Stephen Prince (2)

In 1918 did the Royal Navy undertake a daring if futile raid on Zeebrugge and Ostend in order to bottle up the German submarines stationed in Bruges. The operation against Zeebrugge had three components: The first component consisted of the cruiser HMS Vindictive, assisted by two ferryboats, whose mission it was to overwhelm the German defenses of the mole that covered the canal entry. Reminiscent of a medieval siege tower, the cruiser was slammed against the mole, allowing the Royal Marines on board to cross over and attack the mole. The mole, furthermore, was to be disconnected from land by explosives from a submarine. The second component consisted of three concrete filled old cruisers intended to block the canal entry. The third component were supporting ships that provided command stations, smoke screens, fire support and pick up points for survivors. Overall, the Royal Navy committed over 10,000 troops to this raid.

The costly success at Zeebrugge and the miserable failure at Ostend had minimal impact on the war, as the British did not manage to completely block the canal. Once again, the value of a raid lies in propaganda. Militarily, a raid is the tacit admission that one does not want a full engagement; a symbolic patch to cover inactivity. Many brave young men paid with their lives so that the Royal Navy could display some of its skin in the game (see also Gallipoli).

This is a well illustrated Osprey booklet with plenty of period drawings and photographs. I particularly like the post-raid image of HMS Vindictive with its improved defenses. While it still is an overwhelmingly British account, it at least includes the German reaction. Only during the raid itself are the German accounts totally missing. The commissioned paintings in their naive simplistic style did not impress me. A night battle is difficult to illustrate, though. The traditional shoddy Osprey proof-reading manifests itself by declaring that the British Zeebrugge monument was dedicated in 1942. A minimal knowledge about WWII should not be too much to ask from a military history publisher. Overall, a good title about this WWI naval night raid.… (més)