Hello, and thank you for listening to The History of World War II podcast.

Episode 429, it only takes one little mistake.

Last time, the ships of Operation Jubilee had gotten underway at 8 p.m. August 18, 1942,

led by Commodore John Hughes-Hallet aboard the destroyer HMS Cal.

It was a warm and moonless night, i.e., a good start, but would it stay that way, for

the hundreds of ships behind Hughes-Hallet, that was the million-dollar question.

As the boats or vessels glided over the water surface, there was much activity on board

as bangle or torpedoes and smoke bombs were passed around.

While this was going on, everyone else was staring at their maps for the thousandth time.

Nothing could be allowed to get in the way of success, certainly not forgetting the terrain

as shell started landing around one.

Besides this, the men got in their hands the brand new Bren guns and worked them over,

but it was the mill's bombs or hand grenades that gave all pause, as already during the

short voyage, one had gone off, which killed two people and injured a third.

David Luce, Hughes-Hallet's deputy, wrote of this moment, there were hundreds of ships

in craft, as far as the I could see wherever we looked, and knowing that all were under

our command and committed to the greatest amphibious operation since Calibilee, had a certain

dreamlike quality.

Indeed, with the 237 ships of all kinds around them, it must have seemed like the war was

about to turn in their favor.

But the first thing that Hughes-Hallet had to worry about was getting his vessels through

a recently laid minefield, and just behind the cap were nine infantry landingships, eight

...