I've just watched the amazing story of the British Commando raid on St. Nazaire in 1941.
The most noticeable thing about the men was not their bravery, which was astounding, but their attitude. After raming their explosive laden boat into the Nazi port, 600 British Commandos tried to take on a defended fortress of over 12,000 Germans.
When 80% of the commandos had been killed and the rest had been captured, the bomb went off, destroying the port. The screaming German officer who told the men they were going to die was met with the response "well then, could you please stop shouting and just kill us?".
The survivors had no need to tell of their bravery, look for counselling or howl about the flag. Their modesty, humour and professionalism seem to set them aside from so many of the reports we now see coming out of Iraq. Is this because they knew they were in the right, or were people just different then?
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