It seemed so improbable that I thought it to be fiction. But no, sure enough the mission was real. I understand that different times call for different measures, but a mission of this type, even in the 50's and 60's would be viewed as potentially extreme. Yet again shows that WWII called for a special time of soldier, sailor, airmen etc.
