The Starkey Sacrifice: The Allied Bombing of Le Portel, 1943 – Michael Cumming Aanbieding

In the summer of 1943 Winston Churchill sanctioned a make-believe invasion of France codenamed Operation ‘Starkey’. Its aim: to dupe the Germans into believing a real invasion in the Pas de Calais was imminent; and to cause the greatest possible damage to the Luftwaffe by drawing them up for battle.
It envisaged British and Canadian troops in their thousands assembling in the south coast ports; 3,000 bomber sorties by day and as many by night; Royal Navy battleships to help soften up the German coastal defen…