This is a very readable account of an operation that went tragically wrong. It was a hard learned lesson that hopefully helped to save many thousands of lives less than two years later. The courage of those involved is humbling. A poignant touch was when, after the raid, the defeated prisoners were being marched East. A man in a French wedding party saw that some of the POWs had no boots. He took off his own shoes and gave them to one of the hobbling men.
