Bruneval

Paul Oldfield

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN:
  9781783036547
• Print ISBN:
  9781781590676
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History

A comprehensive history of the World War II raid.
The Bruneval Raid, launched against a German radar installation on the French coast in February 1942, was unique: it was one of the first fully combined operations put together by HQ Combined Operations under Mountbatten; for the first time a unit of the newly formed British Parachute Regiment went into action; it was the only raid carried out purely to satisfy the needs of scientific intelligence. It was highly successful, and the results achieved were out of all proportion to the resources committed.
This book covers the development of radar, the search for German radar in the Second World War, the discovery of Würzburg radar at Bruneval, the planning and preparations for the audacious raid, its highly successful execution, and the aftermath. There is a wealth of colorful characters involved, from world-class scientists, outstanding reconnaissance pilots, Resistance agents, famous sailors, soldiers and airmen, an escaped German Jew, and, most importantly, a vast number of ordinary people involved doing extraordinary things to win the war against Hitler's Germany.
Praise for Bruneval
"Using 200 photographs and a dozen maps the author comprehensively describes the operation and explains the significance of the equipment recovered. This excellent little book is the latest issue in the 'Battleground' series of over 120 titles. The author is to be congratulated on producing an outstanding addition to our WWII military knowledge." — M.V.T. Windscreen Magazine

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter One: Development of Radar
• Chapter Two: Genesis of the Raid
• Chapter Three: Intelligence
• Chapter Four: Planning
• Chapter Five: Assembling the Force
• Chapter Six: Training & Preparations
• Chapter Seven: Insertion by Parachute
• Chapter Eight: The Battle
• Chapter Nine: Extraction by Sea & Return
• Chapter Ten: Results of the Raid
• Chapters Eleven: Aftermath
• Chapters Twelve: A Tour of the Bruneval Battlefield
• Appendices: I Battle of the Beams
• II Photographic Reconnaissance Unit
• III Kammhuber Line
• IV Sources
• V Parachute Force Nominal Roll
• VI Useful Information