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Operation Biting: The 1942 Parachute Assault to Capture Hitler's Radar
Operation Biting has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.
385 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 23, 2024
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3339 people want to read
About the author
Max Hastings
98 books1,672 followersSir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings, FRSL, FRHistS is a British journalist, editor, historian and author. His parents were Macdonald Hastings, a journalist and war correspondent, and Anne Scott-James, sometime editor of Harper's Bazaar.
Hastings was educated at Charterhouse School and University College, Oxford, which he left after a year.After leaving Oxford University, Max Hastings became a foreign correspondent, and reported from more than sixty countries and eleven wars for BBC TV and the London Evening Standard.
Among his bestselling books Bomber Command won the Somerset Maugham Prize, and both Overlord and The Battle for the Falklands won the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year Prize.
After ten years as editor and then editor-in-chief of The Daily Telegraph, he became editor of the Evening Standard in 1996. He has won many awards for his journalism, including Journalist of The Year and What the Papers Say Reporter of the Year for his work in the South Atlantic in 1982, and Editor of the Year in 1988.
He stood down as editor of the Evening Standard in 2001 and was knighted in 2002. His monumental work of military history, Armageddon: The Battle for Germany 1944-1945 was published in 2005.
He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Sir Max Hastings honoured with the $100,000 2012 Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing.
Hastings was educated at Charterhouse School and University College, Oxford, which he left after a year.After leaving Oxford University, Max Hastings became a foreign correspondent, and reported from more than sixty countries and eleven wars for BBC TV and the London Evening Standard.
Among his bestselling books Bomber Command won the Somerset Maugham Prize, and both Overlord and The Battle for the Falklands won the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year Prize.
After ten years as editor and then editor-in-chief of The Daily Telegraph, he became editor of the Evening Standard in 1996. He has won many awards for his journalism, including Journalist of The Year and What the Papers Say Reporter of the Year for his work in the South Atlantic in 1982, and Editor of the Year in 1988.
He stood down as editor of the Evening Standard in 2001 and was knighted in 2002. His monumental work of military history, Armageddon: The Battle for Germany 1944-1945 was published in 2005.
He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Sir Max Hastings honoured with the $100,000 2012 Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
August 10, 2024
Fun fact: No one actually gets bit in Operation Biting by Max Hastings. Some Nazis do get a measure of comeuppance, though which is nice.
Operation Biting is about a 1942 British commando raid to steal a radar from the Germans in occupied France. The Allies really wanted to know what the Nazis had going as far as their radar was concerned, and this raid was audacious. I don't use "audacious" a lot because I need to really mean it. Operation Biting fits the bill. Commandos landed in the middle of the night, charged into a German base, stole technology, and then had to rendezvous with the navy before being killed. As someone who has jumped out of military planes before, I can assure you this was a bonkers plan.
Hastings tells the story succinctly. This is not a World War II book which explains every aspect of how England got to this mission. There are a lot of characters, but Hastings dispenses with any detail not needed to understand the story. This is a double edged sword. I really appreciated the stripped down narrative, but I also found myself wanting to spend a little more time with some characters. This is a nitpick, though. Any World War II nerd will want this book on their shelves.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Harper Books.)
Operation Biting is about a 1942 British commando raid to steal a radar from the Germans in occupied France. The Allies really wanted to know what the Nazis had going as far as their radar was concerned, and this raid was audacious. I don't use "audacious" a lot because I need to really mean it. Operation Biting fits the bill. Commandos landed in the middle of the night, charged into a German base, stole technology, and then had to rendezvous with the navy before being killed. As someone who has jumped out of military planes before, I can assure you this was a bonkers plan.
Hastings tells the story succinctly. This is not a World War II book which explains every aspect of how England got to this mission. There are a lot of characters, but Hastings dispenses with any detail not needed to understand the story. This is a double edged sword. I really appreciated the stripped down narrative, but I also found myself wanting to spend a little more time with some characters. This is a nitpick, though. Any World War II nerd will want this book on their shelves.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Harper Books.)
May 19, 2025
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Max Hasting’s writing. This was one of the poorer books of his I’ve read. Like all of his books, it was well researched but it didn’t grip me and I felt it was quite difficult to actually follow the raid itself. Still, it’s an interesting bit of World War II history.
May 15, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed the build-up to the operation, understanding the men involved and the atmosphere surrounding why this operation even took place. Unfortunately, the section of the actual operation felt muddled and difficult to decipher what was actually happening.
August 5, 2025
El radar Würzburg fue una tecnología clave de la Alemania nazi durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, y es el protagonista central de Operación Biting, el nuevo libro del periodista e historiador Max Hastings. Desarrollado por la empresa alemana Telefunken, se caracterizaba por ser un sistema de detección por radiofrecuencia diseñado para guiar cañones antiaéreos (Flak) y reflectores, proporcionando datos precisos sobre la posición, altura y trayectoria de los aviones enemigos. También podía coordinarse con otros radares, como el Freya, para una defensa integrada. Su diseño compacto lo hacía móvil, permitiendo su despliegue en la costa ocupada de Europa, y mostrándose como un pilar de la defensa aérea alemana, especialmente en el contexto de 1942, cuando la RAF intensificaba sus bombardeos nocturnos sobre Alemania y los territorios ocupados...
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June 23, 2024
The first time I encountered the Bruneval commando raid was in Brian Johnson’s The Secret War (1978) and I was struck by that extraordinary aerial photograph of the lone French farmhouse on the cliffs of Cap d’Antifer and the mysterious black blob that turned out to be the dish for the Würzburg radar apparatus, the objective for the operation, in which 120 British commandos parachuted into German occupied France, removed important parts of the radar equipment, and escaped across the Channel by boat. It was the one of the few early successes for the British army on the European continent and became the first battle honour to adorn the colours of the newly formed Parachute Regiment, which has since been a glory to British arms from Normandy to the Falklands Islands. So I was most delighted to discover a new book by one of my favourite military historians, Sir Max Hastings, recounting the raid, code named Operation Biting. The cast of characters is fascinating: R. V. Jones, the archetypal boffin whose eagerness to analyse the equipment sparked the raid, Tony Hill the daring Spitfire reconnaissance pilot whose photography uncovered the object, Lord Louis Mountbatten the inspiring but hare-brained chief of combined operations, ‘Boy’ Browning the posturing head of the newly formed parachute corps, and the leader, Major John Frost, who would later achieve immortality commanding the defence of the north end of the bridge at Arnhem. To disassemble and remove the vital parts of the Würzburg apparatus required an RAF flight-sergeant radar technician and an RE officer to make the drop along with some of the toughest products of the slums of Glasgow who formed the new regiment.
Sir Max excels at the close-up personal details of operations, and I often sensed the fear and suspense of the men on the scene, most especially by the failure of their radio equipment and their inability to make contact with the boats that were supposed to take them off the beach. It was striking that the British electronic engineers were so impressed by the excellent workmanship of the captured German radar. As someone whose first experience with British technical standards was with motorcars in the 1950s, I suspect their wireless sets were probably carelessly assembled, though in fairness one should note that they relied on valves (‘vacuum tubes’) to operate and had to be dropped out of aeroplanes. More than two years later, at Arnhem, the British parachutists would still be cursed with radios that did not work.
Fortunately for the raiders, the German response to the surprise aerial attack was sluggish and disorganised. Apparently they had prepared for an attack by sea, but not from above. Their principal weapon was a captured French light machine gun, interestingly; clearly they were second line troops in a poor state of readiness. Later combined operations raids, especially Dieppe, were to meet a very different response.
Sir Max excels at the close-up personal details of operations, and I often sensed the fear and suspense of the men on the scene, most especially by the failure of their radio equipment and their inability to make contact with the boats that were supposed to take them off the beach. It was striking that the British electronic engineers were so impressed by the excellent workmanship of the captured German radar. As someone whose first experience with British technical standards was with motorcars in the 1950s, I suspect their wireless sets were probably carelessly assembled, though in fairness one should note that they relied on valves (‘vacuum tubes’) to operate and had to be dropped out of aeroplanes. More than two years later, at Arnhem, the British parachutists would still be cursed with radios that did not work.
Fortunately for the raiders, the German response to the surprise aerial attack was sluggish and disorganised. Apparently they had prepared for an attack by sea, but not from above. Their principal weapon was a captured French light machine gun, interestingly; clearly they were second line troops in a poor state of readiness. Later combined operations raids, especially Dieppe, were to meet a very different response.
June 5, 2025
This is a very enjoyable and well-written account of one of the British Army's first forays back across the English Channel following the evacuation from Dunkirk. It is not without its flaws, however, hence my three-star review.
Compared to Max Hastings' other recent books, which felt epic in scope, this is one that he probably wrote without breaking a sweat. In the grand scheme of the Second World War, Operation Biting is undoubtedly a footnote, despite the elevated attention given to it at the time (a time, as Hastings points out, when nothing seemed to be going right for Britain and her Empire). His narrative is engaging, and the way he structures most of the chapters around an individual character is a very effective way to unpack the story. Ultimately, however, little enough was at stake in Operation Biting, and Hastings can draw few general conclusions from its success. The main positive impact of the raid was to provide a good news story to a beleaguered nation, and worthy as that was at the time, it does somewhat blunt the impact the book can have in recounting events at this distance. A more negative impact of the raid was the inflated sense of confidence that Combined Operations drew from Biting's success. In particular, the conclusion that similar raids, or even larger ones, could be launched with an expectation of a sluggish German response was soon shown to be tragically misguided at St Nazare and Dieppe.
None of what I have said should take away from the courage of the men of 2 Para who conducted the raid, or of the ambition of the scientific and military leaders who planned it. My main takeaway is a renewed appreciation for the staggering achievement of Operation Overlord, less than two and a half years after Biting. At a time when land warfare has returned to mainland Europe, we would do well to reflect afresh on how much the liberal Western democracies can achieve when they flex their considerable financial, scientific and military muscles, while simultaneously hoping that such is never required again.
Compared to Max Hastings' other recent books, which felt epic in scope, this is one that he probably wrote without breaking a sweat. In the grand scheme of the Second World War, Operation Biting is undoubtedly a footnote, despite the elevated attention given to it at the time (a time, as Hastings points out, when nothing seemed to be going right for Britain and her Empire). His narrative is engaging, and the way he structures most of the chapters around an individual character is a very effective way to unpack the story. Ultimately, however, little enough was at stake in Operation Biting, and Hastings can draw few general conclusions from its success. The main positive impact of the raid was to provide a good news story to a beleaguered nation, and worthy as that was at the time, it does somewhat blunt the impact the book can have in recounting events at this distance. A more negative impact of the raid was the inflated sense of confidence that Combined Operations drew from Biting's success. In particular, the conclusion that similar raids, or even larger ones, could be launched with an expectation of a sluggish German response was soon shown to be tragically misguided at St Nazare and Dieppe.
None of what I have said should take away from the courage of the men of 2 Para who conducted the raid, or of the ambition of the scientific and military leaders who planned it. My main takeaway is a renewed appreciation for the staggering achievement of Operation Overlord, less than two and a half years after Biting. At a time when land warfare has returned to mainland Europe, we would do well to reflect afresh on how much the liberal Western democracies can achieve when they flex their considerable financial, scientific and military muscles, while simultaneously hoping that such is never required again.
December 17, 2024
It was a good, enjoy book. I had never heard of Operation Biting, so found this very interesting. I enjoyed the beginning and the ending, but found the detailing of the actual operation to be a bit boring, and quickly became confused on who was where. Overall though a well research and interesting nonfiction piece which succinctly places Operation Biting into the wider context of war.
October 15, 2024
For me a truly great historian is someone who can turn a tale of a little known incident into a magisterial piece of writing presenting it as a major event and adding all the essential ingredients to make it so. This is what the legendary Sir Max H does here. Of course he is a veteran at such wordsmithery but he convinced me to proceed to read about the raid even though as he states it did not merit a mention in Field Marshal Alanbrooke's memoirs.
The birdwatching/twitcher Northern Irishman is not involved in it thus may explain his reticence on the topic. However, other big names -- those that in acting parlance belong above the title -- are such as inevitably Churchill, Lord Louis Mountbatten and General 'Boy' Browning. The latter two try to steal the limelight, though in the former's case it was hard to outshine him and this was a successful raid for him as well as for Browning in that on its debut pre donning the trademark berets and became the Parachute Regiment -- the formation being the ahem Browning version --it pulled off a much needed propaganda and battlefield success when the battered island's population badly needed some good news in the face of a succession of defeats.
This comes about due to courage on the paratroopers part -- and excellent leadership on the ground by the then Major John Frost who in typical gallivanting style uses his hunting horn as a signal for the attack -- and extraordinary lassitude by the German defenders, hardly living up to the image of the all-action Teutonic warrior. The regiment in question was to be annihilated when they were deployed to the eastern front, though, their tickets had already been punched prior to their less than impressive defence of the Wurzburg radar which was the prize.
Casualties on both sides are minimal which is rather refreshing for a war story book, though, as with the German regiment so many of the Paras actors that night in this 'party' were to fall short of enjoying the delights of VE and VJ day -- the catastrophe of Arnhem claiming some when Frost and his men were badly let down by Montgomery and his faithful lapdog Browning.
Hastings clearly resides in the camp of those who believe the portrayal of Browning -- played by Dirk Bogarde -- by director Dickie Attenborough in A Bridge Too Far is a faithful one and not a traducing of his character as his devoted then widow Daphne du Maurier claimed. Browning's treatment of Frost too leaves a lot to be desired, they clearly do not see eye to eye, and the general omits him from any mention in his post-op report....Frost himself as Hastings observes 'never thought much of Browning as an airborne forces commander, carried to the grave the a belief that the divisional commander had undervalued Bruneval and C Company's achievement.'
Has Hastings been the divisional commander one senses Frost would have been weighed under like Mussolini or an African dictator with medals -- though the Paratrooper would have earned them. Frost seemed unmoved by the lack of a VC and gave an interesting insight into why as he 'confided how grateful he was never to have been considered for a VC, because he witnessed the lifelong unhappiness and even guilt, that such a distinction could confer amongst the Cross's recipients.'
Mountbatten is cast in a more generous light, though some quailed when he spent a weekend with Churchill and what big ideas he might have floated that would be taken up with gusto by the PM.
He too stole the limelight away from the French resistance for the incredible courage two in particular displayed to accrue the vital intelligence on the ground that turned the raid into a must do scheme. Instead at the post-op briefing to Churchill he interrupted Frost and showered praise on his close friend and head of intelligence the Cuban Bobby Marquis de Casa Maury, who barely deserved one iota of it. That instead should have gone to Roger 'Pol' Dumont and Charles 'Charlemagne' Chauveau who risked their lives to gather it and then deliver it.
Thus that is a taster of the story and so brilliantly told by Hastings laced with his wit: 'Volunteers for special operations, whether commandos, SAS, SOE or parachutists were seldom the sort to be docile household pets' and anecdotes -- those with false teeth were immediately ruled out of being a paratrooper at risk of losing their dentures on jumping out of the aircraft or the Admiral James who gave the green light from Nelson's famed ship Victory in Portsmouth was best known for the portrait of him by his grandfather Sir John Everett Millais. 'James, poor man, remained for the rest of his life indelibly associated with Pears soap, and familiarly known both afloat and ashore as 'Bubbles.'
Not for nothing is Hastings the archetypal One Nation Tory -- sadly a dying breed -- and is reflected in his bringing ordinary men such as Charlie Cox -- the type Browning would barely look up or down -- into the spotlight as this unsuspecting cinema projectionist and radio ham is thrust into the war to become the pivotal 'expert' on the mission. 'Much later the technician was asked if he had volunteered for Biting. He responded: "Sort of." as Hastings says later Cox, who received the Military Medal, was the 'salt of the earth'.
Biting by name and this book does indeed have fangs and teeth despite the raid itself being so little known before Hastings turned his masterful mind and digits to it. A truly great read.
The birdwatching/twitcher Northern Irishman is not involved in it thus may explain his reticence on the topic. However, other big names -- those that in acting parlance belong above the title -- are such as inevitably Churchill, Lord Louis Mountbatten and General 'Boy' Browning. The latter two try to steal the limelight, though in the former's case it was hard to outshine him and this was a successful raid for him as well as for Browning in that on its debut pre donning the trademark berets and became the Parachute Regiment -- the formation being the ahem Browning version --it pulled off a much needed propaganda and battlefield success when the battered island's population badly needed some good news in the face of a succession of defeats.
This comes about due to courage on the paratroopers part -- and excellent leadership on the ground by the then Major John Frost who in typical gallivanting style uses his hunting horn as a signal for the attack -- and extraordinary lassitude by the German defenders, hardly living up to the image of the all-action Teutonic warrior. The regiment in question was to be annihilated when they were deployed to the eastern front, though, their tickets had already been punched prior to their less than impressive defence of the Wurzburg radar which was the prize.
Casualties on both sides are minimal which is rather refreshing for a war story book, though, as with the German regiment so many of the Paras actors that night in this 'party' were to fall short of enjoying the delights of VE and VJ day -- the catastrophe of Arnhem claiming some when Frost and his men were badly let down by Montgomery and his faithful lapdog Browning.
Hastings clearly resides in the camp of those who believe the portrayal of Browning -- played by Dirk Bogarde -- by director Dickie Attenborough in A Bridge Too Far is a faithful one and not a traducing of his character as his devoted then widow Daphne du Maurier claimed. Browning's treatment of Frost too leaves a lot to be desired, they clearly do not see eye to eye, and the general omits him from any mention in his post-op report....Frost himself as Hastings observes 'never thought much of Browning as an airborne forces commander, carried to the grave the a belief that the divisional commander had undervalued Bruneval and C Company's achievement.'
Has Hastings been the divisional commander one senses Frost would have been weighed under like Mussolini or an African dictator with medals -- though the Paratrooper would have earned them. Frost seemed unmoved by the lack of a VC and gave an interesting insight into why as he 'confided how grateful he was never to have been considered for a VC, because he witnessed the lifelong unhappiness and even guilt, that such a distinction could confer amongst the Cross's recipients.'
Mountbatten is cast in a more generous light, though some quailed when he spent a weekend with Churchill and what big ideas he might have floated that would be taken up with gusto by the PM.
He too stole the limelight away from the French resistance for the incredible courage two in particular displayed to accrue the vital intelligence on the ground that turned the raid into a must do scheme. Instead at the post-op briefing to Churchill he interrupted Frost and showered praise on his close friend and head of intelligence the Cuban Bobby Marquis de Casa Maury, who barely deserved one iota of it. That instead should have gone to Roger 'Pol' Dumont and Charles 'Charlemagne' Chauveau who risked their lives to gather it and then deliver it.
Thus that is a taster of the story and so brilliantly told by Hastings laced with his wit: 'Volunteers for special operations, whether commandos, SAS, SOE or parachutists were seldom the sort to be docile household pets' and anecdotes -- those with false teeth were immediately ruled out of being a paratrooper at risk of losing their dentures on jumping out of the aircraft or the Admiral James who gave the green light from Nelson's famed ship Victory in Portsmouth was best known for the portrait of him by his grandfather Sir John Everett Millais. 'James, poor man, remained for the rest of his life indelibly associated with Pears soap, and familiarly known both afloat and ashore as 'Bubbles.'
Not for nothing is Hastings the archetypal One Nation Tory -- sadly a dying breed -- and is reflected in his bringing ordinary men such as Charlie Cox -- the type Browning would barely look up or down -- into the spotlight as this unsuspecting cinema projectionist and radio ham is thrust into the war to become the pivotal 'expert' on the mission. 'Much later the technician was asked if he had volunteered for Biting. He responded: "Sort of." as Hastings says later Cox, who received the Military Medal, was the 'salt of the earth'.
Biting by name and this book does indeed have fangs and teeth despite the raid itself being so little known before Hastings turned his masterful mind and digits to it. A truly great read.
November 22, 2024
De ervaren rot Max Hastings weet met Operatie Biting andermaal een zeer prettig leesbaar en gedetailleerd militair-historisch werk te produceren. Als geen ander weet hij complexe missiestructuur te ontleden, feit van fictie te onderscheiden en recht te doen aan verhalen van individueel heldendom.
Hastings omvangrijke carrière in de journalistiek – zo was hij tussen 1986 en 2002 eindredacteur van achtereenvolgens The Daily Telegraph en de Evening Standard –typeert de top-down en bottom-up analyse van historische figuren, die immer centraal staan in zijn werken. Gebruikelijk begint hij met het contextualiseren van de periode en introduceert de hoofdpersonen een voor een, startend bij de regeringsleider om vervolgens via bevelvoerders op operationeel niveau de rangen af te lopen tot Jan Soldaat in het veld. Dit heeft in het geval van Biting het effect dat de lezer goed bewust raakt van de belangen die spelen in de winter van 1941. Voor Churchill, namelijk het behalen van een zwaar benodigd succes na een reeks vernederende verliezen (op zee en op land). Voor Lord Mountbatten, die als buitengewoon markante commandant van het Combined Operations Headquarters snakt naar offensieve operaties op het Europese continent. Voor generaal Frederick Browning, die als hoofd van de gloednieuw opgerichte 1st Airborne Division op zoek is naar bestaanszekerheid voor Britse para’s. Voor Reginald Jones, die als inlichtingenofficier belast met onderzoek naar radartechnologie bij MI6 gehoor krijgt van een nieuwe doelzoekradar in dienst van de Luftwaffe, en maar al te graag deze technologie in handen krijgt.
Bij het Franse gehucht Bruneval (een half uurtje ten noorden van Le Havre) wordt dit nieuwe type radar, genaamd Würzburg, door fotografen van de RAF geïdentificeerd en komen alle voornoemde belangen bij elkaar in een plan. Een groep bestaande uit zo’n 100 para’s en een handvol technici wordt in de nacht van 27 op 28 februari 1942 gedropt nabij het slaperige stranddorp, vecht zich een weg naar de geheime radarinstallatie, demonteert de voor analyse benodigde onderdelen om zich na enkele uren via het strand te evacueren middels gereedliggende landingsvaartuigen. Niettegenstaande diverse tegenslagen van dit nog altijd zeer jonge krijgsmachtdeel, is de Raid on Bruneval een doorslaand succes.
Hastings benadert de bottom-up benadering in zijn historische analyse door de operatie te beschrijven vanuit het tactische niveau, en het beslismakingsproces via de rangen weer naar boven toe te analyseren. Hoofdpersoon tijdens de acties in en om het radarstation is majoor John Frost, die onder de meeste militair historici bekendstaat als commandant van het 2nd Parachute Battalion in de Slag bij Arnhem. Bij filmcritici is de onverschrokken luchtlandingsofficier vooral bekend als personage vertolkt door Anthony Hopkins in A Bridge to Far (‘tell him to go to hell’). Frost’s bekendheid in Nederland bezien, is zijn glansrol in Biting dan ook een fijne bindende factor voor recensent dezes. Allengs komen individuele spelers binnen de Britse para’s, alsook van het lokale Luftwaffe- en Wehrmacht regiment, aan bod.
Hastings persoonlijke aanpak geeft deze mensen, goed en kwaad, een gezicht. De klemmende angst, die zich van deze jonge soldaten heer en meester maakt zodra zij plaatsnemen in de voor airborne-operaties geconverteerde Whitley bommenwerpers, beklijft de lezer. De stelling dat Hastings een uitstekend schrijver is, zal bij menigeen echoën. Noemenswaard is daarom het vertalende werk van Rob de Ridder, die moeiteloos het militair jargon alsook de zeer persoonlijke verhalen van diverse actoren in vlot en buitengewoon leeswaardig Nederlands weet om te zetten. Operatie Biting is daarom uitstekend geschikt voor geïnteresseerden uit diverse doelgroepen, ongeacht de parate kennis van luchtlandingsoperaties.
Interessante keuze vanuit de auteur/uitgever is het opnemen van primaire bronnen in de bijlagen. De bescheiden omvang van zo’n 260 pagina’s wordt opgevolgd door ruim 30 pagina’s aan rapportages en (slag)orders. Hoewel de historicus gretig door deze bijlage zal bladeren om het first hand account van majoor Frost er nog eens op na te lezen, is de reden waarom deze zijn opgenomen onduidelijk en voegen zij per definitie niet veel aan het verhaal toe. Immers, het distilleren van zulke rapporten is inherent al door de auteur gedaan. Toegegeven, de slagorde kunnen raadplegen ter herinnering aan welke sectie door welke officier is aangevoerd, is behulpzaam. Liever was deze ruimte gereserveerd voor een grote afwezige in dit anderzijds ruimschoots vermakelijke werk: kaartmateriaal.
Een kritisch onderdeel in de beschrijving van elke operatie is het terrein. Hastings neemt hier dan ook zijn tijd voor. Bruneval wordt uitvoerig omschreven, alsmede de locaties van bunkers, pillboxes, hoofdkwartieren, radiostations en omliggende boerderijen. Gedurende de raid schrijft de historicus levendig over de bewegingen van Britse secties. Allereerst hoe sommige ‘sticks’ verkeerd gedropt worden, vervolgens hoe de strijd zich ontwikkelt, waar men vastloopt, waar versterkingen vandaan komen, hoe Frost en zijn (onder)officieren hun manschappen plaatsen en hoe de evacuatie naar het strand vorm krijgt. Tegelijkertijd leest men over de Duitse reactie, waar men stelling neemt, waar mondjesmaat versterkingen verschijnen en waar slachtoffers vallen (hoezeer minimaal). Dit alles krijgt de lezer voorgeschoteld zonder enige visuele ondersteuning waar wat zich bevindt. Onbegrijpelijk als men bedenkt dat eerdergenoemd werk over Operatie Pedestal rijkelijk voorzien is van kaartmateriaal, die de positie van het Britse konvooi richting Malta van dag tot dag aan de lezer voorlegt. Vriendelijk verzoek deze in navolgende drukken alsnog op te nemen, mocht de uitgeverij meelezen. Op enkele historische websites zijn geografische overzichten van Bruneval te vinden waarmee de lezer tot die tijd zijn voordeel kan doen.
Hastings omvangrijke carrière in de journalistiek – zo was hij tussen 1986 en 2002 eindredacteur van achtereenvolgens The Daily Telegraph en de Evening Standard –typeert de top-down en bottom-up analyse van historische figuren, die immer centraal staan in zijn werken. Gebruikelijk begint hij met het contextualiseren van de periode en introduceert de hoofdpersonen een voor een, startend bij de regeringsleider om vervolgens via bevelvoerders op operationeel niveau de rangen af te lopen tot Jan Soldaat in het veld. Dit heeft in het geval van Biting het effect dat de lezer goed bewust raakt van de belangen die spelen in de winter van 1941. Voor Churchill, namelijk het behalen van een zwaar benodigd succes na een reeks vernederende verliezen (op zee en op land). Voor Lord Mountbatten, die als buitengewoon markante commandant van het Combined Operations Headquarters snakt naar offensieve operaties op het Europese continent. Voor generaal Frederick Browning, die als hoofd van de gloednieuw opgerichte 1st Airborne Division op zoek is naar bestaanszekerheid voor Britse para’s. Voor Reginald Jones, die als inlichtingenofficier belast met onderzoek naar radartechnologie bij MI6 gehoor krijgt van een nieuwe doelzoekradar in dienst van de Luftwaffe, en maar al te graag deze technologie in handen krijgt.
Bij het Franse gehucht Bruneval (een half uurtje ten noorden van Le Havre) wordt dit nieuwe type radar, genaamd Würzburg, door fotografen van de RAF geïdentificeerd en komen alle voornoemde belangen bij elkaar in een plan. Een groep bestaande uit zo’n 100 para’s en een handvol technici wordt in de nacht van 27 op 28 februari 1942 gedropt nabij het slaperige stranddorp, vecht zich een weg naar de geheime radarinstallatie, demonteert de voor analyse benodigde onderdelen om zich na enkele uren via het strand te evacueren middels gereedliggende landingsvaartuigen. Niettegenstaande diverse tegenslagen van dit nog altijd zeer jonge krijgsmachtdeel, is de Raid on Bruneval een doorslaand succes.
Hastings benadert de bottom-up benadering in zijn historische analyse door de operatie te beschrijven vanuit het tactische niveau, en het beslismakingsproces via de rangen weer naar boven toe te analyseren. Hoofdpersoon tijdens de acties in en om het radarstation is majoor John Frost, die onder de meeste militair historici bekendstaat als commandant van het 2nd Parachute Battalion in de Slag bij Arnhem. Bij filmcritici is de onverschrokken luchtlandingsofficier vooral bekend als personage vertolkt door Anthony Hopkins in A Bridge to Far (‘tell him to go to hell’). Frost’s bekendheid in Nederland bezien, is zijn glansrol in Biting dan ook een fijne bindende factor voor recensent dezes. Allengs komen individuele spelers binnen de Britse para’s, alsook van het lokale Luftwaffe- en Wehrmacht regiment, aan bod.
Hastings persoonlijke aanpak geeft deze mensen, goed en kwaad, een gezicht. De klemmende angst, die zich van deze jonge soldaten heer en meester maakt zodra zij plaatsnemen in de voor airborne-operaties geconverteerde Whitley bommenwerpers, beklijft de lezer. De stelling dat Hastings een uitstekend schrijver is, zal bij menigeen echoën. Noemenswaard is daarom het vertalende werk van Rob de Ridder, die moeiteloos het militair jargon alsook de zeer persoonlijke verhalen van diverse actoren in vlot en buitengewoon leeswaardig Nederlands weet om te zetten. Operatie Biting is daarom uitstekend geschikt voor geïnteresseerden uit diverse doelgroepen, ongeacht de parate kennis van luchtlandingsoperaties.
Interessante keuze vanuit de auteur/uitgever is het opnemen van primaire bronnen in de bijlagen. De bescheiden omvang van zo’n 260 pagina’s wordt opgevolgd door ruim 30 pagina’s aan rapportages en (slag)orders. Hoewel de historicus gretig door deze bijlage zal bladeren om het first hand account van majoor Frost er nog eens op na te lezen, is de reden waarom deze zijn opgenomen onduidelijk en voegen zij per definitie niet veel aan het verhaal toe. Immers, het distilleren van zulke rapporten is inherent al door de auteur gedaan. Toegegeven, de slagorde kunnen raadplegen ter herinnering aan welke sectie door welke officier is aangevoerd, is behulpzaam. Liever was deze ruimte gereserveerd voor een grote afwezige in dit anderzijds ruimschoots vermakelijke werk: kaartmateriaal.
Een kritisch onderdeel in de beschrijving van elke operatie is het terrein. Hastings neemt hier dan ook zijn tijd voor. Bruneval wordt uitvoerig omschreven, alsmede de locaties van bunkers, pillboxes, hoofdkwartieren, radiostations en omliggende boerderijen. Gedurende de raid schrijft de historicus levendig over de bewegingen van Britse secties. Allereerst hoe sommige ‘sticks’ verkeerd gedropt worden, vervolgens hoe de strijd zich ontwikkelt, waar men vastloopt, waar versterkingen vandaan komen, hoe Frost en zijn (onder)officieren hun manschappen plaatsen en hoe de evacuatie naar het strand vorm krijgt. Tegelijkertijd leest men over de Duitse reactie, waar men stelling neemt, waar mondjesmaat versterkingen verschijnen en waar slachtoffers vallen (hoezeer minimaal). Dit alles krijgt de lezer voorgeschoteld zonder enige visuele ondersteuning waar wat zich bevindt. Onbegrijpelijk als men bedenkt dat eerdergenoemd werk over Operatie Pedestal rijkelijk voorzien is van kaartmateriaal, die de positie van het Britse konvooi richting Malta van dag tot dag aan de lezer voorlegt. Vriendelijk verzoek deze in navolgende drukken alsnog op te nemen, mocht de uitgeverij meelezen. Op enkele historische websites zijn geografische overzichten van Bruneval te vinden waarmee de lezer tot die tijd zijn voordeel kan doen.
December 10, 2024
The Bruneval Raid on the small French hamlet was a very small operation, but it had great significance because of its timing. Everything seemed to be going wrong for the Allies in February 1942 and so the success or failure of the raid would have an effect on morale far beyond its scale.
Hastings is a master of detail and narrative, but above everything else he is genuinely interested in the men and women involved and has a passion for seeing the story unfold through their eyes.
An excellent book.
Hastings is a master of detail and narrative, but above everything else he is genuinely interested in the men and women involved and has a passion for seeing the story unfold through their eyes.
An excellent book.
August 24, 2025
This is a very educational book that is easy to read. It is remarkable how all these small stories played such a significant role in the outcome of the war. The book is well-written, and it is worth the time to read if you are interested in topics such as WWII and personal accounts of contributions to the war effort.
May 24, 2025
When the book finally gets to the operation, it’s a great story. This book didn’t need to spend the first 112 pages on character development. Now if you are someone looking for a very very detailed story about everything and everybody, this is the book for you!
August 29, 2025
Gripping
June 21, 2024
A small story well told, “Operation Biting” recounts British parachutists’ first operation, a successful, if minor in the grand scale of the war, raid along the Normandy coast to seize German radar technology.
September 9, 2025
Not cosmic, but interesting in many ways, and told in enough detail that one comes away appreciating just how much of war is luck, regardless of preparation.
November 26, 2024
It's a good, workmanlike account of this successful 1942 raid to capture German radar equipment, along with some of the technical background and a large - probably too large - emphasis on the personalities. I find such stories uplifting at all times and especially in these times, but there is a prevailing "stiff upper lip / good show old boy" ethos in the book that's offputting. One small illustration : Boot's casual reference to a soldier's widow dying in 1999 in "Rhodesia,"a country that never should have existed and in fact had ceased to exist as that apartheid state in 1979 after a bloody war. It's still a decent book, your local library probably has it as did mine, and the audible performance is flawless.
December 18, 2024
Whilst a reasonable read it is not up to Max Hastings usual standard. Could really have done with a good map of what happened, those included are very sketchy and not covering all the sites mentioned which IMO detracted from the text because it was quite hard to visualise what was going on in many passages of the description.
May 29, 2024
An excellent read on the first action of what became the paras. An attack on a radar station on the coast of France. A Dundee connection with Cpt. John Ross belonging to the city.
August 22, 2024
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Harper for an advance copy of this history about one of the first successful parachute raids carried out out in occupied territory, a raid for technology, that gave many lessons to forces on both sides of the war.
When I was a child I remember reading a book in school about a young English lad who was trapped in France after the occupation by German forces. The book was aimed at children, but was a thrilling story about life under occupation, the Germans, the people who resisted in big and small ways. And a plot about a British raid on a radar station, that somehow the boy aids in. I loved this book, checking it out of the library numerous times, but being in middle school, had no real idea the book was based on real events, real events I knew little about until now. Operation Biting: The 1942 Parachute Assault to Capture Hitler's Radar is written by author, historian and journalist Max Hastings and covers a dark time in the early part of the war, a time of darkness, and a fear that somehow the enemy had a way of seeing through this darkness, maybe straight to victory.
By the start of 1942 the Royal Airforce, High Command and the various intelligence forces were beginning to admit to something they did not want to face. That the enemy might have a radar network, which would be problematic, and a radar network that might be better than the one used by the British, which would be catastrophic. Grudgingly those in power began to listen to the scientists who had been warning them, and began to try to place where the radar might be. More scientists, and intelligence agents were brought in, and as work progressed, so did an idea that seemed rash, and even harder to sell, but one that could work. Using paratroopers to land in Occupied France, take control of the radar site, and steal it, evacuating by sea. The planning would have to be meticulous, as would gathering intelligence on the ground, finding the right planes, the right men, even the right weather.
I first read Max Hastings when I started in my first bookstore and came across his The Battle for the Falkland Islands. Since then I have read many of his works, and while I enjoyed them, more importantly I learned quite a bit. Hastings not only has a good grasp of the history of the time and how to write about the military, Hastings is able to make complicated ideas, Radar, radio communications, ballistics, and such easy to understand, and work within his story. This is a book that reads in many places life fiction, thought of course life is stranger than fiction. The men who broke jaws jumping through untested planes. The spy who enjoyed the good life in Paris, the rivalries between services. Hastings uses these stories not only to tell his story, but to remind readers that these people are real, they existed, and sometimes people are complicated. Heroes might not be heroes all the time. There is a lot here, spy stories, science, action, political maneuvers. Hastings never loses the narrative, nor lets the book drag.
A very well-written history on an event I knew from a middle school adventure book I read. Hastings is very good at this, and if one likes military or books about World War II, I can't recommend this enough. The mix of personal tales, real history, technology, make for very good reading.
When I was a child I remember reading a book in school about a young English lad who was trapped in France after the occupation by German forces. The book was aimed at children, but was a thrilling story about life under occupation, the Germans, the people who resisted in big and small ways. And a plot about a British raid on a radar station, that somehow the boy aids in. I loved this book, checking it out of the library numerous times, but being in middle school, had no real idea the book was based on real events, real events I knew little about until now. Operation Biting: The 1942 Parachute Assault to Capture Hitler's Radar is written by author, historian and journalist Max Hastings and covers a dark time in the early part of the war, a time of darkness, and a fear that somehow the enemy had a way of seeing through this darkness, maybe straight to victory.
By the start of 1942 the Royal Airforce, High Command and the various intelligence forces were beginning to admit to something they did not want to face. That the enemy might have a radar network, which would be problematic, and a radar network that might be better than the one used by the British, which would be catastrophic. Grudgingly those in power began to listen to the scientists who had been warning them, and began to try to place where the radar might be. More scientists, and intelligence agents were brought in, and as work progressed, so did an idea that seemed rash, and even harder to sell, but one that could work. Using paratroopers to land in Occupied France, take control of the radar site, and steal it, evacuating by sea. The planning would have to be meticulous, as would gathering intelligence on the ground, finding the right planes, the right men, even the right weather.
I first read Max Hastings when I started in my first bookstore and came across his The Battle for the Falkland Islands. Since then I have read many of his works, and while I enjoyed them, more importantly I learned quite a bit. Hastings not only has a good grasp of the history of the time and how to write about the military, Hastings is able to make complicated ideas, Radar, radio communications, ballistics, and such easy to understand, and work within his story. This is a book that reads in many places life fiction, thought of course life is stranger than fiction. The men who broke jaws jumping through untested planes. The spy who enjoyed the good life in Paris, the rivalries between services. Hastings uses these stories not only to tell his story, but to remind readers that these people are real, they existed, and sometimes people are complicated. Heroes might not be heroes all the time. There is a lot here, spy stories, science, action, political maneuvers. Hastings never loses the narrative, nor lets the book drag.
A very well-written history on an event I knew from a middle school adventure book I read. Hastings is very good at this, and if one likes military or books about World War II, I can't recommend this enough. The mix of personal tales, real history, technology, make for very good reading.
February 9, 2025
Max Hastings is one of the best writers about the Second World War,with great command of the facts and an easy writing style.
This is an action which very few people will have heard off and I was not totally convinced by the writer's efforts to promote its importance.
The details on Mountbatten,for whom the author has little time, were interesting and perspicacious.I liked the quote by Mountbatten,"Edwin and I spent all our married lives getting into other people's beds."
Whether of not Mountbatten was really a homosexual remains uncertain.
In an interesting comment on the British royal family, the commander of the Luftwaffe forces lined up against the British was a cousin of Mountbatten and a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria.He actually missed the action having taken the night off to have some fun in Paris.Unsurprisingly he was relieved of his command shortly afterwards,
This would actually be a good book for Gen Z to read.History is hardly taught in British schools today, and uninformed youth decry Churchill as some sort of evil monster,rather than than the man who probably prevented Germany from ruling Europe in perpetuity.I saw one anti-Churchill demonstrator in London who thought Churchill was a fictional character!
Readers would also be reminded of the bravery and self-sacrifice of so many young men for the sake of the country.One wonders how many would follow suit today.
This is an action which very few people will have heard off and I was not totally convinced by the writer's efforts to promote its importance.
The details on Mountbatten,for whom the author has little time, were interesting and perspicacious.I liked the quote by Mountbatten,"Edwin and I spent all our married lives getting into other people's beds."
Whether of not Mountbatten was really a homosexual remains uncertain.
In an interesting comment on the British royal family, the commander of the Luftwaffe forces lined up against the British was a cousin of Mountbatten and a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria.He actually missed the action having taken the night off to have some fun in Paris.Unsurprisingly he was relieved of his command shortly afterwards,
This would actually be a good book for Gen Z to read.History is hardly taught in British schools today, and uninformed youth decry Churchill as some sort of evil monster,rather than than the man who probably prevented Germany from ruling Europe in perpetuity.I saw one anti-Churchill demonstrator in London who thought Churchill was a fictional character!
Readers would also be reminded of the bravery and self-sacrifice of so many young men for the sake of the country.One wonders how many would follow suit today.
September 27, 2025
I read this as a Kindle ebook checked out from the library. This is the tale of Operating Biting, a raid by British Combined Operations in February 1942 into occupied France. The raid was staged at a time when the British fortunes in the war against Nazi Germany seemed at low ebb. With the conventional forces of the British army, Royal Navy, and RAF facing battlefield setbacks, Churchill championed the use of small commando forces to make raids into occupied Europe. The Germans and the Allies were in an arms race to develop and expand the capabilities of radar, so when the opportunity was identified to capture a German "Wurzburg" radar installation near the hamlet of Bruneval on the coast of France, just across the English Channel, plans were set in motion. This book gives biographical sketches of the main players who planned and executed the raid, then covers the action as a small band of commandos are parachuted in to secure the radar set and disassemble it for transport by sea back to England. The Bruneval raid was the most successful of the handful of British commando raids carried out in occupied Europe. I had some scant knowledge of the Bruneval raid from prior reading and I found this book to be fascinating. Four out of five stars.
November 4, 2024
Max Hastings books set out to tell the human story often hidden or buried in the detail of larger histories. In his latest work, Operation Biting Hastings recounts the 1942 British paratrooper raid on the German Occupied French village of Bruneval. The goal was to capture a German radar unit and its operator.
In a straightforward narrative, Hastings details the development of the British paratrooper forces and the context of the raid. He also focuses on some of the key personalities such as Churchill, Robert Watson-Watt and Lord Louis Mountbatten, at this point chief of combined operations for the British. The raid was a long shot, but a needed win for a morale victory following disappointments and defeats such as the loss of Singapore. After identify and detailing the major personalities, Hastings traces the acts of espionage and in-depth training needed to make a success of the raid.
Operation Biting was the first assault on mainland Europe following the Dunkirk evacuation and would teach many important lessons about needed technological improvements to parachuting and wayfinding as well as the more small scale adjustments to uniforms so overfull bladders could be more easily relieved.
Recommended to readers of history, warfare or world war II.
I received a free digital version of this book via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
In a straightforward narrative, Hastings details the development of the British paratrooper forces and the context of the raid. He also focuses on some of the key personalities such as Churchill, Robert Watson-Watt and Lord Louis Mountbatten, at this point chief of combined operations for the British. The raid was a long shot, but a needed win for a morale victory following disappointments and defeats such as the loss of Singapore. After identify and detailing the major personalities, Hastings traces the acts of espionage and in-depth training needed to make a success of the raid.
Operation Biting was the first assault on mainland Europe following the Dunkirk evacuation and would teach many important lessons about needed technological improvements to parachuting and wayfinding as well as the more small scale adjustments to uniforms so overfull bladders could be more easily relieved.
Recommended to readers of history, warfare or world war II.
I received a free digital version of this book via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
March 28, 2025
A Well-Told Account of a Lesser-Known Raid
Max Hastings’ Operation Biting is a detailed and engaging account of the 1942 British raid on a German radar station in France. As always, Hastings brings strong research and solid storytelling to the table, making this a well-written and informative read.
That said, while the operation itself was daring and strategically interesting, it wasn’t a major turning point in the war. At times, it feels like the subject matter may not have warranted a full book, as some sections seem stretched to fill out the narrative. Readers looking for a deep dive into small-scale operations will appreciate the detail, but others may find it a bit overextended.
Overall, Operation Biting is a good read for military history enthusiasts, particularly those interested in airborne raids and special operations. While not essential reading, it’s a solid 3.5-star book that delivers an interesting but relatively minor chapter of WWII history.
Max Hastings’ Operation Biting is a detailed and engaging account of the 1942 British raid on a German radar station in France. As always, Hastings brings strong research and solid storytelling to the table, making this a well-written and informative read.
That said, while the operation itself was daring and strategically interesting, it wasn’t a major turning point in the war. At times, it feels like the subject matter may not have warranted a full book, as some sections seem stretched to fill out the narrative. Readers looking for a deep dive into small-scale operations will appreciate the detail, but others may find it a bit overextended.
Overall, Operation Biting is a good read for military history enthusiasts, particularly those interested in airborne raids and special operations. While not essential reading, it’s a solid 3.5-star book that delivers an interesting but relatively minor chapter of WWII history.
June 16, 2024
At this point I think we should amend the saying so the three certainties in life are death, taxes and Max Hastings delivering a fantastic book once a year. Every one that I've read has been fascinatingly written, staggeringly well-researched and intimately readable in a way that few historians can manage. Operation Biting is no exception, covering a forgotten but successful raid which marked the birth of the British Parachute force, as well as the barely believable intelligence-gathering operation of the French Resistance that enabled it. As always with Hastings' work, he paints an intensely personal picture of the individual heroism and tragedy common in warfare. Covering all levels from generals' planning to the experiences of the footsoldiers, Operation Biting is a swashbuckling account of the compelling raid, its planning and aftermath and the lives of the unique and mercurial characters who played roles in it. It's a perfect wartime adventure for readers of any prior level of knowledge or interest.
November 2, 2024
Max Hastings in one of my favorite military authors/historians. I have most of volumes concerning WWI and WWII and have found them to be very well researched and written. This volume concerns the historic coup to steal a functional German Wurzbug unit by a group of British parachutists, enginners, naval personel and pilots from the coast of france early in the war. Again a well resaerched volume on an event that many may not be aware. My favorite chapter has to be the concluidng one The Prizegiving which describes what happened to many of particiapants both British and Gemand after the raid and subsequently for many after the war. If you dont reda the appendices, it is a remarkably short volume of about 260 pages. Well done
April 7, 2025
Nice coverage of the small operation, highlighting the importance of its propaganda value.
I think the book is 10& longer than what it needs to be.
There are so many little details about certain character. For example, I do not need to know the name of the parents of a certain officer met and how they settle down in which countryside. It's irrelevant and a waste of ink/paper.
so, in short: good, but not great.
From what I have seen so far, books by Anthony Beevor is till far superior than Hastings.
definitely better than Max Hastings' latest book 'Abyss' (waste of time if you are familiar with the topic).
I think the book is 10& longer than what it needs to be.
There are so many little details about certain character. For example, I do not need to know the name of the parents of a certain officer met and how they settle down in which countryside. It's irrelevant and a waste of ink/paper.
so, in short: good, but not great.
From what I have seen so far, books by Anthony Beevor is till far superior than Hastings.
definitely better than Max Hastings' latest book 'Abyss' (waste of time if you are familiar with the topic).
August 14, 2025
My first Max Hastings read, and it might be a while since my next. I never felt engaged with this, his writing is formal and self-interruptive, it rarely flows.
In addition to this I found the book to have a condescending tone, assuming the reader has a vast knowledge of, and keen interest in military history. I’m unsure why he also refers to Ceylon and acknowledges its current name as Sri Lanka, but doesn’t extend the same courtesy to Zimbabwe.
The subject matter whilst interesting feels padded out, the last third of the book is appendices that I had no desire to read through.
The research gone into the book is clearly substantial, but the story got lost in it.
In addition to this I found the book to have a condescending tone, assuming the reader has a vast knowledge of, and keen interest in military history. I’m unsure why he also refers to Ceylon and acknowledges its current name as Sri Lanka, but doesn’t extend the same courtesy to Zimbabwe.
The subject matter whilst interesting feels padded out, the last third of the book is appendices that I had no desire to read through.
The research gone into the book is clearly substantial, but the story got lost in it.
October 5, 2024
An interesting look at a little-known raid performed by the British in WW2. Although the planning and intelligence into the raid was slipshod and inaccurate, the outcome was a success for the raiders. The leadership was faulty, and things could have gone badly, but the men overcame and succeeded. This success may have led to later failures on a grander scale by the British (Dieppe and the St Nazarene Dock). Overall, I enjoyed the story and the firsthand accounts which really brought the story to life.
Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
June 6, 2024
A typically well written and researched book by MH which I finished on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, coincidentally enough.
Although the preparation and prosecution of the raid were well covered I found his reflections on the short/med/long term ramifications on military policy following the raid to be the most interesting aspect of this work.
It also gave fascinating and inciteful thumbnail sketches of the 'great and the good' Mountbatten/ Browning/Frost etc.
Although the preparation and prosecution of the raid were well covered I found his reflections on the short/med/long term ramifications on military policy following the raid to be the most interesting aspect of this work.
It also gave fascinating and inciteful thumbnail sketches of the 'great and the good' Mountbatten/ Browning/Frost etc.
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