A Devil's Shooting Gallery

Four minutes late, but the largest has been reached

The Campbletown lies stopped, crashed into the caisson

Opening the valves to scuddle the ship

Patiently awaiting, her hour of Death

With Iron-runged ladders

The commandos embark

Down they went under heavy fire

Supported by the Oerlikons

Moving at the double

Carrying weapons and many explosives

Illuminated by searchlights, in a moonlike gloom

The men advance towards their objectives

Sometimes no opposition, other times lighting hard

All around the noise of shots and explosions

Everywhere the crackle of machineguns

The bursts of the Oerlikens

The crashed of high explosives

The roar of the commandos' charges

Destroying the pump houses

Demolishing the far caisson

Blowing up the winding houses

Silencing the defenses

Each target has been reached

Success in an utmost degree

In battle with the bunkers

Throwing hand grenades

Blazing with Brens and Thomsons

The positions were overrun

Opposition was fierce, a deadly game evolved

The Germans and the British were fighting hand-to-hand

The protection and demolishing teams were retreating

Under the fire of the German ships less than half an

hour after the landing took place

The commandos demolition objectives had been fulfilled

The Forme Eeluse was useless, certainly a year at least

Pritchard's daring operation was already a success