Avre Friday Briefing #60

The ship that became a bomb

We talk about Operation Chariot as “the raid”, but the strangest part of the whole story might actually be the ship itself.

USS BUCHANAN

HMS Campbeltown had already lived several lives before she ever reached St Nazaire.
She started out in America as USS Buchanan, a Wickes-class destroyer built for the United States Navy near the end of the First World War. By the early 1940’s she was old, outdated and frankly past her best. Through the Lend-Lease agreement she was handed over to the Royal Navy, renamed Campbeltown, and sent into a war that had become increasingly desperate.

Most ships grow old and get scrapped. Campbeltown was chosen for something else entirely.

HMS CAMPBELTOWN BEING CONVERTED

British engineers stripped huge sections of her down to reduce weight. Funnels were cut and reshaped so that from a distance she looked more like a German torpedo boat. Armour was removed and compartments altered. Then deep inside the ship they packed over four tons of amatol explosive, hidden beneath concrete and steel.

Think about that for a second — an ageing American destroyer, rebuilt by the British, disguised as the enemy and turned into a delayed-action bomb. It feels less like military planning and more like something from a wartime novel.

On the night of 28th March 1942 she made her final run up the Loire Estuary under intense fire. Her orders were brutally simple: ram the Normandie Dock gates at full speed and stay there. She did just that.

German personnel on-board Campbeltown on the morning after the raid, before the ship exploded

The commandos onboard leapt into chaos. Fighting spread across the docks and the town beyond. Campbeltown sat wedged hard into the gate whilst German officers and soldiers inspected what they believed was simply a wrecked destroyer.

Hours later the explosives detonated.

The blast obliterated the dock gate and killed large numbers of German personnel gathered onboard and around the ship. The Normandie Dock was rendered unusable for the rest of the war, denying the Atlantic coast its only dry dock capable of servicing the Tirpitz.

Normandie Dock months after the raid. The wreck of Campbeltown is visible inside the dry dock

One ship, three identities:

American destroyer.
British decoy.
Floating bomb.

There is something deeply Avre about that story. Old things repurposed. Utility becoming legend. Objects carrying history inside them whether people notice it or not.

One last thought, all four of us founders have children around the age to be called up. Each commando on Operation Chariot signed up as a volunteer, knowing full well that there was no real exit strategy. Not only can we not imagine the bravery of those young souls, but we also cannot imagine our kids signing up into the unknown.

Vat 01 exists because stories like this shouldn't be forgotten.

Original vs Reinvented

At Avre we have slowly realised that we are actually building two very different things.
Not different products but different philosophies which we call Originals and Reinvented.

When we make an Original, we stay as close as possible to the historical garment. These are about our obsession with preservation. We obsess over things like fabric, construction and trims, and we recreate as closely as possible to the original wartime garment.

Sometimes that means keeping things that are objectively impractical by modern standards. For example a shorter zip length or a wider hem. Those design decisions were made at the time for a reason and we replicate them faithfully; even though the modern wearer doesn't have to stow rations or crawl around with a rifle.  

An Original is not “inspired by” history, it's our attempt to physically preserve it.

On Originals we include signed labels, handwritten numbers and limited edition production runs because once that batch is complete, the work is done. We don't revisit them. They become a snapshot of our understanding of that garment at that moment in time.

Reinvented is different.

Reinvented starts with the same respect for the original piece, but allows us to ask a dangerous question:

“What would happen if we kept going?”

What if a tanker jacket had a better lining. What if a battledress blouse had a more practical closure. What if a naval smock gained pockets that actually worked for modern life. Sometimes we add new trims or change a pattern, and sometimes we exclude features that were present on the original. Sometimes our changes are subtle and sometimes they're quite bold, but they're all small acts of small acts of rebellion.

Importantly, Reinvented pieces carry a different internal label, not because they are lesser but simply because they represent a different idea. They are not historical preservation pieces and therefore they do not carry signed edition numbers in the same way our Originals do.

One line exists to preserve history, the other exists to continue it.

And honestly, we love both equally, because history itself was never static. Soldiers modified kit constantly. Mechanics altered jackets. Sailors repaired things with whatever they had available. Utility always evolved under pressure.

In many ways Reinvented might actually be the most historically accurate thing we do.

Reinvented gives us room to make considered updates. We might add a zip where the original had none, or substitute a weatherproof fabric for a cotton twill — changes that keep the silhouette and character intact while making the jacket more practical for modern wear.

Both are made by hand here in the UK with the same attention to detail and the same  quality materials. It's really just a question of how close to the original you want to be.

Shows we will be at this year

Some dates for your diary below. As mentioned previously, we'll also be at the Imperial War Museum in June for anyone who wants to try on any of our current batches of products. Dates coming soon.

Chalke Valley History Festival

24th - 28th June

 

We Have Ways Fest

11th - 13th September

Avre customers get 10% off on the day

Goodwood Revival

18th - 20th September