Raids.... (1 Viewer)

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Axis: Mussolini rescue
Allied: St Nazaire Raid

Honorable mention:
assassination of Yamoto
"COCKLESHELL HEROES"
 
How about "Carlson's Raiders" and their well known 31 day patrol (4Nov--4Dec 1942) behind enemy lines on Guadalcanal, usually referred to as "The Long Patrol." Thought to be the longest WWII patrol of its kind, it resulted in 488 enemy killed, and 16 killed and 18 wounded for the 2d Raider Battalion.

THAT, must have been some patrol!

Marine Raiders on Bougainville, New Guinea, January 1944.
 

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How about "Carlson's Raiders" and their well known 31 day patrol (4Nov--4Dec 1942) behind enemy lines on Guadalcanal, usually referred to as "The Long Patrol." Thought to be the longest WWII patrol of its kind, it resulted in 488 enemy killed, and 16 killed and 18 wounded for the 2d Raider Battalion.

THAT, must have been some patrol!

Marine Raiders on Bougainville, New Guinea, January 1944.

Great photo!!!!

.
 
I'll go with Viking and several others on this one: for sheer ballsiness, Axis get the Mussolini rescue and Allies get the Cabanatuan liberation. Not to steal thunder from any of the other raids that happened during the war, but these two stand out in my mind.
 
I'll add "Operation Jaywick" conducted by Z special Unit into the mix for the Allied side. Operation Jaywick - 60th Anniversary


I agree completely. Might also include the activities of the LRDGs in the desert, 1940-43.

Another great effort, though not exactly a "special operation" was the activities of the coastwatchers in the Solomons, in particular Martin Clements.

On the Axis side i would nominate the activities of the 10th Flotilla....the special group that launched the "Maille" (Human Torpedoes, or SLCs ) operations, the most successful of which incapacited two British Batteships in Alexandria harbour

http://www.transparent.com/italian/man-rides-pig-underwater-–-part-2/
 
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"The Most Dangerous Man In Europe"

Otto Skorzeny, Hitler's commando leader in World War 2, became known to the world in September 1943, when German radio broadcasts hailed the previously unknown Skorzeny as "The most dangerous man in Europe" for his key role in the daring airborne raid to rescue the ousted Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

It was Skorzeny's 1st success as a commando leader. With the successes that followed, allied media also began calling Skorzeny "The most dangerous man in Europe".

Otto Skorzeny
 
St Nazaire is a very dashing and daring raid and takes the cake for me.

The difference between success and failure in these operations is such a fine line. The bravery of the men involved is really quite amazing.
 
St. Nazaire....is that where they rammed the boat into the only Atlantic drydock capable of holding the Bismark (or one of Germany's bigger ships); commandos all were eventually captured and the Germans thought the mission a colossal failure until the timed charges in the ship went off completely demolishing the drydock gates, rendering it unusable and pretty much confining that German ship to the north where it had access to a German drydock?

What gets me is that these men undertook these missions knowing that the odds of them surviving were so slim that they weren't worth calculating. And yet they still did the missions... :salute:
 
St. Nazaire....is that where they rammed the boat into the only Atlantic drydock capable of holding the Bismark (or one of Germany's bigger ships); commandos all were eventually captured and the Germans thought the mission a colossal failure until the timed charges in the ship went off completely demolishing the drydock gates, rendering it unusable and pretty much confining that German ship to the north where it had access to a German drydock?

What gets me is that these men undertook these missions knowing that the odds of them surviving were so slim that they weren't worth calculating. And yet they still did the missions... :salute:

Basically yes, It was destroyed so that the Tirpitz couldn't go into repairs. It essentially confined it to the region where it stayed for the war. If the Tirpitz got out into the Atlantic and had a serviceable base it would of been disastrous for Allied convoys.

Commando casualties were very high but the goal was achieved, The Port wasn't serviceable until 46-47, I believe only 22 Commandos actually made it out. 5 Victoria Crosses were handed out in the operation! One was recommended by the Captain of a German destroyer after a British Commando refused to leave the guns on the MTB despite being shot something like 13 times.
 
Dunno how that one slipped my mind. I'll step right up and add that to my list, right there next to Cabanatuan.

As a slightly-offtrack side-note....are there any good books on the raid?
 

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