Dimensions
129 x 198 x 18mm
One of the reasons the British won the "radar war" with Nazi Germany was that they knew exactly how the enemy system worked. This was thanks to a daring commando raid on a German Wurzburg radar site at Bruneval in northern France. Ostensibly, the British had attacked and destroyed the whole station, but in reality key components had been stolen and the whole set analysed.
On the night of 27-8 February 1942 a detachment of British paratroops landed in occupied France. Their mission: to capture a German radar site and seize the vital parts of the machine. If they succeeded, the secrets of Germany's radar apparatus would be revealed, with major implications for the Allied bombing campaign and the Battle of the Atlantic.
There could be no thought of failure, least of all for the young British soldier who parachuted in wearing a German uniform knowing that he had to die rather than be captured alive.
George Millar served in the British Army during World War II. Captured in North Africa he escaped en route to Colditz and later served behind the lines in France.