CANNON FROM HMS CAMPBELTOWN

At half past one in the morning on 28 March 1942, at the end of a perilous voyage in the middle of a protective flotilla, the British destroyer HMS Campbeltown, packed with explosives, threw herself against the door of the Joubert lock. Ten hours later, the ship exploded, killing German soldiers who had come to inspect it and rendering the lock unusable.

Operation Chariot had served its purpose: to prevent the German battleship Tirpitz from coming to Saint-Nazaire (the Joubert wave-form being the only port facility large enough on the entire Atlantic coast to accommodate it), which would have strengthened the Kriegsmarine's attacks on Allied convoys. The paralysis of the port of Saint-Nazaire following this operation, as well as massive Allied bombing raids, helped to weaken the German positions.

However, the human toll was heavy. 169 British were killed and 215 taken prisoner; of the 600 men in the commando, all volunteers, only 227 managed to return to Great Britain. Every year on 28 March, an official ceremony is held on the seafront.

In Saint-Nazaire, a cannon from the Campbeltown commemorates this important military event. The cannon was dismantled in June 2016 to be restored; it can now be seen again on the panoramic terrace, very close to its original target, the Joubert shape.