From award-winning war reporter and internationally bestselling author
Damien Lewis, a blistering account of one of the most daring raids of
WWII--and the top-secret weapon that changed the course of history.
Based on the never-before-seen WWII archive of those who masterminded
Britain's air defenses, Churchill's Shadow Raiders reveals the untold
story of Operation Colossus - the Allies first ever airborne raid, and
the forgotten heroes of WWII.
In the winter of 1941, as Britain faced defeat on all fronts, an RAF
reconnaissance pilot photographed an alien-looking object on the French
coast near Le Havre. The mysterious device--a "Wurzburg Dish"--appeared
to be a new form of radar technology: ultra-compact, highly precise, and
pointed directly across the English Channel. Britain's experts found it
hard to believe the Germans had mastered such groundbreaking technology.
But one young technician thought it not only possible, he convinced
Winston Churchill that the dish posed a unique and deadly threat to
Allied forces, one that required desperate measures--and drastic
action...
So was launched Operation Biting, a mission like no other. An
extraordinary "snatch-and-grab" raid on Germany's secret radar
installation, it offered Churchill's elite airborne force, the Special
Air Service, a rare opportunity to redeem themselves after a previous
failed mission--and to shift the tides of war forever. Led by the
legendary Major John Frost, these brave paratroopers would risk all in a
daring airborne assault, with only a small stretch of beach menaced by
enemy guns as their exit point. With the help of a volunteer radar
technician who knew how to dismantle the dish, as well as the courageous
men and women of the French Resistance, they succeeded against all odds
in their act of brazen robbery. Some would die. Others would be
captured. All fought with resolute bravery...
This is the story of that fateful night of February 27, 1942. A
brilliantly told, thrillingly tense account of Churchill's raiders in
their finest hour, this is World War II history at its heart-stopping
best.
