About this Event
We are thrilled to welcome renowned journalist and historian, Max Hastings to Waterstones Nottingham to celebrate the release of his new book, Operation Biting: The 1942 Parachute Assault to Capture Hitler’s Radar.
Operation Biting was one of the most thrilling British commando raids of World War II, and probably the most successful.
In February 1942 RAF intelligence was baffled by a newly-identified radar network on the coast of Nazi-occupied Europe, codenamed Würzburg. The brilliant scientist Dr.R.V. Jones proposed an assault to capture key components. The nearest accessible enemy set stood upon a cliff at Bruneval in Normandy. Winston Churchill enthused, as did Lord Louis Mountbatten, chief of Combined Operations. A company of the newly-formed Airborne Forces was committed to the operation, which took place on the night of 27/28 February.
Amid heavy snow 120 men landed, some of whom were mis dropped almost two miles from their objective. They nonetheless launched the assault, dismantled the German radar, and after three nail-biting hours in France and a fierce battle with Wehrmacht defenders, escaped in the nick of time by landing-craft across stormy seas to Portsmouth.
Max will talk about his new book before an audience Q&A and book signing.
Max Hastingsis the author of over thirty books, many about the history of war, among which the most recent bestsellers are All Hell Let Loose, Catastrophe, Vietnam, Operation Pedestal and Abyss. In his early years as a correspondent, he reported on eleven wars, of which the last was the 1982 Falklands conflict. A former editor-in-chief of the Daily Telegraph, he has won many prizes both for journalism and his books, and continues to contribute columns to The Times and Bloomberg. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, an Honorary Fellow of King’s College, London and was knighted in 2002. He lives in West Berkshire.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Waterstones, 1-5 Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham, United Kingdom
GBP 4.00 to GBP 23.00
