This is an account of this seminal raid, in which Commandos were used for the first time and which was the first occasion on which US troops fired shots at their European enemy in WWII. History's over-riding view of the Dieppe raid in 1942 is that of a catastrophe, with thousands of Canadian and British troops killed or captured. Often overlooked, however, is No 4 Commando's successful supporting element of the raid, disabling the heavy German guns that threatened the supporting ships at sea. No 4 Commando's training and preparation for their part in the raid was an excellent example of operational planning. Its leadership was superb and its luck held. The raid also included members of the Free French and US Commandos, later named the US Rangers, and it included the first US forces to engage the Germans on mainland Europe. The author has interviewed surviving members of No 4 Commando, and with extensive research of official records has written a blow-by-blow account of one of the most daring early Commando raids of World War II.

Will Fowler
Paperback 256pp