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INTRODUCTION

Canada’s experiences in war have been marked by greattriumphs but also by harsh setbacks. The Dieppe Raidduring the Second World War was one o the darkestchapters in Canada’s military history. It did, however,help lead to important lessons being learned.

“FORTRESS EUROPE”

By the summer o 1942, the Second World War hadbeen raging or almost three years and things lookedgrim; Nazi Germany had pushed east into the SovietUnion, enemy orces were advancing in North Aricaand U-boats were making the Atlantic a deadly placeor Allied ships. The British Isles were the only Alliedholdout ater the Germans had invaded and occupiedmuch o Western Europe in 1940. The continent’s westcoast was studded with enemy troops, machine guns,artillery, barbed wire, concrete pillboxes and oshoreobstacles. It had truly become “Fortress Europe.”

WHY RAID DIEPPE?

Many actors compelled the Allied Forces to mount alarge raid into occupied Europe in 1942. The SovietUnion was pressuring the Allies to open a second rontin Western Europe. The Allies, however, needed to buildup their military resources beore undertaking a ullinvasion. They elt that a large raid on the coast o Francecould orce the Germans to divert more o their military resources away rom the Soviet Union and also help inthe planning or the ull-scale invasion to come.Canadians had been training since the outset o the warin 1939 and, except or the Battle o Hong Kong, had yetto see signicant action. There was political pressure athome to get the Canadians into battle, as well as pressure within the army itsel.Dieppe was selected as the main target o the raidpartially because it was within range o ghter planesrom Britain. It was a resort town situated at a break inthe clis along the northwest French coast. The Alliesplanned to launch a large-scale amphibious landing,damage German shipping and port acilities, and gatherintelligence on enemy deences and radar technology.

“OPERATION JUBILEE”

The Dieppe Raid, code-named“Operation Jubilee,”saw more than 6,000 men come ashore at ve dierent pointsalong a 16 kilometre-long stretch o heavily deendedcoastline. Four o the attacks were to take place justbeore dawn at points east and west o Dieppe, whilethe main attack on the town itsel would take placehal an hour later. The raiding orce was made up o almost 5,000 Canadians, approximately 1,000 Britishcommandos and 50 American Army Rangers.Things immediately went wrong or the landing orceon the eastern fank. They met a small German convoy and the ensuing reght alerted the enemy. The orcesthat came ashore at Berneval and Puys were met withoverwhelming re and some o the heaviest Allied lossestook place there.Some objectives on the western fank were met and theenemy gun batteries at Varengeville were destroyed. InPourville, theSouth Saskatchewan Regimentand theQueen’s Own Cameron Highlanderscame ashore andpushed towards their goals. The mounting Germanresistance, however, orced them to withdraw withheavy losses.

P h o t o : C o n v o y o f l a n d i n g c r a f t e n r o u t e t o D i e p p e d u r i n g “ O p e r a t i o n J u b i l e e ” . C r e d i t : C a n a d a .D e p a r t m e n t o f N a t i o n a l D e f e n c e / L i b r a r y a n d A r c h i v e s C a n a d a / P A - P A - 1 7 1 0 8 0

Running behind schedule, the main orce going ashoreat Dieppe landed as daylight was breaking. The alertedGerman troops cut down many Canadians as they wadedin the sur. Nevertheless, many ought their way acrossthe cobblestone beach to the protection o the seawall.The same cobblestones and seawall made it hard or the Allied tanks to move o the beach and the erce enemy

fre prevented engineers rom clearing the way or the tanks.

Small groups rom theRoyal Hamilton Light Inantry and theEssex Scottish Regiment were able to ghttheir way into the bullet-swept streets o Dieppe. It wasclear, however, that the raid could not continue andthe retreat began. Trying to evacuate everyone wouldmean the destruction o the Allied naval orce. Throughgreat courage, many men were taken o the beachesunder heavy re, but by early aternoon the last boathad departed. Let in a hopeless situation, the remainingCanadians were orced to surrender. The raid was over.

GREAT VALOUR

Many acts o great courage took place during the DieppeRaid and two men would earn the Victoria Cross(VC), the Commonwealth’s highest award or valour.Lieutenant-ColonelCecil Merrittearned his VictoriaCross or courageously leading men rom the SouthSaskatchewan Regiment across the River Scie at Pourvillein the ace o heavy resistance. Once the Regiment couldgo no arther, he led a dangerous retreat that allowed mosto the men to escape back to Britain. He was capturedand spent the rest o the war as a prisoner o war (POW).ReverendJohn W. Foote,a chaplain with the RoyalHamilton Light Inantry, also earned a Victoria Cross.For eight hours, he continually braved enemy re on thebeach to bring the wounded to rst aid posts. When hisown landing crat was about to leave, he jumped ashoreto be captured so that he could minister to the many Canadians who were taken as POWs.

LESSONS LEARNED

1942 was one o the darkest periods o the Second World War. But the act that the Allies came ashore in occupiedFrance gave the French hope and the Dieppe Raid letthem know that they had not been orgotten. While many men were lost and the raid did not meetmost o its objectives, many historians eel that thelessons learned played an important role in the successo later actions. For example, the Dieppe Raid andlater beach assaults contributed to improvements inamphibious landing and invasion techniques. While thecost o gaining this knowledge was steep, it likely savedmany lives on the beaches o Normandy when the Alliesreturned to the shores o continental Western Europe onD-Day,June 6, 1944.

SACRIFICE

The men who participated in the Dieppe Raid paid agreat price. O the 4,963 Canadians who went on themission, only approximately 2,200 returned to Englandand many o them were wounded. More than 3,350