Organisers of commemorations marking the 76th anniversary of the raid on St Nazaire breathed a huge sigh of relief after their events escaped the wrath of the weather at the weekend.

Temperatures may have been freezing, but sunshine greeted all those taking part in the two services. The first was held at Falmouth cemetery where the mayor's chaplain Father Ian Froom led a service at the graves of Bill Savage VC, Tom Parker and Johnny Johnson, whose family attended.

An hour later, the main event of the day began on The Moor, overseen by parade marshal Tom French. The parade had been due to be led by the volunteer band of HMS Seahawk at Culdrose, but they pulled out because of the weather forecast.

Standard bearers, local sea cadets, members of the Royal British Legion and the civic party, led by mayor Grenville Chappel, walked to the St Nazaire Memorial on Prince of Wales Pier where the service was led by the Rev Darren Middleton, chaplain to 29 Commando.

"The service went exceedingly well," said former town clerk and St Nazaire Society representative, Eric Dawkins, who helped organised the commemorations. "We laid 23 wreaths and all the standard bearers were there.

"The padre was outstanding and showed his stage training (his previous career saw him perform on the West End stage) by leading the singing of God Save the Queen."

Before the parade, members of Penryn British Legion presented the mayor with a cheque to go towards the town's war memorial fund, which is raising money to enable the names of the fallen of World War II to be recorded publicly.

On Saturday, Mr Chappel hosted a delegation from the HMS Ganges Association who presented him with a barometer, thermometer, hygrometer set inlaid in a wooden paddle.

The St Nazaire Raid, or Operation Chariot, was a British amphibious attack on the heavily defended Normandie dry dock in German-occupied France. The operation was undertaken by the Royal Navy and British Commandos on March 28, 1942.

The obsolete destroyer HMS Campbeltown, accompanied by 18 smaller craft, left from Falmouth and was rammed into the Normandie dock gates. The ship had been packed with delayed-action explosives that detonated later that day, putting the dock out of service for the remainder of the war and up to five years after.

A force of commandos landed to destroy machinery and other structures. Heavy German gunfire sank, set ablaze or immobilised all the small craft intended to transport the commandos back to England so they had to fight their way out through the town to try to escape overland. They were forced to surrender when their ammunition was expended and they were surrounded.

Of the 622 men who left Falmouth, 228 returned to Britain, 169 were killed and 215 became prisoners of war. To recognise their bravery, 89 decorations were awarded to members of the raiding party, including five Victoria Crosses.